Parallels 6 to Ship September 14th

Parallels 6Parallels announced that the company will ship the next major version of the Windows emulation software for the Mac, Parallels 6, on September 14th. The company said the new version will deliver “unprecedented advances in productivity, performance and graphics.” To that end, the company said that Windows will boot 41% faster than in previous versions, and that 3D graphics run 40% better.

New features:

  • Faster & More Powerful
    Launch Time: Run Windows applications 41 percent faster than Parallels Desktop 53 Full 64-bit Engine: Take advantage of all of the capabilities of your 64-bit Mac and enjoy the fastest virtual machine performance yet
  • Immersive Graphics & Audio Experience
    5.1 Surround Sound: Savor rich, immersive audio experiences for games, music and videos Enhanced 3D Graphics: Enjoy more life-like visual action and play a wider range of modern games with 40 percent improvement over Parallels Desktop 54
  • More Manageable
    Parental Control: Have peace of mind when children are online by applying the same parental controls you set for your Mac to your Windows applications VM Encryption: Protect data from being stolen by using built in virtual machine encryption
  • Simpler & Smarter
    • Mac Shortcuts: Use Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts to make Windows applications work the way you do
    • Personal Data Migration: Simplifies moving to Mac by automatically moving programs, data and media (i.e. My Documents, My Pictures, My Videos and My Downloads) to the appropriate folders on your Mac
    • Web Browser Favorites: Parallels automatically moves your Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome settings and bookmarks from your PC to the default browser on your Mac
    • Anti-virus Protection: Data protection with Parallels SmartGuard & SafeMode plus leading anti-virus protection for both Mac OS X and Windows with complimentary Kaspersky Internet Security 2011, Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac, Acronis True Image Home 2010 and Acronis Disk Director 2011 Home

The company also announced a version of Parallels aimed specifically at Windows called the Switch to the Mac Edition. This version will come with a USB transfer cable for moving your files, and software tools that will move your files and browser bookmarks to your Mac for you. The company said these tools allow you to choose “as little or as much Windows as you want.”

The software will be available for download and in retail stores on September 14th. Parallels 6 is priced at US$79.99, with a student edition available for $39.99. The Switch to the Mac Edition will be priced at $99.99. Owners of previous versions can upgrade for $49.99, and customers that bought version 5.x on or after August 15th can upgrade for free.