So, Apple’s Boot Camp announcement not enough for you? Why reboot to switch from one to the other, you ask? Well, Parallels has released a Windows virtualization solution for Intel Macs called Parallels Workstation 2.1 for MacOS X. What’s the difference? With Parallels Workstation, you can run Windows XP and other Intel-based operating system (eg, Linux) at the same time as Mac OS X. Each virtual machine operates exactly like a stand-alone computer and contains its virtual hardware, including RAM, hard disk, processor, I/O ports, and CD/DVD-drives. This will allow you to run any application designed for that OS and still retain OS X functionality at the same time.
There will likely be a performance hit to this virtualization solution that Boot Camp will not suffer from. But at least you have the choice!
Parallels Workstation is currently available as a free beta but the final version will cost $79.99 USD.