Parallels (company)

Last updated
Parallels
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Virtualization
Genre Virtualization and Hosting Automation
Founded1999
FounderIlya Zubarev  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters Bellevue, Washington, United States [1]
Products Parallels Desktop for Mac
Parallels RAS
Parallels Toolbox
Parallels Access
Revenue US$100 million (2008) [2]
Number of employees
800+ [3]
Parent Alludo

Parallels is a software company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is primarily involved in the development of virtualization software for MacOS. The company has over 800 employees and offices in 14 countries, including the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Japan, China, Spain, Malta, Australia and Mauritius [4] [5] [3]

Contents

History

SWSoft, a privately held server automation and virtualization software company, developed software for running data centers, particularly for web-hosting service companies and application service providers. Their Virtuozzo product was an early system-level server virtualization and, in 2003, they bought Plesk, a commercial web hosting platform. [6]

In 2004, SWSoft acquired Parallels, Inc. [7] Parallels Workstation for Windows and Linux 2.0 [8] was released in the same year, with Parallels Desktop for Mac following in mid-2006. [9] SWSoft's acquisition of Parallels was kept confidential until January 2004. [10] Later the same year, the corporate headquarters moved from Herndon, Virginia, to Renton, Washington. Historically, their primary development labs were in Moscow and Novosibirsk, Russia. Parallels was founded by Serg Bell, who was born in the former Soviet Union and later immigrated to Singapore.

At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2007 in San Francisco, California, Parallels announced and demonstrated its upcoming Parallels Server for Mac. [11] Parallels Server for Mac allows IT managers to run multiple server operating systems on a single Mac Xserve. [12] [13]

In 2007, the German company Netsys GmbH sued Parallels' German distributor Avanquest for copyright violation.[ citation needed ] Parallels Server for Mac was announced at WWDC, and later Parallels Technology Network. [14]

In 2008, SWSoft merged with Parallels to become one company under the Parallels branding, [10] which then acquired ModernGigabyte, LLC. [15] [16] Parallels Server for Mac was launched in June, [17] then in September Parallels Desktop 4 for Windows and Linux, a rename of Parallels Workstation for the 4.0 release, [18] and Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac [19] later that year. In the next version, 6.0, the Windows and Linux software became known as Parallels Workstation again.

Over the next three years, the company launched Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, [20] Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac, [21] Parallels Server for Mac 4.0 Mac mini Edition, [22] Parallels Transporter, [23] Parallels Workstation 6 Extreme, [24] Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, [25] Parallels Mobile for iOS, [26] and Parallels Workstation 6. [27]

During 2012, 2013 and 2014, the company discontinued Parallels Server for Mac, Windows and Linux, launched Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac and Mac Management for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, and released Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac.

Parallels acquired 2X Software in February 2015, [28] rebranded their service provider business to Odin, [29] later sold the Odin Service Automation Platform to Ingram Micro. [30] They also released Parallels Mac Management v4.0 for Microsoft SCCM and Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac.

In 2017, Virtuozzo and Plesk, two products from the pre-Parallels history of SWSoft, were spun out. [31] [32]

In December 2018, Corel announced that it had acquired Parallels. [33] [34]

On October 20, 2020, it was announced that Google had partnered with Parallels to bring full-featured Windows applications to enterprises and cloud workers using Chrome Enterprise. [35] [36]

On February 17, 2023, Microsoft announced its partnership with Parallels Desktop 18 to bring Windows 11 support to M-Series Macs. [37] [38]

Products

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References

  1. ↑ "Worldwide Operations HQ". www.parallels.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
  2. ↑ "Parallels CEO Sees IPO in a Few Years, Not an Acquisition". Bloomberg News . 6 July 2023. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Career Opportunities". Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  4. ↑ Staff Writer (10 June 2022). "COREL sets up centre of excellence in Mauritius, gears up to collaborate with academic institutions | Platform Africa". Archived from the original on 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
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  6. ↑ "Web Hosting News : SWsoft Acquires Plesk and Confixx to Create Global Hosting Software Powerhouse". HostReview. 2003-06-10. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
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  8. ↑ Rudolf, Ben (2005-12-08). "Parallels Announces the General Availability of Workstation 2.0 for $49 per License; Includes Full Support for Intel® Virtualization Technology". Parallels. Archived from the original on October 16, 2006.
  9. ↑ Rudolf, Benjamin (2006-06-15). "Computer Users Can Simultaneously Run Mac OS, Windows, Linux Programs with Parallels Desktop for Mac". Parallels. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007.
  10. 1 2 Marshall, David (January 29, 2008) [08:03 PM]. "InfoWorld Virtualization Report | David Marshall | InfoWorld | Parallels Announces Virtuozzo Containers 4.0". Archived from the original on February 2, 2008.
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  12. ↑ "Parallels demos Mac server virtualization". Computer World. Archived from the original on 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  13. ↑ "Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac". Parallels. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
  14. ↑ Cohen, Peter (2007-04-26). "Parallels Technology Network announced". Computer World. Archived from the original on 2007-11-23.
  15. ↑ "Web Host Industry News | Parallels Acquires ModernGigabyte". Web Hosting Talk. Archived from the original on 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  16. ↑ "Parallels.com | Parallels Acquires ModernGigabyte". Parallels. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11.
  17. ↑ Marshall, David (June 18, 2008) [08:14 AM]. "Virtualization Report | David Marshall | InfoWorld | Parallels announces the first Mac server virtualization platform". Archived from the original on June 19, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Desktop 4 for Windows and Linux Leverages Industry-Leading Mac Technology to Enable Widespread Adoption of PC Virtualization". Parallels. 2009-09-01. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  19. ↑ "Desktop 4.0 for Mac Offers Premium Windows-on-Mac Experience". Parallels. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  20. ↑ "Desktop 5 for Mac Offers Fastest Performance on Snow Leopard and for Windows 7 Available". Parallels. Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  21. ↑ "Desktop 6 for Mac Delivers Unprecedented New and Enhanced Features for Best Windows on Mac Experience Yet". Parallels. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  22. ↑ "Server for Mac 4.0 Mac mini Edition Launch Lets Businesses Run Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux Environments Side-by-Side on an Apple Mac mini". Parallels. 2011-05-11. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  23. ↑ "Transporter Launches on the Mac App Store, Makes the Move from a PC to a Mac Easy". Parallels. 2011-05-18. Archived from the original on 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  24. ↑ "Workstation 6 Extreme makes the consolidated professional graphics workstation a reality through unmatched performance of direct assignment technology". Parallels. 2011-08-09. Archived from the original on 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  25. ↑ "Desktop 7 for Mac Makes Windows Programs Roar with Mac OS X Lion Features; New Parallels Mobile App Delivers OS X and Windows Control Plus Flash Videos with Sound". Parallels. Archived from the original on 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  26. ↑ "New Parallels Mobile App for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch Delivers Anytime Anywhere Control of Mac OS X, Windows, Ubuntu, Chrome, Fedora, Applications and Files on Your Mac". Parallels. 2011-09-01. Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  27. ↑ "Workstation 6 Gives Web Designers and IT Professionals Seamless Capabilities for Running Multiple Operating Systems – Including Windows 8 – on a Single PC". Parallels. 2011-11-08. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
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  29. ↑ "We've Changed Our Name – Parallels Service Provider Business is Now Odin". blog.odin.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  30. ↑ "Parallels Holdings Limited Announces the Sale of its Odin Service Automation Platform to Ingram Micro". www.odin.com. December 2, 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
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  32. ↑ "Home". www.odin.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
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  34. ↑ Dignan, Larry. "Corel buys Parallels for Windows on Mac play". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  35. 1 2 "Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise". Parallels. 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
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