by , 8:40 AM EDT, April 6th, 2006

Parallels announced the immediate availability of a beta version of Workstation 2.1 for Intel-based Macs on Thursday. Workstation 2.1 is a virtualization applicaiton that lets you run Windows and other operating systems at the same time as Mac OS X. Parallels states that its virtualization product takes advantage of the Dual Core processor in the new Macs to run alternate operating systems at near-native speeds. The software also creates its own "virtual hardware," including RAM, hard disk, processor, I/O ports, and CD/DVD-drives.

Workstation 2.1 requires an Intel-based Mac, and Mac OS X 10.4.4 or higher. It is priced at US$49.99, but the beta is free and available for download at the Parallels Web site.