Apple reiterates: no interest in virtualization for Leopard

Speaking to an analyst this month, executives for Apple Computer maintained that the company has no plans to incorporate virtualization technology into the final version of its Boot Camp software that will ship as part of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard next spring.

"Apple indicated that it is very pleased with Parallels software and didn't feel the need to compete with its own version of embedded virtualization," Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff wrote in a research note to clients this week.

The analyst recently partook in a sit-down chat with Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer and Vice President of iPod Product Marketing Greg Joswiak to discuss the company's financials and future business directions.

"Apple noted that the key advantage of the current beta of Boot Camp is its superior performance in both Mac and Windows environments, while running two virtual OS environments (like Parallels) results in performance degradation," he added.

The latest round comments echo those made by Apple Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller back in July.

When asked by Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf whether the company planned to offer virtualization in Leopard, Schiller responded firmly by saying "absolutely not, the R&D would be prohibitive and weâ€™re not going to do it. Our solution is dual boot."

Turning a deaf ear to ongoing rumors and speculation surrounding the matter, the folks over at Parallels have remained focused on strengthening their industry leading $80 virtualization software package. The solution, dubbed "Parallels Desktop for Mac," has been seeing enhancements on almost a monthly basis.

On friday, AppleInsider reported on a major upgrade to Parallels Desktop currently in the works by the Renton, Wash.-based software developer that will deliver tight integration with Apple's Boot Camp software among dozens of other enhancements.