Are Key Apple Partners Being Left Out In The Cold With Snow Leopard?

Parallels, a leading company in virtualization and software automation, will be releasing an innovative product that is sure to push more Windows users into becoming Mac users.

The product is under embargo, but look for a review in the next couple of days on Channelweb.com. During a briefing about this product, CRN Test Center reviewers asked about the product's compatibility with Snow Leopard.

The PR person slightly hesitated before answering, then said Parallels has not been given the RTM build code as of yet.

We were surprised, especially after we heard the news that Snow Leopard will be released to the public possibly as early as next Friday.

Parallels is an Apple partner, a major partner. We asked the Parallels team why they have not gotten RTM code sooner than the public would, because they are partners with Apple.

Again, we received an answer tinged with the faintest suggestion of sheepishness. Apple partners, it was explained, usually get RTM code around the same time as the public.

In other words, partners such as Parallels cannot test their latest offerings on Snow Leopard? If that's the case, then these vendors cannot deem emerging products "Snow Leopard-ready."

That's a raw deal for Apple partners. The big question is why? Why would Apple not provide partners with RTM code well in advance of that code being made available to the public?

Perhaps it can be chalked up to the often-mentioned Apple arrogance.