Just in time for the (delayed) release of the Windows XP SP3 update, Parallels updates its Mac virtualization application, Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac. As recent as last week, a Parallels representative stated that an XP SP3-compatible update to Parallels Desktop was as much as a month away. Perhaps what he meat to say, was "next month," which in this case meant only a handful of days.

Prior to the most-recent Parallels Desktop update, users who were running Windows XP and tried to upgrade XP to the SP3 update were running into a variety of problems. This latest update, build 5600, not only claims full support for XP SP3, but also for the Vista SP1 update as well. Macbook Air users using Parallels Desktop can also breathe easier as the Air is now fully supported as well. In addition to some minor bug fixes and performance enhancements, improvements were made to make it easier and faster to share folders and files between the Windows and Mac OSes. For more information on how and why Mac users would want to run Windows on their Macs, see the article here.