14 DAY TRIAL // Parallels Desktop fans can immediately download and try out the latest version of the software, despite Parallels Inc. announcing that new users would only be able to obtain the bits next week.
According to the company’s announcement, “Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac is available today as an upgrade for current Parallels Desktop users. It will be available to the general public, both a downloadable version and packaged software for delivery, from www.parallels.com starting on September 6th,” Parallels said.
However, new users can nonetheless get the software right now. To be able to use the trial version, users will have to request a trial license key using the "Get Trial" button on the lower left side of the start-up dialog when first running the software.
The developers will then email you back, saying “Thank you for registering for a 14-day trial download of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac! Your trial activation key gives you access to a complete version of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and all of its innovative features.”
Download Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac
Speaking of features, Parallels Desktop 7 brings OS X Lion compatibility, including support for Full-Screen Apps, and Launchpad integration, which allows you to add Windows apps to Launchpad and use the Windows folder to access other Windows programs from the interface.
Users also get OS X Lion-style animations when opening new Windows programs windows in Coherence, and there is now support for the Lion-specific Resume function - it extends to Windows apps too.
Parallels 7 also has support for running OS X Lion in a virtual machine and brings the ability to create OS X Lion virtual machines using the recovery partition on Macs running OS X 10.7.
Parallels requires a Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor, at least 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended to run Windows 7), and around 15 GB of available disk space just to install a copy of Windows.