<s>
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
is	O
the	O
first	O
commercial	B-Application
software	I-Application
product	O
released	O
by	O
Parallels	B-Language
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
a	O
developer	O
of	O
desktop	O
and	O
server	O
virtualization	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Workstation	O
software	O
consists	O
of	O
a	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
suite	O
for	O
Intel	O
x86-compatible	O
computers	O
(	O
running	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
or	O
Linux	B-Application
)	O
(	O
for	O
Mac	O
version	O
,	O
see	O
Parallels	B-Language
Desktop	I-Language
for	I-Language
Mac	I-Language
)	O
which	O
allows	O
the	O
simultaneous	O
creation	O
and	O
execution	O
of	O
multiple	O
x86	B-Operating_System
virtual	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
has	O
been	O
discontinued	O
for	O
Windows	O
and	O
Linux	B-Application
as	O
of	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
other	O
virtualization	O
software	O
,	O
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
uses	O
hypervisor	B-Operating_System
technology	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
thin	O
software	O
layer	O
between	O
Primary	O
OS	O
and	O
host	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hypervisor	B-Operating_System
directly	O
controls	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
host	B-Operating_System
machine	I-Operating_System
's	O
hardware	O
resources	O
and	O
provides	O
an	O
interface	O
to	O
it	O
for	O
both	O
virtual	B-Operating_System
machine	I-Operating_System
monitors	I-Operating_System
and	O
primary	O
OS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
's	O
hypervisor	B-Operating_System
also	O
supports	O
hardware	O
virtualization	B-General_Concept
technologies	I-General_Concept
like	O
Intel	O
VT-x	O
and	O
AMD-V	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
hardware	O
emulation	O
virtualization	O
software	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
a	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
engine	O
enables	O
each	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
to	O
work	O
with	O
its	O
own	O
processor	B-General_Concept
,	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
CD	O
drive	O
,	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
devices	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
–	O
everything	O
a	O
physical	O
computer	O
contains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
virtualizes	O
all	O
devices	O
within	O
the	O
virtual	O
environment	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
video	B-Device
adapter	I-Device
,	O
network	B-Protocol
adapter	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
adapters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
provides	O
pass-through	O
drivers	O
for	O
parallel	B-Device
port	I-Device
and	O
USB	B-Protocol
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
all	O
guest	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machines	I-Architecture
use	O
the	O
same	O
hardware	O
drivers	O
irrespective	O
of	O
the	O
actual	O
hardware	O
on	O
the	O
host	O
computer	O
,	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
instances	O
are	O
highly	O
portable	O
between	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
running	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
can	O
be	O
stopped	O
,	O
copied	O
to	O
another	O
physical	O
computer	O
,	O
and	O
restarted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
is	O
able	O
to	O
virtualize	O
a	O
full	O
set	O
of	O
standard	O
PC	O
hardware	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
64-bit	O
processor	B-General_Concept
with	O
NX	O
and	O
AES-NI	O
instructions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
generic	O
motherboard	B-Device
compatible	O
with	O
Intel	O
P965	O
chipset	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
64GB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
VGA	B-Protocol
and	O
SVGA	O
video	B-Device
cards	I-Device
with	O
VESA	B-Device
VBE	I-Device
3.0	O
support	O
and	O
up	O
to	O
256	O
MB	O
of	O
VRAM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
1.44	O
MB	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
mapped	O
to	O
a	O
physical	O
drive	O
or	O
to	O
an	O
image	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
four	O
IDE	B-Protocol
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
virtual	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
that	O
range	O
in	O
size	O
from	O
20	O
MB	O
to	O
128	O
GB	O
each	O
and	O
CD/DVD	O
-ROM	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IDE	B-Protocol
devices	O
can	O
be	O
mapped	O
to	O
physical	O
drive	O
or	O
to	O
an	O
image	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
16	O
SATA	O
devices	O
including	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
and	O
CD/DVD	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
four	O
serial	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
that	O
can	O
be	O
mapped	O
to	O
a	O
real	O
port	O
,	O
to	O
a	O
pipe	O
or	O
to	O
an	O
output	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
three	O
bi-directional	O
parallel	B-Device
ports	I-Device
,	O
each	O
of	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
mapped	O
to	O
a	O
real	O
port	O
,	O
to	O
a	O
real	O
printer	O
or	O
to	O
an	O
output	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
Ethernet	O
virtual	O
network	B-Protocol
card	I-Protocol
compatible	O
with	O
Realtek	O
RTL8029(AS )	O
with	O
full	O
IPv6	B-Protocol
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
USB	B-Protocol
2.0	O
controller	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
last	O
version	O
of	O
Parallels	B-Operating_System
Workstation	I-Operating_System
(	O
version	O
6	O
)	O
requires	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
CPU	O
:	O
Minimum	O
1.66GHz	O
,	O
x86	B-Operating_System
or	O
x86-64	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
run	O
64-bit	O
guest	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
a	O
processor	B-General_Concept
supporting	O
the	O
Intel	O
VT-x	O
hardware	O
virtualization	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
is	O
recommended	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAM	B-Architecture
:	O
at	O
least	O
2GB	O
is	O
required	O
,	O
but	O
4GB	O
and	O
above	O
is	O
recommended	O
.	O
</s>
