Parallels 3.0 supports 3D games, 'SmartSelect'
Parallels on Thursday announced Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac. This new version supports 3D gaming and adds a new feature called SmartSelect. — Parallels Desktop enables Intel-based Mac users to run Windows on their Mac at the same time as Mac OS X …
Context & Ripple Effects
Virtualization on Intel Macs is one year old as a mainstream product: in June 2006, CNET covered Windows and Mac OS X running side-by-side on the same machine, a capability that arrived only with Apple's move to Intel processors. That first generation of Parallels Desktop treated Windows as a windowed guest — workable for office apps, but a non-starter for anything graphics-heavy.
Version 3.0 attacks exactly that limitation. By adding 3D acceleration and SmartSelect, which routes files to whichever operating system's applications fit them best, Parallels is arguing that a Mac should not just tolerate Windows but absorb its everyday workloads, games included.
First-order effects
- Intel Mac owners who previously had to leave Mac OS X to play 3D Windows games can now run them inside the Parallels virtual machine alongside their Mac applications.
- SmartSelect changes file handling directly: documents opened on a Parallels-enabled Mac can be dispatched to either the Windows or Mac application best suited to them, blurring which OS 'owns' a given task.
Second-order effects
- The upgrade narrows the practical gap between a single Intel Mac and a two-machine desk setup, putting pressure on the case for buying a dedicated Windows PC for gaming or Windows-only software.
- For Apple, smoother coexistence makes the Mac a lower-risk purchase for buyers still tied to Windows applications — the Mac's hardware sale no longer requires abandoning Windows software.
Third-order effects
- If each release keeps shrinking the performance penalty of running Windows as a guest, the operating system stops being the deciding factor in a PC purchase and becomes a per-task choice — shifting competition among computer makers toward the hardware itself.
The trend: Desktop virtualization is turning the operating system from a platform commitment into a selectable workload, with Intel-based Macs as the proving ground.