It used to be that Mac owners were members of an exclusive club, Apple products were the purview of designers, artists, and other “elites”. The rest of us had Windows PCs, the foundation for a technology revolution that has forever changed the way we think, work, socialize, communicate and play. At one point, these two worlds seemed very separate.

However, the landscape has changed. Macs are becoming more common and accessible; more people are choosing them for both home and work computers. Then the inevitable questions come. What do I do with all the programs and files I have on my PC? Do I need to keep both computers? What about using my computer at work – my company is mainly Windows based?

Luckily, there is an equally accessible solution to these problems. It is called desktop virtualization. Think of it as the computer equivalent to a hybrid car. Hybrid cars are electric and gas powered; they switch seamlessly back and forth between the two power sources as needed. As a driver, you rarely or never have to think about it. Desktop virtualization is the same thing on your computer: A Windows PC along with your Mac desktop, all on your Mac, and you can move back and forth between Windows and Mac apps seamlessly, as if by magic, the two worlds have blended. You can even move your entire PC, Windows, all of your software investments and files automatically to your Mac.

A great advantage of this approach is you can do everything you need on one computer – run OS X, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Google Chrome OS and more. Have all your TurboTax files on a Windows XP PC? No problem. Wanna do Excel PowerPivots while jamming in GarageBand? Easy. You can increase your productivity by working in Mac OS X and Windows applications simultaneously, instead of being forced to change computers or reboot your Mac to change between operating systems.

There are many ways this can help save time and money:

• Executives and salespeople get the beautiful Mac they want to carry, and have all the programs they need to run the business on it
• College recruits get a soft landing when they join a new company, and can take all their productivity- enhancing applications with them into the workplace
• Software developers and testers can easily work in multiple OSs as on one machine, reducing your hardware and power costs
• Designers can access expense, accounting and other business applications without having to have two computers
• IT administrators can deliver and support great IT using the Windows infrastructure they’ve invested time and money in building to Macs and Windows PCs alike.

And the benefits don’t stop at the office door. Anyone who uses a computer can benefit: Students, hobbyists, everyone.

Our Parallels Desktop for Mac is the world’s No. 1-selling software for simultaneously running Windows on a Mac. See the magic of OS X and Windows blending and running together on a Mac in this short video and in this cool features demo video from Chris Pirillo. Also, Walt Mossberg’s review in The Wall Street Journal provides helpful insights about desktop virtualization.  If you have a Mac you can even download a free trial of Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac.

Discover how your company compares to others that are supporting both Mac and Windows, by taking a quick survey at the AppleInTheWorkplace.com barometer and get resources to help you improve support of Macs at work.

If you work in an IT department and you need a way to manage a growing Mac population in what has become a mixed PC and Mac environment, look no further: Our Parallels Management Suite for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager delivers a powerful and cost-effective turnkey Mac management solution for CIOs and IT managers who have invested in Microsoft infrastructure.

Desktop virtualization is exciting because it removes barriers. Just modern hybrid cars, virtualization lets you go farther and do more with less! You no longer have to limit yourself by choosing Windows or Mac. Today you can enjoy the best of all worlds, Windows and Mac, as well as a variety of other operating systems and applications, so you can do everything on one computer. Go farther!

Birger Steen
CEO
Parallels