Parallels 10 is packed with virtualization features and full support for Windows 10. High annual upgrade costs hold it back, but it’s still a fantastic piece of software. Parallels Desktop 7 For Mac - Windows, Linux, and Lion Parallels 7 supports a wide range of guest OSes, including Windows, various versions of Linux and UNIX, OS X Snow Leopard Server (but not Snow Leopard), Lion, and Lion Server. Editors' note, October 30, 2014: This review has been updated with new features added after the release of the Windows 10 technical preview. Parallels Desktop for Mac has been letting people run. Parallels Desktop 13 makes it easy to run macOS, Windows, or Linux virtual machines on your Mac, adding improved performance, picture-in-picture, and enabling support for cross-platform features.
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Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac
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The latest edition of Parallels Desktop is not only ready for macOS High Sierra, but already supports the forthcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update as well. Apple and Microsoft have settled into annual update schedules for macOS and Windows, which means you can expect virtualization software dependent upon both platforms to arrive around the same time.
Parallels Desktop 13: Touch Bar wizard
If you own a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac is a must-have upgrade. That’s because key features of Windows 10 will now appear on the Touch Bar while a VM is running, a feature that works straight away for the Start Menu, Cortana, Desktop, File Explorer, and popular web browsers like Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.
Microsoft Office 2016 applications are also imbued with Touch Bar capabilities, offering multiple command sets depending upon what you’re doing in the app. But what about the thousands of other available Windows 10 apps? Most of them are supported too, but some assembly is required.
Located under the View menu, Touch Bar Wizard allows Parallels users to customize which Windows commands are displayed for the current application, just like they already do on macOS—in fact, Parallels uses the exact same pop-up configuration panel. It does take a little time to set up and some buttons won’t work in certain Windows apps, but this is otherwise a slick addition for MacBook Pro owners.
Parallels Desktop 13: PiP your VMs
Parallels Desktop 13 does an admirable job of adopting PC-only features on the Mac. This time around it’s People Bar, a new feature in the forthcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update which consolidates favorite contact information into the Taskbar. PD13 cleverly delivers these favorites to the macOS Dock instead, but is currently limited to the stock Windows Mail app. (The latest Windows Insider build is also required for now.)
PD13 also taps into the picture-in-picture support introduced in macOS Sierra, allowing one or more VM windows to collapse into a small floating view. This allows users to monitor activity and works even when a video is playing; PiP windows are semi-translucent by default, but you can adjust to fully opaque using a slider in settings.
It wouldn’t be a new version without a few enhancements to existing features. Retina Display owners—nearly half of all Parallels Desktop users—will see improvements in scaled resolutions, while resizing VM windows is now much smoother. The update also delivers up to 47 percent faster performance when running Windows on the Mac, up to 50 percent faster Snapshot creation, and near-native read/write speeds from external Thunderbolt SSDs. Last but not least, PD13 has a refreshed icon and look—I was mildly disappointed to see the company abandon the dark Control Center theme, however.
The timing is good for those lamenting Apple’s decision to retire creaky old pro video apps like Final Cut Pro 7. Since these 32-bit apps no longer run in High Sierra, I was able to create a new macOS 10.12.6 Sierra VM from my Recovery Partition in just a few clicks using PD13’s Installation Assistant so I can quickly access older projects should the need arise.
Bottom line
Full support for macOS High Sierra and the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update would be good enough reasons to upgrade, but conveniences like Touch Bar for Windows apps and picture-in-picture support keep Parallels Desktop 13 atop the Mac virtualization throne for another year.
Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac
See itPros
- macOS High Sierra and Windows 10 Fall Creators Update preview support
- Touch Bar support for Windows 10 apps
- Picture-in-picture, improved performance
Cons
- Some Touch Bar buttons don’t work in Windows 10
- No dark theme in Control Center
- People Bar currently only works with Microsoft Mail
Pros
- Coherence turns Windows apps into Mac ones
- Brilliant performance
- Can run some games
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £65.00
- Full Windows 10 support
- Automatic OS installation wizard
- Automatic hibernation saves battery life
- Game support
- 500GB online storage
- Free Parallels Toolbox
- Yearly subscription
What is Parallels Desktop 12?
Parallels Desktop 12 is the annual upgrade to the virtual machine software that lets you run Windows apps directly on OS X as if they were native. It’s this seamless integration, called Coherence, which has won Parallels legions of fans.
Related: Alternative ways to run Windows on your Mac
While Parallels 11 was an essential upgrade for many, bringing Coherence support to Windows 10, Parallels 12 is much more of a modest update. It has some neat new power-management features, a new set of utilities with Parallels Tools, and faster graphics support for gaming. Parallels 12 also has macOS Sierra support, although version 11 also works in Apple’s new OS.
Parallels Desktop 12 – Virtual machine installation
As with previous versions of Parallels, the first job is to install an operating system into a virtual machine. That most likely means Windows, although Ubuntu, Chromium, Android, CentOS, Debian and Fedora are also supported, with Parallels able to download and automatically install these operating systems in the background.
Windows is the obvious use for Parallels, but it supports plenty of other operating systems, too
It’s Windows that you’re likely to want to run, and Parallels gives you two options for that: clone an existing computer or install a fresh version of Windows.
The first option sounds attractive and is easy to do: you install an app on your PC, then let it synchronise your Windows 10 installation to Parallels over your home network. You can even choose to copy your user files from Windows to your Mac.
You can transfer your old Windows 10 PC directly to Parallels, but you may need to change settings to get all your apps working
But there are caveats. Foremost, is that Windows’ licensing prevents you from moving an OEM version of an OS to a new computer, even to a virtual machine. In other words, you can only transfer an old PC if you bought a retail version of Windows.
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Secondly, Windows 10 doesn’t particularly like being moved, and Windows apps won’t necessarily run. I got a warning when trying to run some apps, such as Edge, telling me that they ‘can’t be opened using the Built-in Administrator account’.
It’s an issue with new UAC settings, which you have to adjust to get your copy of Windows working properly. Virtualization How To has a guide on how to repair this for Windows 10 Home and Pro users.
UAC settings can stop Windows apps from opening
Installing Windows 10 from scratch automatically fixes all of the permissions you need. Parallels’ Windows installation is one of the best, automatically picking settings for you and installing in the background. In fact, you only need type in your licence key, and then you can leave Parallels to get on with its job.
New to this version of Parallels is that you can have a virtual machine start with your Mac, but drop into hibernation mode instantly. This saves battery and your processor for Mac tasks but lets you start Windows apps almost instantly.
Parallels Desktop 12 – Features and performance
The beauty of Parallels has always been its unparalleled (pardon the pun) integration of the two operating systems. Running under Coherence, Windows apps run and feel exactly like Mac ones. They even have their own Dock icons, and you can place different Windows apps on different virtual Desktops. The only real problem is that Windows’ notification icons get moved to the Mac Menu bar, which makes it rather cluttered.
Coherence turns your Windows apps into Mac ones
Virtual machines can also be run in full-screen mode, giving you the full Windows experience on your Mac. Finally, there’s Modality, which puts your virtual machine into a translucent window so that you can keep an eye on it.
The only issue I had was that Windows would occasionally start in a windowed mode, with the option for Coherence greyed out. The solution was to maximise the window, exit full-screen mode and then enable Cohesion. It’s also slightly annoying that you can’t switch from one more to another. Instead, you have to exit one mode, then enable another.
Performance is excellent, with Windows feeling responsive and snappy. I ran GeekBench 3 on both Mac and the Windows virtual machine and got similar scores: Mac OS scored 5,833 in the multi-core test, and the Windows virtual machine scored 5,057. Running the benchmark simultaneously on both operating systems, it was Windows that took the performance hit. This time around, Mac OS scored 5,003 and Windows scored 3,793.
To make sure that you’re not interrupted, you can set Parallels to allow Windows updates and reboots at specific times only. It’s a neat option and means that your virtual machines are always ready when you need them
Parallels Desktop 12 – Games
Parallels has revamped the graphics engine and has even worked with Blizzard to support first-person shooter Overwatch. The promise here is more games on your Mac, but it’s a claim that I’d treat with caution, as it depends on the spec of your machine. Running on a 2014 Core i5 13-inch MacBook Pro, Overwatch ran, although it averaged out at 22fps, hitting a peak of 28fps, at a resolution of 1,680×1,050 with Low graphics settings.
It was playable, to a degree, but I wouldn’t fancy my chances like this. Running Boot Camp and Windows 10 natively, Overwatch at the same settings ran smoothly, and I saw framerates of at least 50fps, hitting a high of 62fps. Parallels will be useful for older games that aren’t graphically intensive, but Boot Camp’s still the better option for most games.
You can play games on Parallels, but the spec of your Mac will affect performance
Parallels Desktop 12 – Toolbox
Parallels Toolbox is usually £7.99, but ships for free with Desktop 12. It gives you a bunch of handy tools, including a screen recorder, screenshot tool and an online video downloader. If you don’t want these features, you can just remove Toolbox.
Toolbox collects together some handy tools, but it’s not essential
Parallels Desktop 12 – Versions
Parallels Desktop 12 ships in three different versions. There’s the standard edition for home users (£65 new or £35 upgrade). Above that, you can’t buy the software outright, and pricing moves to yearly plans, although these include upgrades to new versions.
The Pro edition (£80 a year) bundles Parallels Access, a remote desktop application, and adds finer control over network usage. At the top is the Business edition (£80 a year per computer), which is for multiple installations and gets you telephone support, too. All editions come with 500GB of free Acronis True Image online backup.
The basic version gets set network profiles to control bandwidth, but the Pro version lets you set more detailed profiles
Should I buy Parallels Desktop 12?
If you’ve got Parallels Desktop 11, the few new features available with version 12 probably aren’t enough to make the upgrade worthwhile. For new users that want to run Windows on Mac, the choice is a little trickier.
Oracle’s VirtualBox is completely free, although its version of Coherence doesn’t work with Windows 10, the set-up is much harder and performance is worse with no games support. Still, if it’s just for a little bit of testing or to run the occasional app, then it’s worth the hassle.
If you want to run Windows applications like they were native Mac applications, Parallels remains the king. Its effortless integration of both operating systems makes it a real winner, and it’s super easy to use.
Its smooth integration with multiple operating systems makes Parallels a winner for anyone who needs specific apps
Verdict
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There’s not that much here for upgraders, but for newbies Parallels remains the slickest way to run Windows and Mac OS at the same time.
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