Parallels updates
I first heard about the new Parallels beta here on Dan's vox account. It's really incredible. It includes a couple cool new features, one being "Coherence" which lets you run windows intermingled with your mac. See how I have a windows taskbar below my apple menu at the top? That's Coherence running.
When it comes to computers, I've long been a tool agnostic. I started on Windows but I used to run emulators to test out how sites looked on a linux box or an old mac. I used both a mac and windows machine simultaneously for the past four years so I could use the best applications of each platform. At first it was two computers side-by-side, then I got to share a single keyboard and mouse. Eventually, I got two virtual desktops running on a single intel Mac with Parallels. With the latest Parallels beta, I can now run just the one or two windows apps I need directly on my mac desktop.
After many years of tinkering, I've finally got the ultimate web testing platform. I can edit files in a window, then just hit refresh on safari, firefox, and IE6 all next to each other to see how each browser responds to changes.
If you develop websites and have to worry about CSS differences between platforms and browsers, this is the killer tool for you: Parallels and an Intel Mac.