Build 3094 landed this evening. This time, I didn’t linger. Cloned my Parallels folder and grabbed it.

It wasn’t as smooth an upgrade this time around. I should have read the Parallels forum before installing, because then I would have known to install Parallels Tools in Windows safe mode. Without that step, my VM was a steaming pile ‘o poo. BSOD, black screen, funky error messages, requests for Windows re-activation…ugh. Not pretty. I reboot the VM and held down the F8 key to go into safe mode, reinstalled Parallels Tools and all was peachy keen with the world. It’s like Mr. Hyde turned back into Dr. Jeckyll.

The big news in this release is USB 2.0 support.

Coherence mode has been improved. Now Windows applications co-exist in the Dock with Mac OS X ones.

This means that command-tab can bring a Windows application in focus, without the two-step process of first focusing Paralells and then clicking on the app you want. Hiding and quitting work for Windows applications just like Mac OS X ones. Windows applications can also be launched from Mac OS X icons, or left in the Dock. I still don’t run in full Coherence mode (which drops out the Windows desktop so application windows float like Mac OS X ones) because the mode doesn’t support dual monitors. No point in having floating windows in Windows if I can’t freely move them to the second screen. I’m sure that’s coming. Duh! It’s here. Check the option “Use multiple displays” in Edit->Virtual Machine->Coherence.

It’s amazing how in just a few short weeks Windows went from an operating system to a container holding some of the applications that I run. Nothing more. I never even bothered changing the default XP desktop or theme. I just don’t care. And it’s been about 2 weeks since I even turned on the Dell. Looks like I’m going to be cleaning up a laptop to get it ready for sale over the holiday vacation.