I'm using Parallels on a dual core Mac mini. It works nicely, running XP Pro. Considering the fact that Parallels costs less than a quarter of my XP license, I immediately purchased it (compared to MS Virtual PC it is a steal at $39).

The new (1.b5) full-screen switching a la user switch (turning cude) is a nice touch. I've found that Parallels b5 appears to be slightly slower than b4 - but that may be totally subjective. b4 booted XP in about 8 seconds, b5 now takes about the same time a normal XP boot takes on a PC (16 seconds).

The addition of shared folders is welcome, even though they show up under the network, not as a drive (as I somehow expected).

Also, copy/paste of text between Guest and OSX works - nice!

b5 now complains that VT-X is in use by another application - but I do not know which. It appears to work, though (read: it does not crash).

I've found out that Parallels has problems installing some games - prsumably due to copy protection. I've tried installing the venerable 'Red Alert 2', but failed. Installing the game under Boot Camp (Apple's beta for dual-boot into XP) worked.

Office XP installed without a problem, and works faster than my previous Windows 2000 Pro-based laptop (which was, admittedly, old).

I can recommend Parallels to anyone who needs basic Windows compatibility. Congratulations to the Parallels team - they have done a terrific job!