On Thursday, Parallels announced that its Parallels Desktop application for Macs has sold more than one million copies to date. The software was the first product that allows users of Intel Macs to run Windows, Linux, Solaris, and other operating systems simultaneously with Mac OS X.

"Parallels Desktop not only broke down the barrier between the Mac and PC worlds, it also broke down the barrier that kept desktop virtualization from becoming a mainstream technology for consumers and professional users," said Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels. "We will continue innovating to extend our position as the desktop virtualization leader and provide our users with the fastest, easiest and most seamless solution available."

Since its launch in June 2006, Parallels Desktop for Mac has won many awards, including: MacWorld Magazine’s "Editor’s Choice" Award (the "Eddy"); PC World Magazine’s "Innovation of the Year" Award; "Best in Show" at the 2007 MacWorld Expo and at the 2007 London MacLiveExpo; BBC News "Best Tech" and InfoWorld 2008 "Technology of the Year" award.

In addition, the software has been localized to ten languages: English, Chinese, Czech, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish and Spanish.

"Parallels Desktop for Mac fundamentally shifted the Apple strategy from monolithic to multiplatform. It empowers Mac users with a new level of flexibility and gave them access to enterprise applications that were previously out of reach," said Frank J. Bernhard, managing principal and technology economist with OMNI Consulting Group.

TMO notes that whenever articles are published about the emerging success of Macs in the enterprise, the ability of Intel Macs to run Windows applications natively and at full speed, when necessary, is always a common thread.