Avanquest has released its latest virtualisation software, Parallels Workstation 2.2, for Windows and Linux.

Since Parallels supports all Windows from version 3.1 up to Vista, as well as all Linux distributions, you can run different copies of Windows on the same machine to try out, for example, Vista, before you upgrade.

At the heart of the software is the Shared Folders utility, which makes it easy to find files, folders, and documents on different operating systems and applications.

The virtual machines can be zipped and loaded on to any computer with Parallels Workstation, so remote users can take their machines with them.

The software will be available at the end of January for £30.