Parallels has issued an official statement announcing the availability of Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac OS X. As key additions, the company mentions full support for Aero in Windows Vista and 7 through the Windows WDDM driver, including Aero Flip 3D, a more Mac-like experience in Windows applications through the Apple Trackpad Gestures technology, as well as seven times better graphic performance for games and 3D applications than the previous version with Direct X 9Ex with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1 support.

“Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac lets you seamlessly run Windows and Mac OS X side-by-side, drag-and-drop your files between operating systems, and run Windows software on your Apple computer without rebooting,” Parallels Inc. proudly states. “With more than 70 new, exciting features and enhancements, Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac is faster, smarter and more powerful than ever — helping you run Windows programs and devices seamlessly on your Mac,” the company adds.

“As the OS battles rage between Microsoft, Apple and Linux, we provide a completely customizable solution that enables people to use the applications they need with the fastest performance available, regardless of the operating system,” Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels, shares. “Parallels continues to build on its proven track record of innovation, responding to our customers by providing the fastest, smartest and most powerful Windows-on-Mac experience available.”

The press release issued by Parallels includes a lengthy feature list broken down in three major categories. According to the list, Parallels Desktop 5 is not only faster and more powerful, but also “smarter.” Let’s see what the company is talking about.

Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac promo material
Credits: Parallels

Parallels is reportedly faster thanks to the full support for Aero in Windows Vista and 7 through the Windows WDDM driver, including Aero Flip 3D. Just as useful is the program’s ability to automatically optimize the virtual machine size for the best performance with the Parallels Compressor. Improved performance for Linux guest OSs from KVM paravirtualization is also mentioned as a speed plus.

“The excellent 3D graphics performance of Parallels Desktop for Mac makes it Autodesk’s preferred Mac virtualization software for customers who choose to run AutoCAD or our other design and engineering software on the Mac,” Andrew Mackles, director of AutoCAD Product Management at Autodesk, adds. “We are excited about the further graphics enhancements in Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac and the potential to improve the customer experiences.”

To make Parallels Desktop more powerful, the developers set a goal to achieve seven times better graphic performance for games and 3D applications than the previous version with Direct X 9Ex with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1 support. They did it. The new version also offers a superior graphics performance for Linux guests through OpenGL 2.1 support, while full hardware resources can be utilized with support for eight virtual CPUs, 64-bit Windows and Snow Leopard Server 64-bit.

But what could possibly make Parallels Desktop smarter? Besides the enhanced Mac-like experience through Multi-Touch support (pinch, swipe, rotate, and more), Parallels Desktop now includes Copy & Paste fidelity for formatted texts and complete layouts including images, even between Windows and Linux guest OSs. Additionally, the new version allows users to run Windows and Mac applications across multiple monitors, setting new standards in freedom and flexibility, the company says.

Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac costs $79.99, and comes with $175 worth of bonus software, including Parallels Internet Security 2009 by Kaspersky (one-year subscription), Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 (Disk Management) and Acronis True Image 11 Home (Backup and Recovery Solutions).

The software requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later / Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later, a 1.66GHz Intel processor, 1GB of RAM (2GB recommended) and 300MB of hard disk space (15GB of hard disk space for each virtual machine).

Download Parallels Desktop for Mac OS X (Update / Trial / Buy)