With both Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard set to be released in the coming weeks, more people than usual may be contemplating the eternal question of whether to go with Mac OS X or Windows for their next computer. Renton-based virtualization company Parallels Inc. is betting that some people would rather have both on the same machine. 

Parallels, which competes with VMware, today introduced a new "Switch to Mac" product based on its program for running Windows on Apple computers. The $99.99 package includes that Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 virtualization program, two hours of Mac video tutorials for erstwhile Windows users, plus a high-speed transfer cable and "transporter" software for moving files and data from a Windows PC to a Mac. The package is $20 more than buying Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 alone, at the suggested retail price.

Mary Starman, director of consumer marketing for Parallels and a former member of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, said she knows how disorienting the Windows-to-Mac switch can be, having made the transition herself during her time at the Redmond company. She said the timing of the "Switch to Mac" product release, was not related specifically to the upcoming launch of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard, but was more related to market trends.

"We're definitely seeing that there is a new customer segment out there that you would call a 'switcher' -- someone who has traditionally been Windows-focused, but who has decided that they want to make the move to Mac," Starman said. 

It's not all about Mac hardware at the company. Parallels is also developing a program to let people run Windows XP on their Windows 7 machines, as an alternative to the "Windows XP mode" virtualization technology that Microsoft is expected to offer.