What is Parallels virtualization? How does it compare to emulation?
Virtualization, as used on EveryMac.com, refers to Intel’s “virtualization technology”. The Intel website describes virtualization as allowing: A platform to run multiple operating systems and applications in independent partitions. With virtualization, one computer system can function as multiple “virtual” systems. . . [you could run] different operating systems and software for different or legacy tasks. In very basic terms, virtualization directly uses the underlying hardware to “virtually” run multiple operating systems “alongside” the host, whereas emulation “recreates” a CPU, and often an operating system, in software. Ultimately, virtualization is much faster than emulation. The virtualization solution that produced a tidal wave across the Mac web is Parallels Desktop for Mac, originally called “Workstation”. After months of beta testing that “generated more than 100,000 testers from 71 countries”, Parallels released the “final” version on June 15, 2006, and has been releasing e
