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Released today, build 3170 takes the software one step closer to a final release, which will be a free upgrade for all registered users of the existing edition.

When complete, this second edition will finally allow Mac users to run Windows applications as though they were native to Mac OS X, rather than on top of a Windows desktop. Parallels calls this technology Coherence, and is the feature that further blurs the distinction between Windows and the Mac environment.

Perhaps the most eagerly-awaited new feature, though, will be the ability to drag and drop files and folders between the Windows and Mac environments. Previously users had had no choice but to manually copy files between the two environments using a shared folder.

MacUser downloaded and installed the update this afternoon. The total payload was just an additional 400K to the installed package. The application now takes up a conservative 16.8MB on our test machine.

Full details of the new beta release can be found on the Parallels site.