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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
Parallels Desktop 14 For Mac Review Parallels 14 is definitely faster to launch and more slimline than previous versions. The improved Touch Bar support for Windows apps also makes it more convenient to use major Windows apps on Mac. Quick Look review of Parallels Desktop 12 for Mac. PD12 Features. PD12 has many new features, but I won’t go into all of them in detail in this Quick Look review.
Pros: Parallels Desktop four.0 for Mac is a totally strong program that permits guest running structures to run on top of host running systems. Thus, you may run multiple running structures at the identical time. The result is the fine of both worlds: you may run Mac OS X generally, however, if you. Parallels Desktop 7 For Mac not only integrates with many of the new features in Lion, such as Launchpad and full-screen apps, the folks at Parallels have also been tweaking the code to provide higher performance, both in the basic virtualization application and in graphics performance.
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
Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac was released a few months ago, and since then I've been using it to run Windows, Linux, Mac and even Android virtual machines on my 27-inch iMac. Parallels has been making great strides in providing a top virtualization tool since the first days of Intel Macs, and this 13th iteration adds a few features and hones performance.
New Features
A lot of MacBook Pros with Touch Bar have been sold in the past year or so, and it's not surprising that Parallels decided to add Touch Bar support to Parallels Desktop 13. The Touch Bar support is integrated with Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Windows, as well as a handful of browsers including Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Elements that are pinned in the Windows Task Bar show up in the Touch Bar along with buttons for Cortana, Task View and settings. Other Touch Bar actions can be customized for just about any Windows app running in Parallels Desktop 13.
In an upcoming release of Windows 10, Microsoft will launch the 'People Bar' that allows users to pin contacts to the Task Bar. Parallels Desktop will support that by allowing users to add favorite contacts to the Mac Dock.
Another new feature is Picture-in-Picture view, which makes small windows of active virtual machines that are always visible, even if a Mac app is in Full Screen Mode. This can be very useful if you're using a Windows VM for streaming or running a process that you need to keep an eye on.
A Windows 10 VM along with three other operating systems in PIP mode.
Parallels noted that the Business Edition of Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac now has a Single Application mode in which admins can deliver an 'invisible' Windows VM to a user's Mac Dock that has selected apps pre-installed. The user doesn't even have to know that the Windows app(s) are running in a VM.
As you'd expect, Parallels also improved the performance of Desktop 13. External Thunderbolt SSDs now respond at near native speeds, snapshots of VMs using a lot of memory happen up to 50 percent faster, working with Windows files on a Mac is now up to 47 percent faster, and even USB devices perform up to 40 percent faster. Finally, Parallels Desktop 13 appears to work better with Retina displays in scaled mode, with transitions and the sharpness of text and graphics being much improved over the previous version.
Hands-On With Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac
The process of creating a new VM for just about any operating system is getting easier with each successive version of Parallels Desktop. When setting up a Windows 10 VM, you don't even need to have a license; you can purchase one from Microsoft during setup. Of course, it's possible to install Windows from an image file or DVD, or even transfer it from a PC you're replacing to a Mac VM.
The Parallels Desktop 13 control center shown with a large variety of operating systems.
Need to run a specialized app in another OS? Parallels includes a bunch of free systems, including the Windows 10 Development Environment, the Modern.IE Test Environment, your existing macOS installation (which is installed from the Recovery Partition), and Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, Mint and Debian GNU Linux. As mentioned earlier, Parallels Desktop 13 can even be used to set up an Android VM.
Parallels Desktop 10 For Mac
Since the release of macOS High Sierra, I've been running betas of new versions under Desktop 13, and it's stable and fast. One thing I don't personally use that's part of Parallels Desktop 13 is the Toolbox. That's a collection of over 30 utilities for the Mac, and most of them are redundant so I don't even think about installing it.
On today's higher-powered Macs -- especially those with a lot of RAM -- VMs run very quickly, even when you're running graphics-intensive apps. Parallels Desktop 13 can optimize VM settings automatically for the fastest possible virtual environment by selecting either productivity, games, design or development. It tweaks memory, graphics and other settings to make it run at peak performance.
The update to Parallels Desktop 13 from earlier versions 11 and 12 is just $49.99 regardless if you're a 'student' or a full power user. A new license is $79.99 for students and home use, or $99.99 per year for the power users.
The Bottom Line
If you need to run other operating systems on a Mac, Parallels Desktop is still the way to go. It's reasonably-priced, fast, and includes the wonderful Parallels Access remote access capability for remotely controlling a Mac.