Parallels Inc. today released a new version of its Windows/Linux desktop virtualization software, saying it should be able to run some applications as much as eight times faster than its prior version. Parallels is perhaps best known for its Parallels Desktop for Mac application, which lets users run Windows software on Mac computers, but it has several other similar products. One is Parallels Workstation 2.2, which let users create Windows or Linux virtual machines and run them as "guests" on top of Windows, Linux or Mac OS X computers.