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Today, Parallels updated its Mac virtualization client to support installation of Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Parallels Desktop 7 also supports OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" Developer Preview. Microsoft released its test OS last week and Apple last month. Mountain Lion is expected to release in late summer and Windows 8 a month or so later.

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac also offers a utility for downloading, as well as installing, Windows 8 CP. The virtualization software released in September, followed by several feature-enhancing updates, including support for new operating systems.

Google's new privacy policy pulls together usage data from all of its different services: YouTube, Gmail, Docs, etc. and uses it to create a more clear picture of its users. If you have the "Web History" feature of Google Search turned on, Google can collect information about your browsing activity, including pages you visit and searches on Google, information about your search results including personal results, Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language and more unique identifiers.

"Web History uses the information from your web history or other information you provide us to improve your Google experience across many of our products, such as by improving the quality of your search results and providing recommendations," Google's Privacy FAQ says.

Considering how important it is, backing up in Windows is never as simple as it should be. Until now. Genie Timeline Home 2.1 reduces the backup process to just three steps: pick your backup drive, choose what to backup and then set your backup options. It comes with disaster recovery options, so you’ll never be left without your data and is constantly working quietly in the background ensuring your backup is fully up to date.

All of this powerful and useful technology could one day save you in all kinds of different ways: hundreds of dollars in data recovery fees, your job or even your marriage (imagine telling your better half what happened to those priceless photos when your hard drive crashed). That’s got to be worth something, right?

Microsoft's silent Nokia takeover, which started with last year's Windows Phone agreement, is starting to pick up momentum. This afternoon Nokia emailed that Ovi Share will close up, effective the last day of May; I signed up for the service three years ago (gasp, or was it longer).

It's just one of the many Ovi services headed for that great graveyard in the cloud, as Windows Live replaces each and every one. Well, that is until Microsoft officially rebrands Live services some time before Windows 8 launches.

Cocoon has provided us with a set of Grid-It organizers to review, and giveaway to a couple of BetaNews readers. We’ve got a larger and smaller one than the one reviewed here to give away. You simply need to share this story on Facebook or Twitter (hashtag #betanews).

The Grid-It organizer product isn’t entirely new, but I first saw them in some pre-Consumer Electronics Show promotional materials. They certainly struck a chord as I was preparing to travel to Las Vegas at the time. After seeing Grid-It at the conference, the gear organizer certainly looked like it could live up to the expectations they had set.

Lots of people are talking about Windows 8's new Metro UI, following last week's release of the Consumer Preview. Metro has a great deal of potential, but compared to the desktop motif it still needs some tweaking before many Windows users will appreciate it.

Like many other enthusiasts or developers, I downloaded Windows 8 Consumer Preview last week. I have the luxury of running the operating system on a tablet, opening up the full range of capabilities.

In the United States, unemployment and the scarcity of new jobs is continually a hot-button issue, especially now in the Presidential primary season. But job creation is a topic of special importance all over the world and residents of countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Canada, Ireland, and Singapore are all doing far more searches on "job creation" than U.S. residents.

So is a global shift to the cloud a good thing for job creation? Market intelligence company IDC on Monday released the results of a four-year, Microsoft-commisssioned study (.pdf here,) that says it is. The study predicts the number of jobs that will be created by a widespread shift to cloud computing, and where those jobs will be created.

Sony's problems surrounding the hacking of the PlayStation Network is much worse than originally thought. The company confirmed over the weekend that hackers stole some 50,000-plus Michael Jackson tracks and music files from Sony servers. The company paid the Jackson estate $250 million last year for the rights to the unreleased material.

Reports say Sony's plans were to release the stolen music on up to ten separate albums, a strategy now in jeopardy as the tracks are now in the hands of Jackson's most avid fans. In fact, that's how Sony discovered the breach in the first place -- discussions of the tracks appeared on fan forums as they leaked to the Internet.

Every year the top security companies fight to see who can be the first to get their next generation suites out to the public. Last year Symantec did well, revealing Internet Security 2012 in April 2011. But this year Kaspersky Lab is the clear victor, as today they’ve released the first beta of Kaspersky Internet Security 2013.

This isn’t anything like as polished as some of the betas we’ve seen, though. The interface isn’t finished, for instance, and the build has Application Verifier and trace logging turned on, which means it will slow your PC down considerably. You won’t want to leave the suite installed for long.

Last night, while watching "The Walking Dead", I breezed past an Internet Explorer 9 ad, while fast-forwarding commercials. I actually stopped to watch the last 15 seconds or so. Perhaps it was the one here or another similar. I'm uncertain, since Ryan Gavin, Internet Explorer General Manager, says the TV spot above airs tonight and I already deleted the recorded program.

I must say, though, there's something appropriate about an Internet Explorer commercial running during "The Walking Dead" -- that's assuming where I saw one last night. I also fast-forwarded commercials during a show about kittens my daughter watched, and perhaps I saw the ad there. Considering IE's declining usage share, there's metaphor here in the AMC drama.

Over the weekend App Store reached a momentous number of downloads: 25 billion. That achievement comes in less than four years; App Store opened for business in July 2008. Our question for you: What's your favorite?

Better: What are your favorite 10 downloaded iOS apps? Or you could answer: Which one, or which 10, do you use the most? Please answer in comments, and if you prefer some other mobile platform more tell us about it and the apps that make it matter most to you.

Postbox, Inc. has updated its cross-platform, commercial email client with a minor update. Postbox 3.0.3 includes a number of enhancements, some platform-specific, plus fixes a number of issues, including one that meant the “Check this folder for new Mail” feature didn’t work with IMAP accounts.

Postbox 3.0 released last November and introduced tighter integration with a range of third-party apps and services, including Gmail, Dropbox, Facebook and Twitter. The full version costs $29.95, and a 30-day trial is available.

While some free antivirus tools are a little short on functionality, that’s not a problem with avast! Free Antivirus 7. A Compatible installation option helps you run the program alongside other security tools, you get strong on-demand and real-time malware protection, new cloud-based services quickly check the safety of files and websites, and streaming updates now ensure faster protection against the latest threats.

But avast! Pro Antivirus 7 offers even more.

It has been another very busy week in the world of software releases and we’ve collection together 21 of the biggest titles that you may have missed; there’s something for everyone here, no matter what you use your computer for.

This has been a big week for anyone looking to get a little creative with their computer. CyberLink Video and Photo Creative Collection 2.0 is a powerful collection of tools that includes all you need to work with your photo and video collections. Comprising PowerDirector and PhotoDirector, you can edit all of the images and footage you have capture with your digital camera ready to use in a range of projects.

You can find many reviews about Windows 8 Consumer Preview. This one is different because I set out to understand how Windows 8 performs for a blind person who must use keyboard shortcuts to navigate. I am sighted but tested the operating system thinking about my blind nephew.

My review focuses on navigation of the new OS using keyboard shortcuts and no mouse. It is not aimed at partially-sighted or low-vision people who use a mouse and may actually benefit from the larger icons. Neither do I evaluate how screen readers such as JAWS will read the screen contents once the correct location is reached. I suspect that the makers of JAWS and other screen reader software will have lots work to do before their programs will work well with Windows 8. I hope that isn't the case. But my guess is that it will be.