Sometimes, Mac users need to run Windows software. Maybe there’s a program you need for work that doesn’t offer a Mac version, or maybe you occasionally need to test websites in Internet Explorer. Whatever you need Windows for, Parallels is the best tool for the job.
Parallels Desktop 14 is available now with an annual subscription starting at $79.99 or a perpetual license at $99.99. The Pro and Business editions will set you back a bit more, though—$99.99. Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac License Parallels Desktop for Mac is the most tested, trusted and talked-about solution for running Windows applications on your Mac. With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side without rebooting. Parallels Toolbox for Mac is a smart, simple set of tools and utilities to simplify everyday tasks. Compress files with one click to use less storage space. Parallels Toolbox for Mac has been updated with a handful of macOS Mojave features, including Dark Mode support and the ability to annotate screenshots with the new and improved systemwide Take.
Why Use Parallels Instead of Boot Camp or VirtualBox?
RELATED:How to Install Windows on a Mac With Boot Camp
Sure, you could set up your Mac to run Windows with Boot Camp, but that means restarting your computer every time you need to use Windows. Parallels runs Windows within macOS, using what’s called a Virtual Machine. This allows you to quickly switch between the Mac and Windows desktops. You can even combine the two desktops, if you want, and run Windows software right on your Mac desktop from your Mac’s dock.
Virtual machines are complicated, but Parallels makes it reasonably simple to set one up and use it. There are other virtual machine options available to Mac users, including the open source VirtualBox, but Parallels is different in that it’s designed exclusively with Mac users in mind. Parallels costs more (since VirtualBox is free and Parallels is not), but there are hundreds of little design touches that help make running Windows within macOS as painless as possible, and that make setting everything up quick and easy. it’s well worth the cost.
How Much Does Parallels Cost?
Browsing the Parallels website, it can be a little tricky to find out what the product actually costs. So here’s a quick breakdown:
- Purchasing the latest home version of Parallels Desktop costs $80 as of this writing. This lets you run Parallels on a single Mac.
- Upgrading from one version of Parallels to another generally costs $50, and will probably be necessary every couple of years if you keep installing the latest versions of macOS.
- A $70 annual subscription gives you access to all updates “for free,” according to the Parallels website.
RELATED:How to Make Linux and macOS Virtual Machines for Free with Parallels Lite
If you just want to try out Parallels and see if it works for you, you can: there’s a 14 day trial of the software, which you can access without providing a credit card number. There’s also Parallels Desktop Lite, which is free on the Mac App Store and lets you create both Linux and macOS virtual machines. Parallels Desktop Lite can only run Windows virtual machines if you pay for a subscription, however.
One more note: purchasing Parallels does not give you a Windows license, or a Windows product key. If you have a Windows installation CD or USB key handy with a valid license you can use that, otherwise you will need to purchase Windows 10 from Microsoft to create a Windows 10 virtual machine.
RELATED:You Don’t Need a Product Key to Install and Use Windows 10
We’ll point out that you don’t technically need a product key to install and use Windows 10—Microsoft basically gave up enforcing their license requirements with Windows 10, and you can download Windows 10 right from Microsoft at no cost (you’ll probably want it in the form of an ISO file). Legally speaking, however, you still need a product key to use Windows, even in a virtual machine.
How to Install Windows in Parallels
Got everything you need? Good. The new virtual machine wizard, which launches the first time you open Parallels, makes the process simple.
Assuming you already have a Windows CD or ISO, click the “Install Windows or another OS from a DVD or image file” button.
The ISO or DVD should be found automatically; otherwise, click the “Locate Manually” button. Then click “Continue.”
You’ll be asked whether you want an Express installation, which automates the installation process so that you don’t need to enter the product key or click “Next” during the installation process.
Choose this option if you want, otherwise plan on babysitting the installation a little bit.
Next you’ll be asked what you plan on using this virtual machine for: work-related software or gaming.
If you select Games only, the virtual machine will be set to use a lot more resources, so only click that if you intend to do serious gaming in the virtual machine (which is probably not a great idea). Also make sure your Mac even has enough resources to dedicate—if you spread your computer’s resources too thin, your virtual machine will be very slow. You can change these settings later, but I recommend going with “Productivity” in almost all cases.
Finally, you’ll be asked for a few details: what the machine should be named, where it should be located, and whether you want a shortcut to the machine on your desktop.
You can also configure the settings before installation—don’t worry, you can tweak any of those later if you’d rather not dive in right now. Click “Continue.”
The Windows installer will run. If you selected the Express installation, you won’t need to do anything: just watch as Windows installs. If not, you’ll have to click “Next” a bunch of times and enter your product key, as is normal for installing Windows.
The installation process can take a while, if mechanical hard drives or a DVD is involved. If everything is running off an SSD, however, you’ll be up and running in a few minutes.
Eventually you’ll see the Windows desktop! We’re almost done.
How to Seamlessly Integrate Your Virtual Machine Into macOS
That’s all well and good, and you can start using Windows now—but if you really want to get the best of what Parallels has to offer, you have a few more steps ahead of you.
At the top-right of your virtual machine you’ll see a caution sign. This is letting you know that Parallels Tools needs to be installed. Installing this lets you move your mouse between macOS and Windows in one swift motion, and also makes it possible to access your Mac files from within Windows. To get started, click that caution sign, then click “Install Parallels Tools.”
Doing this will mount a virtual CD in the Windows virtual machine. You’ll be asked what you want to do by Windows; select “Install Parallels Tools.”
The installer will take a few minutes, and eventually will require you to restart Windows. Do that and you’ll be up and running: your virtual machine will be integrated with macOS.
Once Parallels Tools is installed, Windows integrates very cleanly with macOS. There are all kinds of examples of this:
- Moving your mouse to your Windows virtual machine is seamless.
- Anything you copy to your Windows clipboard can be pasted in Mac apps, and vice-versa.
- The Documents, Downloads, and Desktop folders in Windows are symbolically linked to the same folders in macOS. Change a file in one place and it changes in the other.
- If you have Dropbox or iCloud running in macOS, those folders are available in Windows Explorer.
- If you have OneDrive set up in Windows, that is available to you in macOS.
- Individual Windows programs are shown in your Mac’s dock.
We could go on: the extent of the integrations is staggering. If any of them bother you for any reason, you can change them by shutting the virtual machine down, then clicking the Settings button for it.
Mac won't let me click on anything. Head to the “Sharing” tab to disable the folder sharing.
And head to the “Applications” tab to stop Windows applications from showing up in your Mac dock.
There are all kinds of other settings we could explore, but this article is only a starting point. Dive in and experiment.
More Than Just Windows
Parallels isn’t just for running Windows, either: you can use it to set up Linux, ChromeOS, and even macOS virtual machines.
We outlined how to create Linux and macOS Virtual machines in Parallels Desktop Lite, and the process is identical for the full version of Parallels Desktop, so check out that article if you’re interested.
RELATED:How to Free Up Disk Space in Parallels
If you intend to create a lot of virtual machines, you should also read about freeing up disk space in Parallels, because these machines will eat up a lot of hard drive space.
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Parallels Desktop for Mac is a hardware virtualization solution for Mac computers with Intel processors. Developed by Parallels Inc., a privately held software company with offices in 15 countries, Parallels Desktop for Mac (referred to simply as Parallels from here on) allows Mac users to seamlessly switch between macOS and the Windows operating system.
The ability to do so is indispensable when your favorite software isn’t available for Mac. That could be an accounting software package such as TurboCASH, an easy-to-use email client like Mailbird, or, perhaps, Internet Explorer, which is still used by millions, so web developers have to optimize for it.
Because Parallels for Mac uses hypervisor technology to map the host computer’s hardware resources directly to the virtual machine’s resources, the performance of Parallels for Mac virtual machines closely matches the performance of the host operating system. Even graphic- and resource-hungry Windows applications run as they should, including Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, CorelDRAW, ArcGIS, Visio, and many others.
The latest version of Parallels for Mac works best on the latest version of macOS and requires a Mac with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, or Intel Xeon processor.
Best Features of Parallels
Besides its performance, Parallels for Mac stands out with its seamless integration, allowing users to run Mac and Windows applications side-by-side without restarting. Parallels for Mac makes it possible to place Windows applications in the Dock, right next to Mac applications, and launch them with a single click. A piece of text copied from the Windows version of Microsoft Word can be pasted into Safari, which further blurs the line between Windows and Mac software.
Easy to Set Up
Parallels for Mac is so easy to set up that anyone can do it. You can either choose an existing Windows, Linux, Ubuntu, or Boot Camp installation or let Parallels for Mac download Windows 10 for you. Parallels for Mac will even help you optimize your VM settings and performance, allowing you to connect all your USB, Thunderbolt, and FireWire devices with Windows. If you want to, you can even add Windows applications to Touch Bar to instantly access them thanks to a handy tool known as Touch Bar Wizard.
Retina Support
Microsoft is still figuring out the best way how to scale Windows applications on high-resolution displays, but Parallels for Mac already features enhanced Retina support to ensure that all Windows application look just as sharp as their Mac neighbors.
Picture-in-Picture Mode
System administrators, developers, and even some power users sometimes run multiple virtual machines side-by-side, and keeping track of them can be a struggle. Parallels for Mac simplifies the monitoring of multiple virtual machines with its picture-in-picture mode, which conveniently displays all running virtual machines on a single screen, delivering a bird’s-eye view with a click of a button.
Extra Tools
Along these and other core features, Parallels for Mac also comes with over 30 tools to simplify everyday tasks on mac and windows. The tools give you the ability to easily create and customize animated GIFs from videos, prevent your computer from going to sleep and your display from dimming, optimize your home movie or television shows for iPad or iPhone, download your favorite videos from the Internet, record a video of a screen, immediately lock your screen to prevent unauthorized access to your computer, keep your Mac clutter-free and running at max speed, use your computer’s built-in microphone and record audio with a single click, and more.
Data Recovery
Unfortunately, the tools that come with Parallels for Mac free of charge don’t cover data recovery. The good news is that there’s at least one excellent data recovery solution for Mac that you can download for free and use it to recover lost or deleted files even if you don’t consider yourself to be a computer whizz. The name of this data recovery software is Disk Drill.
Just like Parallels for Mac, Disk Drill also comes with free extra tools. The tools that come with Disk Drill all focus on disk and data management, and they nicely complement the tools included with Parallels for Mac. Disk Drill’s Duplicate Finder allows you to easily find and remove duplicate files in multiple locations on your drive, Data Backup creates byte-to-byte disk and partition backups, and Disk Health is a free disk monitoring tool that alerts you to any potential disk issues.
Data recovery for free
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How Much Does Parallels Cost?
It’s possible to download Parallels for Mac free of charge, but you will be able to use it only for 14 days unless you purchase the full version.
Buy Parallels For Mac
A single Parallels for Mac license for home and student use costs €79.99. Developers, testers, and power users are encouraged to pay €99.99 a year for Parallels Desktop Pro Edition, which comes with many additional features and capabilities, including the support for up to 16 virtual (v)CPUs and 64GB of vRAM, the addition of a Microsoft Visual Studio plug-in, bash completion for Parallels CLI tools, an enhanced network editor that allows you to test different connectivity issues, EFI Secure Boot, port forwarding, and a lot more.
There’s also Parallels Desktop Business Edition for use in work settings, which also costs €99.99 a year, and includes the same additional features and capabilities as Parallels Desktop Pro Edition.
If you search online, it’s easy to find various Parallels for Mac free. download full version links, but you should avoid them at all cost. Even if you managed to find one that doesn’t lead to dangerous malware, downloading the full version of Parallels for Mac from the internet is a crime punishable by fees much higher than what it costs to purchase Parallels for Mac.
Parallel On Mac
Parallels Versus Alternatives
Parallels isn’t the only virtualization solution for Mac. Before you click the purchase button and acquire your own copy of Parallels Desktop for Mac, we think it’s worth exploring some alternative options.
VMware Fusion
VMware Fusion is a powerful virtualization software solution that can run nearly any operating system on a Mac. While easy enough for home users to quickly learn how to use, VMware Fusion is more than capable enough to satisfy the needs of professionals who develop and test software for multiple operating systems and want to do so without having to constantly rebooting. The ability to run an entire virtual cloud stack on a single Mac gives solution architects the ability to demonstrate their entire software solution in real time. Just like Parallels for Mac, VMware Fusion blends the Windows experience seamlessly with macOS. Its Unity View Mode ides the Windows desktop so you can run Windows apps just like Mac apps, and its hardware accelerated 3D graphics engine allows you to utilize your hardware to its maximum capacity.
VirtualBox
VirtualBox is an open source alternative to Parallels for Mac and VMware Fusion. It was first released in 2007 and acquired by Oracle in 2010. It can be used to load multiple guest operating system under a single host operating system, and it supports both Intel’s VT-x and AMD’s AMD-V hardware virtualization. VirtualBox sometimes doesn’t reach quite the same level of polish as its paid counterparts, but it’s hard to complain considering that it’s free and open source. Apart from macOS, VirtualBox also runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Solaris hosts and supports all recent versions of Windows, Linux, Solaris and OpenSolaris, OS/2, and OpenBSD. VirtualBox is being developed by the entire open source community as well as Oracle, and anyone is welcome to submit their contributions to the vbox-dev mailing list or to the Developers Corner forum.
Wine
Unlike Parallels for Mac, VMware Fusion, and VirtualBox, Wine isn’t a virtualization software solution but a compatibility layer that makes it possible to install and run Windows applications just like you would in Windows. Running Windows applications using Wine eliminates the performance and memory penalties associated with virtualization. The only downside is the fact that not all Windows applications run flawlessly on Mac using Wine, and some don’t run at all.
Wine uses a rating system that allows you to see which applications work best in Wine. Platinum applications work as well as (or better than) on Windows out of the box, gold applications work as well as (or better than) on Windows with workarounds, silver applications work excellently for normal use but have some problems for which there are no workarounds, bronze applications work but have some problems for normal use, and garbage applications have problems that are severe enough that they cannot be used for their intended purpose.