Windows-to-Mac Software Should Scare Microsoft

Conflicted about choosing sides in the apocalyptic showdown between Microsoft and Apple? No need to worry—in this brave new world, you can have your cake and eat it. Parallels is Mac software that allows users to seamlessly integrate Windows programs, even the entire desktop. So, for just $79.99—plus the price of a Windows license, and an actual Mac, of course—you’ll never have to pay attention to those commercials again.

Parallels may be a small company, but its new Desktop 5 version "should make companies like Microsoft nervous because it minimizes the importance of any given operating system," writes Dean Takahashi at Venture Beat. A special “Switch to Mac” edition streamlines the process of re-creating your Windows machine on a Mac box through “virtualization." Whatever that means, Desktop 5 allows you to retain all the cool Windows animations and also use neat-o Mac tricks on the trackpad with Windows apps. (More Microsoft Windows stories.)