Parallels Desktop for Mac is desktop virtualization software that allows Microsoft Windows, Linux and Google Chrome operating systems and applications to run on an Apple Mac computer. The software integrates the guest operating system (OS) into Mac OS X, allowing it to mimic native OS performance.

Parallels Desktop for Mac Build 5608 added support for guest Parallels Tools for Linux in the latest Linux distributions (including Ubuntu 8). It also added support for running 3D graphics in Windows virtual machines on Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.3. Parallels Desktop 1.0 for Mac OS X Developer: Parallels (product page) System requirements: Any Mac with an Intel CPU, Mac OS X 10.4.6, 512MB of RAM, 30MB free drive space Price: US.

Users can choose to run Mac and guest apps side by side on the Mac OS or as a full-fledged guest virtual desktop. For example, users can open a Windows app such as Internet Explorer or Windows Media Player from the Mac Finder utility. Similarly, users can drag and drop documents, folders and other data from Windows File Explorer to Finder -- and vice versa. Users can also swap between OS X and Windows without rebooting their computers and select which OS they want specific applications to open in.

Parallels Desktop for Mac comes with three modes. Coherence mode runs guest and Mac applications side by side in one window. Full Screen mode creates a full guest desktop, and Modality lets users resize and customize virtual machine windows running on top of the Mac OS.

Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition includes centralized deployment and management capabilities for IT administrators to streamline Windows virtual machine (VM) delivery. Admins can also link Parallels Desktop for Mac with an update server to ensure that the guest OS stays up-to-date. Business Edition also includes security capabilities such as enforcing USB thumb drive device policies and restricting users from altering VM settings or creating new VMs.

Starting with Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac, the program is compatible with Windows 10 and OS X El Capitan. It also supports Windows 8 and 8.1.

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Introduction

Parallels Desktop 1.0 for Mac OS X
Developer: Parallels (product page)
System requirements: Any Mac with an Intel CPU, Mac OS X 10.4.6, 512MB of RAM, 30MB free drive space
Price: US$79.99 (US$49.99 through July 15)

Move over emulation, virtualization is in and it's hotter than two Jessica Albas wresting the devil himself in a pit of molten steel. It's no contest, virtualization has it all: multiple operating systems running on the same machine at nearly the full speed of the host's processor with each system seamlessly networking with the next. Add to that the fact that it's cheaper than getting a new machine and you have the guaranteed latest craze. Not even the Hula Hoop can stop this one.

Okay, virtualization isn't totally new–it's just new to Macs and Parallels Desktop is the first out the door with a 1.0 product for Mactels. For those that are just getting to the party, here's a bit of a breakdown on virtualization. The idea is that program acts as a virtual machine (VM) and its job is to bethe PC (one of the more boring drama classes), tricking the client OS into thinking it's inside a real x86 machine with a physical hard drive, keyboard, Ethernet card, etc., when in reality, it's merely grabbing unused CPU cycles and RAM inside another OS to do it's thing.

The benefits are pretty clear over a real PC: It's running on the Mac you know and love but you're not sacrificing access to the occasional Windows-only app that you might need. Maybe you have a copy of Office XP for Windows and don't want to shell out for the Mac version. Sure, you could load up Apple's Boot Camp, but using a program like Parallels–or its competitors VMWare, WINE and MS' Virtual PC–means you don't have to reboot just to use that accounting program at work.

It is a great prospect and now even Apple is recommending running Parallels on their Get A Mac site:

That's the corporate equivalent of Jesus endorsing your sandals. Click for high res.

When that page went up, the price of Parallels not-so-coincidentally went up from $50 to $80, so let this be a lesson to us all: never say 'wow, that's so cheap' on a public forum again. Still, that's still cheaper than the $129 charges for the Virtual PC standalone package and if it works as advertised, it's hard to compare the two. Parallels promises to be a big upgrade from the pokey and painful Virtual PC emulation. So let's see if it's the cheap and fast hydra PC we've all been waiting for.

Minimum requirements

Mac Parallels Desktop

Any Intel Mac (doesn't require a machine with VT-x support)
A minimum of 512 MB of RAM, 1 GB recommended
30 MB of available HD space for Parallels plus enough room for the VM OS
OS X 10.4.6

Test Hardware

MacBook Pro 2.0
2 GB RAM
OS X 10.4.6 / 10.4.7 (both tested)

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