There’s just one thing left to do: install Parallels Tools, so that the virtual machine’s resolution will change when you re-size the window, among other integrations. To get started, click the “!” icon at top-right, then click “Install Parallels Tools.”.

Parallels Desktop for Mac, by Parallels, is software providing hardware virtualization for Macintosh computers with Intel processors.

• 1Overview
• 2Version 2.5
• 3Version 3.0
• 4Version 4.0
• 5Version 5
  • 5.1Feature update
• 15Supported operating systems

Overview[edit]

Parallels, Inc. is a developer of desktop and server virtualization software.

Historical[edit]

Released on June 15, 2006, it was the first software product to bring mainstream virtualization to Macintosh computers utilizing the Apple–Intel architecture (earlier software products ran PC software in an emulated environment).

Its name initially was 'Parallels Workstation for Mac OS X', which was consistent with the company's corresponding Linux and Windows products. This name was not well received within the Mac community, where some felt that the name, particularly the term “workstation,” evoked the aesthetics of a Windows product. Parallels agreed: “Since we've got a great Mac product, we should make it look and sound like a Mac product...”, it was therefore renamed ‘Parallels Desktop for Mac’.^[1]

On January 10, 2007, Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac was awarded “Best in Show” at MacWorld 2007.^[2]

Technical[edit]

Parallels Desktop for Mac is a hardware emulation virtualization software, using hypervisor technology that works by mapping the host computer's hardware resources directly to the virtual machine's resources. Each virtual machine thus operates identically to a standalone computer, with virtually all the resources of a physical computer.^[3] Because all guest virtual machines use the same hardware drivers irrespective of the actual hardware on the host computer, virtual machine instances are highly portable between computers. For example, a running virtual machine can be stopped, copied to another physical computer, and restarted.

Parallels Desktop for Mac is able to virtualize a full set of standard PC hardware, including^[4]

• A virtualized CPU of the same type as the host's physical processor,
• ACPI compliance system,
• A generic motherboard compatible with the Intel i965 chipset,
• Up to 64 GB of RAM for guest virtual machines,
• Up to 2 GB of video RAM (VRAM),
• VGA and SVGAvideo adapter with VESA 3.0 support and OpenGL and DirectX 10.1 acceleration,
• A 1.44 MB floppy drive, which can be mapped to a physical drive or to an image file,
• Up to four IDE devices. This includes virtual hard drives ranging in size from 20 MB to 2 TB each and CD/DVD-ROM drives. Virtual CD/DVD-ROM drives can be mapped to either physical drives or ISO image files.
• DVD/CD-ROM “pass-through” access,
• Up to four serial ports that can be mapped to a pipe or to an output file,
• Up to three bi-directional parallel ports, each of which can be mapped to a real port, to a real printer, or to an output file,
• An Ethernet virtual network card compatible with Realtek RTL8029(AS), capable of up to 16 network interface connections,
• Up to eight USB 2.0 devices and two USB 1.1 devices,
• An AC'97-compatible sound card.
• A 104-key Windows enhanced keyboard and a PS/2 wheel mouse.

Version 2.5[edit]

The first official release of version 2.5 was on February 27, 2007, as build 3186.

Version 2.5 brought support for USB 2.0 devices, which expanded the number of USB devices supported at native speed, including support for built-in iSight USB webcams. The amount of video RAM allocated to the guest OS was made adjustable, up to 32MB. Full featured CD/DVD drives arrived in this version, which allowed the user to burn disks directly in the virtual environment, and play any copy-protected CD or DVD as one would in Mac OS X. In addition, a shared clipboard and drag-drop support between Mac OS X and the guest OS was implemented. This version brought the ability for users with a Windows XP installation to upgrade to Windows Vista from within the VM environment.^[5] A new feature known as Coherence was added, which removed the Windows chrome, desktop, and the virtualization frames to create a more seamless desktop environment between Windows and Mac OS X applications. This version also allowed users to boot their existing Boot Camp Windows XP partitions, which eliminated the need to have multiple Windows installations on their Mac. A tool called Parallels Transporter was included to allow users to migrate their Windows PC, or existing VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Netsys lawsuit[edit]

In 2007, the German company Netsys GmbH sued Parallels' German distributor Avanquest for copyright violation, claiming that Parallels Desktop and Parallels Workstation are directly based on a line of products called “twoOStwo” that Parallels developed on paid commission for Netsys, of which it says, Netsys has been assigned all copyrights. Additionally, the lawsuit claimed that Parallels Desktop 2.5's compatibility with “twoOStwo” showed that the two software products are run by essentially the same functional core.^[6] When Netsys lost its initial urgency proceeding, it filed a new suit, in which it requested a temporary injunction from the Landgericht district court of Berlin.^[7]

Version 3.0[edit]

On June 7, 2007 build 4124 was released as the first publicly available version of Desktop 3.0.

Version 3.0 retained all of the functionality from previous versions and added new features and tools. Support for DirectX 8.1 and OpenGL^[8] was added, allowing Mac users to play some Windows games without the need to boot into Windows with Boot Camp.^[9] A new feature called SmartSelect offers cross OS file and application integration by allowing the user to open Windows files with Mac OS X programs and vice versa. Parallels Explorer was introduced, which allows the user to browse their Windows system files in Mac OS X without actually launching Windows. A new snapshot feature was included, allowing one to restore their virtual machine environment to a previous state in case of issues. Further, Parallels added a security manager to limit the amount of interaction between the Windows and Mac OS X installations. This version included a long-awaited complete “Parallels tools'” driver suite for Linux guest operating systems. Therefore, integration between Mac OS X and Linux guest-OS's was greatly improved.^[10]

Despite the addition of numerous new features, tools and added functionality, the first iteration of Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 was missing some of the features that Parallels had planned for it. A Parallels, Inc. representative stated at MacWorld in January 2007 that version 3.0 would bring accelerated graphics, “multi-core virtual machines/virtual SMP, some SCSI support, a more Mac-like feel, as well as a more sophisticated coherence mode, dubbed Coherence 2.0”.^[11] While accelerated graphics have materialised, Coherence, as well as the overall look and feel of Parallels Desktop for Mac has only changed slightly. Also, SCSI support has not been implemented.^[12]

It is currently unknown if these features have been abandoned altogether, or if they will show up in a later build of version 3.0.

Build 4560, released on July 17, 2007,^[13] added an imaging tool which allowed users to add capacity to their virtual disks.

Feature update[edit]

Build 5160, released on September 11, 2007,^[14] added some new features and updated some current features.

The release focused on updates to Coherence, with support for Exposé, window shadows, transparent windows, and the ability to overlap several Windows and Mac windows. Further, Parallels' Image Tool was updated to allow one to change their virtual hard disk format between plain and expanding.Parallels Explorer was updated to allow for one to automatically mount an offline VM hard drive to the Mac desktop. Some new features added are iPhone support in Windows, allowing iTunes in Windows to sync with it.^[15] Users can now mirror desktops or other folders. Further, Mac drives can now be mapped by Windows and sound devices can now be changed ‘on the fly’. Up to 2 GB of RAM can be allocated to a virtual machine, with a total of 4 GB of RAM available.^[16]

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 For Mac Free

Use of code from the Wine project[edit]

According to Parallels' Licensing page, Desktop for Mac version 3.0 contains Direct3D code that was originally developed by the Wineopen-source project.^[17] Wine software is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, which required Parallels to release the source code. Parallels released the modified source code on July 2, 2007, about 2 weeks after the promised release date.^[18] A Parallels spokesman explained the reasons for the delay in a message on the official company blog.^[19]

Version 4.0[edit]

Version 4.0, released November 11, 2008,^[20] updates its GUI, adds some new features, enhances its performance by up to 50%^[21] and consumes 15–30% less power than previous versions.^[22] Version 4.0 is the first version that supports both 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems. Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac's 3D support includes DirectX 9.0, DirectX Pixel Shader 2.0 and OpenGL 2.0^[23] as well as 256 MB video memory. It also adds support for 8 GB RAM in a virtual machine and 8-way SMP. Parallels Desktop 4.0 introduces an adaptive hypervisor, which allows users to focus the host computer's resources towards either host or the guest operating system.^[24]

Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac adds some new features such as:

• A fourth viewing mode called Modality,^[20] which allows users to scale the size of an active guest operating system on the Mac's desktop
• A new screenshot utility called Clips, which lets users take and share screenshots between the host and the guest operating systems.
• Start Menu integration and Automatic Windows Notifications on the Apple Menu Bar.
• The ability to use select voice commands^[25] to remotely control the virtual machine.
• The ability to start and stop a virtual machine via the iPhone. (Requires installing an iPhone application from Apple's AppStore.)

Starting with the Version 4.0 release, Parallels Desktop for Mac has a new logo, which resembles an aluminum iMac, with what appears to be Windows XP on the screen and 2 parallel red lines overlaid on the right side.

Feature update[edit]

Build 3810, released January 9, 2009,^[26] includes performance enhancements and features, such as DirectX 9.0 Shaders Model 2 and Vertex Shader support for additional 3D support Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE4) for better media applications performance. Build 3810 also adds support for running Windows 7 in a VM and for running Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server as either a host or as a guest OS.^[27]

Also included are usability features such as the ability to share Windows files by dragging them directly to a Mac application in the Mac Dock. Windows can now also automatically start in the background when a user opens a Windows application on the Mac desktop. Version 4.0 drew criticism for problems upgrading from Version 3.0 shortly after its initial release.^[28] Build 3810 also addresses installation and upgrade issues previously experienced with Version 4.0 and introduces the option to enroll in the company's new Customer Experience Program, which lets customers provide information about their preferences and user priorities.

Version 5[edit]

Officially released on November 4, 2009, Parallels Desktop 5 adds several new features, mainly to improve integration with the host OS.

New features include:

• 3D graphics and speed improvements
• Optimized for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
• Support for Windows 7
• Theming of Windows applications to make them look like native applications
• Support for Multi-Touch gestures (from a trackpad or Magic Mouse) and the Apple Remote
• The ability to drag and drop formatted text and images between Windows, Linux, and Mac applications,
• The ability for a system administrator to lock down a virtual machine so that users can't change the state of the virtual machine,
• Support for OpenGL 2.1 for Linux guest virtual machines.
• Support for DirectX 9c with Shader Model 3.

Feature update[edit]

Build 9308, released on December 21, 2009, added some new features.^[29]

Linux guest operating systems[edit]

• Parallels Tools support Xorg 1.7 in Fedora 12 virtual machines (experimental)
• Parallels Tools support Mandriva 2010 (experimental)
• OpenSUSE 11.1 installation media auto detection

Virtualization[edit]

• Improved performance for USB mass storage.

Windows guest operating systems[edit]

• Improved resume from suspend in virtual machines with multiple monitors assigned.
• Improved performance for file access via Shared Folders.

3D and video[edit]

• Improved performance for video playback in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
• Windows Aero is not available by default for machines with Intel GMA X3100 and GMA 950 graphic adapters (some MacBook and Mac Mini models). It is available on MacBooks with NVIDIA 9400M graphics cards.^[30]
• Vertical synchronization is now configurable. You can configure these settings using the corresponding option in the virtual machine video configuration page.
• Improved 3D performance for the video game Mirror's Edge.

macOS Server guest operating system[edit]

• The ability to pass kernel options to the macOS Server guest OS has been added. To do so, enable the 'Select boot device on startup' option in the virtual machine configuration, which will enable you to specify the necessary kernel options in the 5-second timeout before booting the kernel.

Version 6[edit]

Officially announced on September 9, 2010 and launched on September 14, 2010, Parallel 6 has full 64-bit support for the first time. Parallels claims that Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac '[has] over 80 new and improved features, including speed 40% above the previous version.' Specific new features include:

• An all-new 64-bit engine
• 5.1 Surround Sound support
• Better import implementation of VMware, Virtual PC virtual machines and Boot Camp partitions
• Improved network, hard drive and Transporter performance
• Windows program Spotlight integration
• Faster Windows launch time
• Enhanced 3D graphics that are 40% better than previous versions
• Ability to extend Mac OS X Parental Controls to Windows applications
• Ability to use Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts in Windows applications
• Enhanced Spaces and Exposé support

Version 7[edit]

Officially announced on September 1, 2011 and released on September 6, 2011, Parallels Desktop 7 adds many new features. These include:

• Integration with OS X 10.7.4 'Lion':
  • Full-screen support
  • Use of Launchpad for Windows apps
  • Mission Control support
  • Lion as a guest OS
  • Lion animations support
• Improved user interface
• New standard help and documentation
• Shared devices with Mac OS X
• Longer battery life
• Mac OS X parental controls support
• Support for Intel AES-NI encryption
• Enhanced performance and 3D graphics
• Support for up to 1GB video memory in virtual machine
• Enhanced audio support - up to 192 kHz
• Surround sound 7.1
• Added support for Windows 7

Version 8[edit]

Officially announced August 22, 2012 and released September 4, 2012, Parallels Desktop 8 adds many new features:

• OS X 10.8 'Mountain Lion' as a guest OS
• Retina resolution can be passed to virtual machines
• Windows 7 and Windows 8 automatically optimised for best experience on Retina
• Parallels Desktop notifications
• Notification Center support for Windows 8 toast notifications
• Mountain Lion Dictation in Windows apps
• Full screen on demand for Windows applications in Coherence
• Presentation Wizard
• Open in Internet Explorer button for Safari
• Drag & drop file to Outlook in the Dock opens new email with attachment
• Multi-language Keyboard Sync in Mac and Windows
• Full support for new Modern UI Windows 8 applications (Dock, Mission Control, Launchpad)
• Reworked Keyboard shortcuts preferences
• Use the standard OS X system preferences to set Parallels Desktop application shortcuts.
• Resources (CPU/RAM) monitoring
• Indication for VM hard drive space usage
• Shared Bluetooth
• Improved Virtual Machine boot time/Windows boots time are up to 25% faster than previous version
• Pause & resume Windows up to 25% faster than previous version
• Input/output (I/O) operations are up to 35% faster than previous version
• Games run up to 30% faster than previous version
• DirectX 10 support
• Full USB 3.0 support for faster connections to peripheral devices for Virtual Machines starting from Parallels Desktop 8.0.18305 <http://kb.parallels.com/en/115008>

Version 9[edit]

Officially announced on August 29, 2013 and released on September 5, 2013, Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac includes these new features and enhancements:

• Brings back the 'real' Start menu for Windows 8 and enables Modern apps in separate windows instead of full screen
• Power Nap support, so applications stay up-to-date on Retina Display Mac and MacBook Air computers
• Thunderbolt and Firewire storage devices are designated to connect to Windows virtual machine
• Sticky Multi-monitor setup remembers settings and puts Windows virtual machines back into Full Screen mode on the remote monitor
• Sync iCloud, SkyDrive, Dropbox and more without unnecessary duplication of files
• Windows apps can launch the OS X Mountain Lion Dictionary with Dictionary gesture
• Enhanced integration with MacOS for Linux users
• Enhanced New Virtual Machine Wizard makes it easier to set up a new virtual machine, especially on computers without hard drives
• PDF printer for Windows to print from any Windows application to a PDF on the Mac desktop, even if the application doesn't have that functionality
• Compatibility with OS X 10.9 'Mavericks'
• Easily install and access complimentary security software subscriptions from one location
• Up to 40% better disk performance than previous versions
• Virtual machines shut down up to 25% faster and suspend up to 20% faster than with Parallels Desktop 8
• 3D graphics and web browsing are 15% faster than in Parallels Desktop 8

Enterprise version:

• Set an expiration date for the virtual machine.
• Run virtual machines in headless mode.
• Start virtual machines on Mac boot.

Version 10[edit]

Released August 20, 2014, Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac includes support for OS X 10.10 'Yosemite'.^[31]

Less than a year after release of its release, Parallels spokesperson John Uppendahl confirmed version 10 will not be fully compatible with Windows 10. The coherence mode, which integrates the Windows user interface with OS X, will not be updated and users will need to purchase and upgrade to version 11 to continue using this feature.^[32]

Version 11[edit]

Released August 19, 2015, Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac includes support for Windows 10 and is ready for OS X 10.11 'El Capitan'.^[33]

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac is available as a one-time purchase of $79.99 for the Desktop edition, and as an annual subscription of $99.99 for Pro edition.^[34] Version 11 has multiple issues with macOS 10.13, High Sierra. The website currently offers a full price upgrade to Version 13 as a correction, effectively making this version obsolete with the macOS upgrades.^[35]

Version 12[edit]

Released August 18, 2016.^[36]

Version 13[edit]

Released August 22, 2017,^[37] Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac provides macOS High Sierra readiness and support for upcoming Windows 10 features. According to Parallels, the new version makes it simple for MacBook Pro users to add Windows applications to the Touch Bar, and to use the Touch Bar within Windows applications. It is also the first solution to bring the upcoming Windows 10 People Bar feature to the Mac, including integration with the Mac Dock and Spotlight. The new version also features up to 100 percent performance improvements for completing certain tasks. The update also brings in a slightly refreshed UI to better match macOS and visual improvements for Windows users on Retina displays.^[38]

Version 14[edit]

Released August 21, 2018, Parallels Desktop 14 supports macOS 10.14 'Mojave'.^[39]

Supported operating systems[edit]

Parallels Desktop for Mac Business, Home and Pro Editions requires these versions of MacOS:^[40]

Parallels Desktop 11 and 12 only partially support macOS 'High Sierra':

^A Coherence Mode windows may appear under MacOS windows, and some graphics artifacts may occur.

^B Neither Parallels Desktop 11 nor 12 fully support APFS disks, including virtual disks and Boot Camp partitions. Therefore, a 'High Sierra' guest machine must be installed 'manually' by passing the '--converttoapfs NO' command line switch, and cannot use the automated Parallels virtual machine creation process.

Guest[edit]

In Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, support for guest operating systems includes a variety of 32-bit and 64-bit x86 operating systems, including:^[40]

• Multiple versions of Windows, including Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 (Windows 8.1 must generally be installed from a DVD, since Microsoft offered only the '.exe' version of Windows 8.1 in downloadable form, and did not offer the '.iso' version as a download (Microsoft has released an ISO version of Windows 8.1 a few months earlier)).
• Mac OS X Leopard Server, Snow Leopard Server, and Mac OS X Lion (only with Mac OS X Lion as host OS)
• Various Linux distributions
• eComStation, OS/2, Solaris

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Rudolph, Ben (2006-05-18). 'Parallels Workstation for Mac OS X is now Parallels Desktop for Mac—and the release candidate is ready for download!'. The Official Parallels Virtualization Blog. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
2. ^Rudolph, Ben (2006-05-18). 'Parallels Desktop for Mac Update RC Wins MacWorld Expo 2007 'Best in Show''. Parallels, Inc. Archived from the original on 2007-01-16. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
3. ^'Parallels Desktop for Mac Datasheet'(PDF). Parallels, Inc. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-03-07. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
4. ^'System Requirements'. Parallels, Inc. Archived from the original on 2006-12-21. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
5. ^'Desktop Release Features'. Parallels Web. Archived from the original on 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
6. ^'Virtualization's Dirty Laundry Aired in German Court Room'. Virtual Strategy. 2018-04-01. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
7. ^'Netsys sues Parallels German distributor'. MacNN.
8. ^'Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 3D Graphics'. SWSoft Parallels. 2007-06-07. Archived from the original on 2007-06-09.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
9. ^Wang, Anthony (2006-12-11). 'Inside Mac Games Interviews Parallels'. Inside Mac Games. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
10. ^'Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 overview'. SWSoft Parallels. 2007-05-31.
11. ^Chang, Jacqui (2007-01-11). 'Ars at Macworld: Interview with Parallels'. Ars Technica.
12. ^'Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 overview'. SWSoft Parallels. 2007-06-07. Archived from the original on 2007-06-09.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)
13. ^Rudolph, Ben (2007-07-17). 'Desktop for Mac 3.0 – Build 4560'. Official Parallels Blog. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
14. ^Rudolph, Ben (2007-09-01). 'Parallels Desktop 3.0 Feature Update is LIVE!'. Official Parallels Blog. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
15. ^'Beta Announcement Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Feature Update'. Parallels, Inc. 2007-08-02.
16. ^'Parallels Desktop 3.0 build 5160 features and improvements'. Parallels. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
17. ^Licensing information. Parallels, Inc. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
18. ^Dösinger, Stefan (2007-07-03). Parallels Desktop WatchArchived 2012-07-17 at Archive.today. The official Wine Wiki. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
19. ^Rudolph, Ben (2007-07-03). 'The Lowdown on Parallels & Wine'. Official Parallels Blog. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
20. ^ ^ab'Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 Released'. O'Grady's PowerPage. 2008-11-11. Archived from the original on 2009-05-03.
21. ^Vilches, Jose (2008-11-11). 'Parallels launches Desktop for Mac 4.0'. TechSpot. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
22. ^'Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac Offers Premium Windows-on-Mac Experience with Virtualization Enhancements Plus Internet Security, Data Protection and Disk Management' (Press release). Parallels. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
23. ^'Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 unveiled'. MacWorld.
24. ^Wagner, Mitch (2008-11-11). 'Parallels Boosts Mac Virtualization Performance'. InformationWeek. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
25. ^'ITT Systems - Information Technology News, Reviews and Product Comparisons'. jkontherun.com.
26. ^Marshall, David (2009-01-06). 'Parallels updates Desktop 4.0 for Mac'. Virtualization Report. InfoWorld. Archived from the original on 2009-03-18.
27. ^Barylick, Chris (2009-01-05). 'Parallels Desktop 4.0 Build 3810 Released'. The Mac Observer. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
28. ^Ecommerce Times^{[dead link]}
29. ^'A Holiday Basket of Goodies: Parallels Desktop 5 Build 9308 and New Features'. Parallels, Inc. 2009-12-21. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
30. ^'Aero does not work in Parallels 5'. Parallels.
31. ^'Parallels Announces Parallels Desktop® 10 for Mac'. Parallels. Archived from the original on 2014-08-23. Retrieved 2014-08-23.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
32. ^'Year-old Parallels and VMware software won't be updated for Windows 10'. Ars Technica.
33. ^'Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac'. Parallels. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
34. ^'Parallels'. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
35. ^'KB Parallels: Known issues with macOS 10.13 High Sierra and Parallels Desktop for Mac'. Parallels. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
36. ^'Parallels Desktop 12 for Mac Launches with 20 Smart and Simple Mac and Windows Tools, macOS Sierra Readiness, and Over 25 Percent Performance Improvements'. Parallels. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
37. ^'Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac Launches and is the First to Bring Windows Apps to the Mac Touch Bar and Windows People Bar to the Mac'. Parallels. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
38. ^'Parallels Desktop 13 brings improved performance & native Touch Bar support to Windows'. 9to5Mac. 2017-08-22. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
39. ^'Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac Launches'. August 21, 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
40. ^ ^ab'KB Parallels: Parallels Desktop and Mac OS (Host) Compatibility'. Parallels. Retrieved 2018-03-20.

External links[edit]

• Official website

As a .NET developer, I’ve spent most of my time coding on Windows machines. It’s only logical: Visual Studio is the richest development experience for building C# and VB.NET applications, and it only runs on Windows…right?

When I joined Stormpath to work on our open-source .NET authentication library, I was handed a MacBook Pro and given an interesting challenge: can a Mac be an awesome .NET development platform?

To my surprise, the answer is yes! I’ll share how I turned a MacBook Pro into the ultimate Visual Studio development machine.

How to Run Visual Studio on a Mac

Visual Studio doesn’t run natively on OS X, so my first step was to get Windows running on my MacBook Pro. (If you want an editor that does run natively, Xamarin Studio or Visual Studio Code might fit the bill).

There are multiple options for running Windows on a Mac. Every Mac comes with Apple’s Boot Camp software, which helps you install Windows into a separate partition. To switch between OSes, you need to restart.

Parallels is a different animal: it runs Windows (or another guest OS) inside a virtual machine. This is convenient because you don’t have to restart your computer to switch over to Windows. Instead, Windows runs in an OS X application window.

I found that a combination of both worked best for me. I installed Windows into a Boot Camp partition first, and then turned that partition into an active Parallels virtual machine. This way, I have the option of using Windows in the virtual machine, or restarting to run Windows natively at full speed.

I was initially skeptical of the performance of a heavy application like Visual Studio running in a virtual machine. The option to restart to Windows via Boot Camp gave me a fallback in case Visual Studio was sluggish.

There are some minor disadvantages to this method: you can’t pause the virtual machine or save it to a snapshot. A non-Boot Camp virtual machine doesn’t have these limitations. This guide will work regardless of what type of virtual machine you create.

After three months of serious use, and some tweaks, I’ve been very impressed with Parallels’ performance. I haven’t needed to boot directly to Windows at all. (For comparison, my host machine is a 15” mid-2015 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB flash drive.)

In the remainder of this guide, I’ll detail the steps I took to optimize both Parallels and Visual Studio to run at peak performance.

Installing Windows With Boot Camp and Parallels

This part’s easy. I followed Apple’s Boot Camp guide to install Windows in a separate partition.

Then, I installed Parallels and followed the Parallels Boot Camp guide to create a new virtual machine from the existing Boot Camp partition.

Tweaking Parallels for Performance and Usability

The Parallels team publishes guidelines on how to maximize the performance of your virtual machine. Here’s what I adopted:

Virtual machine settings:

• 2 virtual CPUs
• 4096MB system memory
• 256MB graphics memory

Parallels options:

• Optimization: Faster virtual machine, Adaptive hypervisor, Tune Windows for speed all turned on.
• Sharing: Shared cloud, SmartMount, and Access Windows folders from Mac turned off, as I didn’t need these for my workflow.

Can Install Parallels Tools For Mac Os X

I experimented with both of Parallels’ presentation modes, Coherence and Full Screen. While it was cool to see my Windows apps side-by-side with OS X in Coherence mode, I found that the UI responsiveness (especially opening and closing windows and dialogs) felt sluggish.

Because of this, I use Full Screen exclusively now. I have Windows full-screen on my external Thunderbolt display, and OS X on my laptop. If I need to use OS X on my large monitor, I can swipe the Magic Mouse to switch desktops.

Adjusting OS X and Windows Features

I fixed a few annoyances and performance drains right off the bat:

• Function keys. If you’re using the Mac keyboard, you’ll want to change the function key behavior so the F1-F12 keys work correctly in Visual Studio. From System Preferences – Keyboard, make sure Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys is checked. With this turned on, hold Fn to use the Mac functions (brightness, volume, etc.) on F1-F12. With an external non-Mac keyboard, this isn’t an issue.

• Start menu. I’m using Windows 8, and the removal of the Start menu annoyed me. I clung to my old ways and installed Start8 to restore it.

• Disable Windows visual effects. I turned off most of the Windows desktop manager visual effects by going to Control Panel – System and Security – Advanced system settings – Advanced – Performance – Settings – Visual Effects and choosing Adjust for best performance. However, I left Smooth edges of screen fonts checked because it improves text rendering on my monitor.

Installing Visual Studio and Helpful Extensions

Installing Visual Studio is a piece of cake once the virtual machine is set up. I simply downloaded the latest release from MSDN and let the installer run.

If you use an Apple Magic Mouse (as I do), Visual Studio tends to be overly eager to zoom the text size in and out as you swipe your finger over the mouse. The Disable Mouse Wheel Zoom add-on fixes this annoyance.

Improving Visual Studio for Performance

I was impressed with how well Visual Studio performed under emulation. With a large multi-project solution open, though, I saw some slowdowns.

Through trial and error, I found a number of things that could be disabled to improve performance. You may not want to make all of the changes I did, so pick and choose your own list of tweaks:

• Disable hardware-accelerated rendering. Unchecking Automatically adjust visual experience based on client performance, Enable rich client visual experience, and Use hardware graphics acceleration if available via Options – Environment made the UI feel much more responsive on my machine.

• Start up to an empty environment. Starting up Visual Studio for the first time feels a lot snappier if you skip the default news page on startup. Select Empty environment under Options – Environment – Startup – At startup.

• Remove unused extensions. Visual Studio ships with a number of extensions that you may not need. From Tools – Extensions and Updates – Installed, remove any extensions you aren’t actively using (you can always reinstall them later). I got rid of six extensions I didn’t need.

• Disable extra debugging features. I turned off both Enable Diagnostic Tools while debugging and Show elapsed time PerfTip while debugging in Options – Debugging – General. I wasn’t using these debugging features, and debugging felt snappier after I disabled them.

• Turn off the Navigation Bar. I found the code editor Navigation Bar to be unnecessary if the Solution Explorer is open. I disabled it via Options – Text Editor – All Languages – Navigation Bar.

• Disable CodeLens. CodeLens is a cool feature for collaboration, but it’s not part of my current workflow. I got rid of the CPU overhead by turning it off via Options – Text Editor – All
  Languages – CodeLens – Enable CodeLens.

• Turn off Track Changes. When a file is open in the code editor, Visual Studio will represent recent changes by displaying small regions of green or yellow on the scroll bar. If you can live without this, turn off Track changes via Options – Text Editor – General for a small performance boost.

• Turn off Track Active Item. Squeeze out a little bit more UI performance out by ensuring Track Active Item in Solution Explorer is unchecked under Options – Projects and Solutions – General.

Visual Studio on a Mac: The Best of Both Worlds

With these tweaks, I’ve come to love using Visual Studio on a Mac. The performance is good, and by running Windows in a virtual machine, I get the best of both OS worlds.

Want to see what I’m building with this setup? Check out our open-source .NET SDK on Github.

Do you have any other tricks you’ve used to improve Visual Studio performance? Any must-have add-ons that boost your productivity? Leave me a comment below!