Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac Edition includes Parallels Desktop itself–which, as usual, lets you run Windows within OS X in a window, full-screen mode, or the cool Coherence view that puts Windows apps right inside the OS X interface. It bundles it with software and a USB cable for transferring your current Windows setup–OS, applications, and files–from your old, real PC into a virtual one on a Mac. I haven’t had a chance to try this utility, and system-transfer tools are one of the tougher things to do in software. (Even Apple’s own Mac-to-Mac Migration Assistant doesn’t always do the job without glitches.) But it’s a nifty idea if it works well, since it would simplify moving a licensed copy of Windows you’ve already paid for onto the Mac so you wouldn’t end up having to pay for a new copy of the OS.

The package also comes with two hours of interactive training that introduces OS X and helps Windows types make the leap:

Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac costs $99.99 (not including a copy of Windows). That’s twenty bucks more than the standard version–not unreasonable if you need the transfer software and hardware and would find the training useful.

I’ve used both Parallels and Fusion over the years and have been mostly happy with both; I’ve been running Fusion lately but plan to give this version of Parallels a whirl once I get my hands on a copy. Windows-on-Mac users: Which virtualization software do you prefer, and why? Anyone out there still using Apple’s Boot Camp?

Sitting there all by their lonesome were several copies of Parallels 3.0 for Mac for $79.99 (although yes, we’re now at 4.0, which was released in November of last year). They were almost lost in a sea of Windows software, but yes, they were there. This surprised me–while I’d expect the software to be available at electronics retailers, I wouldn’t expect it here.

After all, those shopping in Target are likely not there to buy technical software like Parallels. Also, the stereotype of the Mac user is more affluent than what may be considered the “average” consumer for a Target or Wal-Mart type discount establishment. Who needs Mac software other than us techies? The Mac is still just an elite club…right?

Not anymore.

Even just a year ago, it would have been unheard of to see Mac software (or heck, hardware for that matter) anyplace but from Apple itself or its then considerably smaller network of Apple Authorized Resellers.

Now, with the Macintosh experiencing somewhat of a rebirth through the ‘halo effect’ of first the iPod and now the iPhone, jumping on the Apple bandwagon is in vogue.

Big name retailers like Target are much more cautious in deciding what gets put on their shelves because shelf space is at a premium. Everything must make money–they cannot specialize in one thing because consumers expect them to carry everything.

In other words, this means only a select number of products from each category make it onto the shelves. For Parallels to convince Target that it is indeed worth it speaks volumes to the Mac’s newfound retail power. Here’s hoping that this isn’t the last piece of Mac OS software to make it to Target.

So I’m curious. Where are you all finding Mac software and accessories where you haven’t before?

The rivalry between Parallels and Fusion remains one of the coolest ones in computing: Both of these nifty products keep getting better. And today, Parallels is back with Desktop for Mac 4.0.

Parallels says that the new version includes more than fifty enhancements, but as a Parallels user from the start, I’m less interested in sheer number of new features and more interested in two areas which are a challenge for all virtualization products, and ones in which Fusion has seemed to have the edge: performance and laptop battery life. I haven’t tested them yet, but Parallels says that performance has improved by up to fifty percent and battery life is better by up to twenty percent compared to previous editions of Parallels.

I’m using both Parallels and Fusion and will do a formal comparison at some point; Ars Technica’s Jacqui Cheng has a good look at Parallels 4.0 up right now. The new version is $80 for new buyers, $40 for upgraders, and free for folks who bought Parallels since September 1st.

Here are a couple of images from Parallels’ online demo.