The unique feature of parallel channel flows is that the pressure drop or driving head for the flow is maintained constant across any given channel by the flow in all the others, or by having a large downcomer or bypass in a natural circulation loop. This boundary condition is common in all heat exchangers, reactor cores and boilers, it is well known that the two-phase flow in parallel channels can exhibit both so-called static and dynamic instability. This leads to the question of the separability of the flow and pressure drop boundary conditions in the study of stability and dryout. For the areas of practical interest, the flow can be considered as incompressible. The dynamic instability is characterized by density (kinematic) or continuity waves, and the static instability by inertial (pressure drop) or manometric escalations. The static has been considered to be the zero-frequency or lowest mode of the dynamic case. We briefly review the status of the existing literature on both parallel channel static and dynamic instability, and the latest developments in theory and experiment. The difference between the two derivations lies in the retention of the time-dependent terms in the conservation equations. The effects and impact of design options are also discussed. Since dryout in parallel systems follows instability, it has been traditional to determine the dryout power for a parallel channel by testing a single channel with a given (inlet) flow boundary condition without particular regard for the pressure drop. Thus all modern dryout correlations are based on constant or fixed flow tests, a so-called hard inlet, and subchannel and multiple bundle effects are corrected for separately. We review the thinking that lead to this approach, and suggest that for all multiple channel and natural circulation systems close attention should be paid to the actual (untested) pressure drop conditions. A conceptual formulation is suggested as a basis for discussion.