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Apple cracked open the door with its Boot Camp product, but Boot Camp was not a virtual machine-it simply reboots the Mac hardware to run as a dedicated Windows machine. Now, VMware and Parallels want to finish the job by placing both desktop environments side-by-side, giving Mac users the ability to run Windows or Linux applications while still inside the comfortable confines

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of the Apple experience.

Earlier this week, Parallels released an update of its Parallels Desktop product, touting new compatibility with USB 2.0 devices, tighter integration of Windows applications with the Macintosh desktop, and a settings conversion and preferences handling tool. VMware fired back with an updated test build of its Fusion desktop virtualizer, offering some of the same USB device features and a difficult-to-resist free, open beta offer. Fusion's edge at present is experimental support for DirectX 8.1, which should allow games and other multimedia applications to run with enhanced performance compared to most virtual machines.

Parallels retails for $80. VMware Fusion is currently a free beta product and although the company indicates it will become a commercial product, a price point has not been announced. VMware provides support for Windows, Linux, and Solaris guest operating systems, while Parallels promises compatibility with Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, Solaris, and DOS. Both support Vista.