What is Parallels Desktop?
Nov 12, 2009 Home Forums > Parallels Desktop for Mac > Windows Guest OS Discussion > parallells desktop 4.0 for Mac Discussion in ' Windows Guest OS Discussion ' started by LarsC, Nov 8, 2009. Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac is available in English and localized versions will soon be available in Chinese, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Polish and Russian. The standard retail price (SRP) of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac is $79.99. New users can test a free, fully-functional copy for 15 days. Current Parallels Desktop users can upgrade their existing software for $39.99. Users that purchased version 3.0 on or after September 1, 2008, qualify for a free upgrade to version 4.0.
Mac is a great computer with great operating system, however there is a lot of applications created for Microsoft Windows only, including professional and creativity apps, video games and applications for development. Due to the incompatibility in the software architecture between the macOS and Windows it is not possible to run your Windows apps on a Mac natively. Put simply, the macOS can't run the .exe files.
Parallels Desktop is an application for Mac that allows you run Windows, Linux or even OS X operating systems and applications created for them on your Mac. This is made possible thanks to a specific software technology called desktopvirtualization.
Parallels Desktop uses a special type of the virtualization: a hardware-assisted full hardware virtualization that relies on the Intel VT-x technology and allows simulating the whole computer with its hardware and software. This simulated environment is called a virtual machine.
What is a virtual machine?
A virtual machine can be best described as a 'software computer'. Any real computer, like your Mac or a PC, has a processor, a motherboard, RAM, a video card, a hard drive, a sound card and some other devices. Your virtual machine's not an exception - see virtual machine's configuration for the details.
Compatibility
Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac is fully compatible with macOS 10.14 Mojave. Older Parallels Desktop versions* only partially support working on macOS Mojave due to technical reasons and the following issues may occur (included but not limited to):
Parallels
- Issues allowing Parallels Desktop system extensions.
- Issues with creating a Boot Camp based virtual machine.
- Visual and graphics artifacts.
- Intermittent application crash.
See the extended list of issues below.
* - Parallels Desktop 13 and 12 for Mac. Parallels Desktop 11 and earlier has reached End-of-Life and are not supported.
Parallels Desktop 4.0 For Mac
Known issues with macOS as a main system
| Issue | Workaround |
|---|---|
| Unable to grant access to camera and microphone for Parallels Desktop in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy | Change configuration of all available virtual machines in Options > 'Startup and Shutdown' to 'Start up and shut down manually' Then restart the Mac and after the restart start Parallels Desktop again. After granting the access it's possible to change Startup and Shutdown settings to the previous values. |
| Parallels Desktop Preferences: controls are not visible if Preferences window is not active. | Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0. |
| 'Open in Internet Explorer' Safari plug-in cannot be installed. | Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.1. |
| Virtual machine in Windowed view mode: devices 'LED' indicators do not blink. | Click 'Hide devices' > click 'Show devices'. |
| Resource Usage window is transparent. | Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0. |
| Applications (Parallels) folder icon image is broken. | Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0. |
| Virtual machine Shared Applications are not displayed in 'Recents' Dock area. | Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0. |
Known issues with macOS virtual machine
Note: If you want to upgrade your virtual machine to macOS 10.14 Mojave, please make sure to take a backup.
| Issue | Workaround |
|---|---|
| Black screen in macOS virtual machine after upgrade to 10.14 Mojave | Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0. |
| Mouse scroll does not work during a new installation of macOS 10.14 Mojave | Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0. |