News

The computer virtualization software, Parallels Desktop, that many Mac genealogists use to run Windows genealogy applications has been updated. The new release is described as containing bugfixes and improvements. The information provided during the upgrade describes the following changes:

Bugfixes and improvements in Parallels Desktop 4.0 Update (build 4.0.3540)

Improvements in the upgrade procedure:

• BSOD in Boot Camp with the “Autocheck not found” message followed by the session manager crash – fixed.
  Note: If you see this BSOD in the release version of Parallels Desktop 4.0, open the virtual machine configuration and click OK. This will prevent this BSOD in the virutal machine and the Boot Camp partition.
• BSOD with the “0xA5” message during the virtual machine upgrade – fixed.
  Note: If you get this BSOD in the release version of Parallels Desktop 4.0, convert the backup copy of your virtual machine. Before convering the copy create one more backup copy of it.
• Windows stops on boot during the upgrade without any crashes – fixed.
  Note: If this error occurs in the release version of Parallels Desktop 4.0, convert the backup copy of your virtual machine. Before convering the copy, create one more backup copy of it. Alternatively, you may add the “vm.compat_level=2” string to Virtual Machine Configuration > CPU > System Flags (make sure that the “show advanced settings” option is selected).
• Virtual machine crashes on start after the conversion – fixed.
• Possible causes of BSOD in intelppm.sys and agp440.sys – fixed.
• Mouse is not available when upgrading a virtual machine that was originally created with Microsoft Virtual PC – fixed.
• The sound is disabled in Windows XP virtual machines after the upgrade – fixed.
• Hard disk cannot use the Boot Camp partition after the upgrade – fixed.
  Note: If this error occurs in the release version of Parallels Desktop 4.0, open the virtual machine configuration and click OK.
• The message “Failed to configure the Boot Camp partition” appears after the upgrade – fixed.
  Note: If this error occurs in the release version of Parallels Desktop 4.0, open the virtual machine configuration and click OK.

Other improvements:

• At times Parallels networking drivers don’t start after the restart of Mac OS X – fixed.
• Copy-paste operations may fail in some cases when the virtual machine is in Coherence – fixed.
• Copy-paste operations may fail in some cases when non-text data is being copied to Windows – fixed.
• Inability to switch to a Windows application using Application Switcher when the virtual machine is in Coherence – fixed.
• Redundant network icons appear in the Mac OS menubar after switching between the view modes – fixed.
• Mac applications stay on top of Windows applications in Coherence – fixed.
• USB performance improved, including the ability to sync iPhone with iTunes installed in Windows.
• Dispatcher service binding to all network addresses on port TCP 64000 – fixed.
• The ability to suspend a Boot Camp virtual machine was removed, because this operation may damage the Boot Camp partition.
• .NET applications menus drawing in Coherence – improved.
• Crashes in virtual machine monitor and the application based on the statistics received through the problem reports – fixed.

To get the update, launch Parallels Desktop while connected to the Internet. You will be asked whether you want the update or not.

On the heels of the major Parallels Desktop upgrade Tuesday, VMWare have released a minor update to their virtual computer software, VMware Fusion 2, on Friday.

Some genealogists use PC virtualization software to run Windows genealogy software on their Mac. Fusion is one of the major options for doing this.

The company had this to say about the release:

VMware Fusion 2.0.1 is a maintenance release of VMware Fusion 2. It has the following enhancements:

• Contains bug fixes described in Resolved Issues
• Now shows application badge instead of generic document icons when assigning Windows applications to Mac documents
• Greatly reduced initial pause when opening mirrored or shared folders
• No longer disables certain shared folders and mirrored folders that were nested folders. The potential data loss issue with nested shared folders has been resolved
• No longer publishes Windows guest applications to Mac if Allow the virtual machine to open applications on your Mac is unchecked in virtual machine Settings > Sharing
• AutoProtect postpones taking a snapshot when the user is interacting with the virtual machine
• No longer maps Num Pad Enter to AltGr by default for non-European keyboards
• Brings back the Enable Hints menu item in Help menu

A detailed list of issues fixed in this release is available on release notes page.

If your favorite genealogy database program (or any other category of software for that matter) is available only for Windows, you’ll be happy to know that you can still run it on your Mac. As I wrote in July 2008 in an article titled, Want to Use a Windows Genealogy Application on Your Mac?, virtual computer software is the solution.

Even better news is that a major upgrade of Parallels Desktop for Mac, the virtual computer software I use and recommend, was released on Tuesday. It’s got over 50 new features and the interface has been redesigned. If you own version 3, an upgrade to 4.0 will cost $39.99. My copy is being downloaded now. If you’ve been holding off on buying this kind of software, now is an ideal time to take action. A new copy can be purchased for only $79.99.