Parallels Desktop 4 for Windows and Linux Read Me Welcome to Parallels Desktop for Windows and Linux build 4.0.6576. This document contains the information you should know to successfully install Parallels Desktop for Windows and Linux and set up virtual machines. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. About Parallels Desktop for Windows and Linux 2. What's New 3. System Requirements 4. Supported Guest Operating Systems 5. Installing Parallels Desktop 6. Setting Up a Virtual Machine 7. Known Issues 8. Copyright Notice 9. Contact Information 1. About Parallels Desktop 4 for Windows and Linux Parallels Desktop 4 for Windows and Linux is a software product that enables you to create virtual machines on any PC with a 1.66 GHz (minimum) processor with the Intel VT-x or AMD-V hardware virtualization technology support. You can install a Windows, Linux, or another operating system in each of your virtual machines, and work with them and their applications side-by-side with the applications of your primary operating system. Built on Parallels' award-winning hypervisor-based virtualization technology, Parallels Desktop for Windows and Linux enables you to: - Create powerful and easy to use virtual machines. - Migrate operating systems and data from physical computers. - Coherently use applications installed in your virtual machine side by side with the applications of your physical computer without need to restart it. 2. What's New Virtualization - 64-bit host and guest operating systems are supported. - You can assign up to 8 virtual CPUs to a virtual machine. - You can allocate up to 8 GB RAM to a virtual machine.
- The virtualization performance has been improved. Virtual devices support - You can use up to 2 TB virtual hard disk drives inside a virtual machine. - You can add up to 16 virtual network adapters to the virtual machine configuration. - Network connection and data transmitting speed has been increased. - New port forwarding functionality allows computers on your local network and on the Internet to transfer data to any of your virtual machines that use the shared networking mode. - You can install guest operating systems via network using PXE servers. - USB performance has been improved. You can specify which USB devices will be automatically connected to the host computer and which to virtual machines. Integration tools and features - Now you can work with Windows-based (Windows 2000 and later) virtual machines in the Coherence mode that provides maximum integration of the host computer and the virtual machine. Moreover, you can set color to borders of guest applications windows. - Parallels Tools have been improved: Shared Folders and Clipboard synchronization are now available for Linux guest operating systems; speed of the Shared Folders for Windows tool has been increased. - You can access the host computer Desktop, My Documents, My Pictures, and My Music folders from a virtual machine by mapping them to the corresponding virtual machine folders. - Precompiled kernel modules for Parallels Tools installation allow you to avoid dependencies errors when installing Parallels Tools in Linux guest operating systems. - New SmartMount feature automatically detects all removable disk drives plugged into the host computer and shares them with all guest operating systems. Usability improvements - Parallels Desktop for Windows and Linux graphical user interface has been improved. - You can customize the Parallels Desktop for Windows and Linux toolbar according to your preferences. - Virtual machine configuration can be edited at runtime. If you change hardware settings, virtual machine reboot is required. - Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 guest operating systems can be installed in unattended mode. All you have to do is just specify the guest operating system disk or ISO image file, enter the activation key, and click Start. The operating system will be automatically installed in the newly created virtual machine. Various and also important
- You can avoid data corruption creating multiple snapshots of guest operating systems. Create snapshots either manually or automatically according to a specified schedule. - New Undo Disks feature allows you to apply or discard the changes you made to the virtual machine disk drive during the working session. - You can simplify virtual machine provision creating virtual machine templates. - You can manage your virtual machines from a terminal session using the Parallels command line utility. - Dynamic Kernel Module Support allows you to avoid various problems launching Parallels Desktop for Linux and Parallels Tools for Linux when a new Linux kernel was installed. Additional tools - You can resize your virtual hard disk drives and change their formats using new Parallels Image Tool. - You can migrate a physical computer or a 3rd party virtual machine (VMware, Microsoft Virtual PC, VirtualBox) to a Parallels virtual machine using Parallels Transporter. - Parallels Compressor is now a free add-on included into Parallels Desktop for Windows and Linux. 3. System Requirements Hardware Requirements: - Minimum 1.66 GHz CPU with the Intel VT-x or AMD-V hardware virtualization technology support. (You can run virtual machines with 64-bit operating systems only on host computers with 64-bit CPUs.) - 2 GB of memory minimum. 4 GB or more is recommended. Note: The recommended amount of memory assigned to a virtual machine is 1-2 GB (you can assign up to 8 GB of RAM). - About 30 GB of disk space for each virtual machine. Note: To store virtual machine's temporary files, you need to have twice as much free disk space as the overall amount of this virtual machine's memory (memory + video memory) + 150 MB. Host Computer Operating System Requirements: 32-bit operating systems
- Windows XP Pro SP3 - Windows XP Home SP3 64-bit operating systems - Windows XP Pro SP2 You also need the following software to set up a virtual machine: - An installation disc or disc image for the operating system you wish to install in the virtual machine. 4. Supported Guest Operating Systems 32-bit operating systems - Windows XP Pro SP3
- Windows XP Home SP3 - Windows 2000 Pro SP4 64-bit operating systems - Windows XP Pro SP2 - RHEL 4.7 5. Installing Parallels Desktop To install Parallels Desktop in a Windows or Linux operating system, locate the installation file and use the installation procedure typical for the operating system installed on your physical computer. For detailed information on installing Parallels Desktop, see Getting Started With Parallels Desktop. Warning: Before installing Parallels Desktop, make sure that there are no Parallels virtualization products installed on the physical computer.
6. Setting Up a Virtual Machine The procedure of creating a new virtual machine is almost intuitive and doesn t require much time. To create a virtual machine: 1. Open Parallels Desktop and choose New Virtual Machine from the File menu. 2. Follow the wizard s instructions to create a virtual machine and install an operating system in it. 7. Known Issues - 64-bit virtual machines can run only on 64-bit or 32-bit PAE host computers. - Dynamic resolution tool is not supported for SLED 11 and OpenSuse 11 guest OSs. - Windows 7 virtual machines will play sound only after you update the operating system using Windows Automatic Update. - Not all key combinations are available for German keyboard layouts in virtual machines. 8. Copyright Notice Copyright 1999-2009 by Parallels Holdings, Ltd. All rights reserved. Parallels, Coherence, Parallels Transporter, Parallels Compressor, Parallels Desktop, and Parallels Explorer are registered trademarks of Parallels Software International, Inc. Virtuozzo, Plesk, HSPcomplete, and corresponding logos are trademarks of Parallels Holdings, Ltd. The Parallels logo is a trademark of Parallels Holdings, Ltd. This product is based on a technology that is the subject matter of a number of patent pending applications. Distribution of this work or derivative of this work in any form is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained from the copyright holder. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, Windows NT, Windows Vista, and MS- DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their
respective owners. 9. Contact Information Product Website: http://www.parallels.com/ Support: http://www.parallels.com/support/