ANONSUPPORT  Here is a shorter link for the current version:

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/download/dr/  
(Version 5.0.9376)

ERIC DURBROW  Update NEVER works. And we are on version 5.   
(Version 5.0.9370)

CLOUDNINER  I have tried six times to do an update with no success. The update starts and downloads one heck of a lot of stuff and then 'Unable to connect to the server'???? Weird....

I'll give up for a few days as they obviously have a problem.  
(Version 5.0.9370)

WAVEMAN  Update still not available via update menu.

Sun 07/25/10 2:55pm Pacific Standard Time  
(Version 5.0.9370)

WAVEMAN  Never had that problem, maybe Win7 MS Java acting up?

Does it occur running Ubuntu?

Release notes indicate a problem hanging-- "Problems with Parallels Service stopping to respond when the Parallels Desktop settings file is corrupt were fixed."

Always runs fast and well for me, running WinXP though.  
(Version 5.0.9370)

SHATFIELD  I am a Java developer, and I use Windows 7 in a VM on my MacBook Pro to do my coding (it's a company standard).

I used VMWare for a long time, perhaps over a year, and it worked ok, but was not fast enough for me. I decided to test VMWare and Parallels, and Parallels came out on top as far as speed of compilation goes, but not by a wide margin. I decided to switch to Parallels because every little bit helps. I also reinstalled my Mac from scratch, so that it was 100% fresh.

After just 2 weeks of using Parallels, I noticed a few things.

Firstly, the VM would become unresponsive for long periods of time, perhaps as many as 30 seconds. During this time, I couldn't do anything at all - not even the menu bar in OS X would respond. This always happened at the most inopportune moments; right before meetings, when I had a critical bug to fix, etc. It was incredibly annoying. I did not experience this with VMWare.

Secondly, I noticed that I would have whole system lockups sometimes when the computer would sleep. It happened twice while at lunch during the 2 weeks that I used the machine, and then it happened last night while I was sleeping.

I came into my home office this morning and noticed that the screen saver was frozen. I tried connecting to the machine from my wife's Mac, but as I suspected, it was unresponsive... forcing me to power off the machine.

Upon restarting, the Windows 7 VM was in a "repair loop", that I could not get out of. I restored back to a snapshot from a few days ago, but have since decided to switch back to VMWare, as Parallels is too unstable.

YMMV, but if it is close to my mileage, you will be very unhappy with Parallels.  
(Version 5.0.9370)

SRUDERSDORF77  I own Version 4 and purchased an additional license (5) via Macupdate.

Version 4 ran on both my machines, an iMac and an Macbook (since I never use them at the same time this is what I expect and get from any other software I´ve ever bought)

Version 5 only runs on one machine and Parallels' support confirmed that to me.

Seems like they assume their customers only have one computer, which has never been farther from reality than in 2010.

And they manifest that assumption in changing their license policy between version 4 to 5?

Frankly, I find that pretty annoying.  
(Version 5.0.9344)

CARLOS-SZ  After updating Parallels I could not save my Visual Basic 6 projects in a shared folder (Documents folder) from within Visual Basic 6 interface. I tried several things including reboot Windows 7 and mac, reinstall tools etc.

To have Visual Basic 6 working as before I had to install an older build of Parallels 5 that I fortunately had.  
(Version 5.0.9344)

JMANGANUSA  I recently bought the MacUpdate bundle and Parallels 5.0 was the driver behind the purchase decision. I installed Parallels, inserted the activation key, and now its telling me my trial period is over!!! URGH!!

Did I not read the fine print when purchasing??? I could of got a free test drive of the product without spending $49.

Anyone have any feedback for me????

Many thanks,

Jack  
(Version 5.0.9344)

DSPENCER3491  If you're considering Parallels the most important thing to consider is that it has been shown to have better performance markers than VMware Fusion. Both programs are great and have equal features but with the better performance in Parallels it's a no brainer of which to chose for running virtual machines.

http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.25/25.04/VMBenchmarks/  
(Version 5.0.9344)