Parallels today announced version 14 of its desktop virtualization software for Mac, offering macOS Mojave support out of the box and significantly improved application launch speeds over the previous version.
How to run Windows on Mac using Parallels Desktop 13 Of course, you'll need Parallels Desktop and Windows 10 in order to download and install them. Parallels Desktop costs $79.99 for a standard license. If you activated a trial version of Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can reactivate it with a commercial license at any time. Click on Parallels Desktop from the application menu bar on top of the screen; you may click on your Control Center window to see it. Parallels Desktop is the easiest, fastest, and most tightly integrated app for running Windows apps or the Windows desktop in Apple OS X.
This update puts a heavy focus on enhanced storage optimization, with Parallels Desktop being around 20-30 percent smaller than earlier releases. The company says virtual machines can also save as much as 20GB of additional disk space depending on how they're configured.
Elsewhere, the developers have optimized the compression of memory states saved with the Snapshots tool, which takes on average 15 percent less storage space, while a new disk space wizard provides users with suggestions on how to economize storage, with advice on managing multiple virtual machines and VM snapshots.
In addition, Parallels 14 introduces several Windows features for use in macOS. For example, Microsoft Ink is now available for editing Office documents, and stylus support has been added to CorelDRAW, Fresh Paint, PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Parallels Desktop also now includes Touch Bar features on compatible MacBook Pros for OneNote, AutoCAD, SketchUp, Microsoft Visio, and other apps, while a Touch Bar wizard offers users the ability to customize Windows app shortcuts from Apple's OLED function strip.
Lastly, Parallels Toolbox has received some additional Mac features including new options to screenshot entire web pages, resize images and perform memory consolidation functions.
Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac is available from August 23. Existing Parallels 12 and 13 users can upgrade to the new version for $50. New users can sign up for an $80 a year subscription or make a one-time purchase of Parallels 14 for $100. Parallels Desktop 14 Pro Edition and Business Edition both cost $100 per year. Note that a Windows license is not included in the software and must be bought separately.
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A regular cycle of annual upgrades has established Parallels Desktop as the leading virtualisation tool for Mac users who need to run Windows apps and software tools that aren't normally available on the Mac. Those upgrades also tend to coincide with new versions of macOS itself, so with macOS Mojave now in the final stages of beta testing it's time for version 14 of Parallels Desktop to make its debut.
Last year's upgrade to v13 largely focused on catching up with recent developments in Mac hardware, such as the Touch Bar on Apple's latest MacBook Pro laptops. In contrast, v14 is more forward-looking, allowing you to create Windows virtual machines (VMs) that support new technologies, such as Intel's high-performance AVX-512 instruction set, which is used in the current Xeon-based iMac Pro, as well as the next generation of Cannon Lake chips. The developers have also improved OpenGL support for Windows VMs in order to enhance performance for a number of graphics-intensive apps, such as the OriginLab range of data analysis tools, which haven't run well within the virtual machine environment in the past.
There have been performance improvements in other areas too, with Parallels claiming that Coherence mode, which hides the Windows desktop so that Windows apps simply appear on the Mac desktop alongside native Mac apps, provides 17 percent higher frame rates when running graphics software. Launch and suspend times for virtual machines are also improved, along with performance of the Windows 'virtual disk'. And, for developers who may need to run multiple virtual machines with different operating systems, there's a Disk Space Wizard that helps to reduce the overall size of each virtual machine file.
Parallels Desktop For Mac Manual
Parallels always likes to support Apple's latest eye-candy features, so Windows virtual machines in Parallels Desktop 14 will be able to use the new Quick Look markup features that are due to arrive with macOS Mojave. The Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro laptops will now work with additional Windows apps, including QuickBooks and Microsoft Visual Studio, displaying menu commands from those apps directly on the Touch Bar. And, on the Windows side of the fence, Windows 10 virtual machines will now allow you to use a pressure-sensitive stylus or trackpad with Windows Ink.
SEE: 20 pro tips to make Windows 10 work the way you want (free PDF)
Parallels Desktop For Mac Support
Parallels also informed us that it should be possible to accelerate graphics performance on a Windows VM using an external GPU (eGPU), such as the Blackmagic eGPU that Apple is currently promoting.