Parallels For Mac How To Not Have Same Folders On Desktop

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.

Faster to launch and use
Touch Bar ready for Windows apps
Requires less hard drive space

No DirectX 13 support for games

Let us consider we have two user accounts on a Mac (A and B) sharing one virtual machine: Log into the user A, find the virtual machine's bundle (for example 'Windows XP.pvm' ), right-click on it and select 'Get Info' Locate the section 'Sharing & Permissions', select user A, click on a cogwheel to. The Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac Edition includes version 4 of Parallels Desktop (it comes with a free upgrade to the latest version of Parallels, version 5) along with a set of video tutorials. Go to the Virtual Machine menu > Configure > Options tab > Sharing > click on Custom Folders. > click on '+' > navigate to MacintoshHD -> Users -> Shared, choose Shared folder. In Windows click on 'Parallels Shared folders' shortcut located on the Desktop or go to Widnows Explorer > Network, here you will see Shared folder with all its contents.

80%Overall Score

Parallels is still the best way to run Windows on a Mac simultaneously and the latest version of Parallels 14 has just been released.

Parallels allows you to conveniently run all those Windows only applications and games that don’t run on Mac.

Here we’ve taken a first look at the new macOS Mojave ready version of Parallels.

In a nutshell, here’s what’s new and what we like in Parallels 14.

The biggest improvement we’ve noticed with Parallels 14 is speed. One of our biggest gripes with Parallels has always been the amount of time it takes to open but Parallels 14 launches Windows noticeably faster. Parallels claims it opens “four times faster” than Parallels 13 and while it doesn’t quite feel that fast, it’s a big improvement. While using Windows, it also feels a bit snappier than before with less lag when using big apps or games.
Parallels takes up less space on your hard drive than previous versions. It now takes up to around 20GB less space which is a significant saving. However, this mainly applies to Windows 10 installs – the savings for other versions of Windows are a lot less.
Parallels 14 is optimized for macOS Mojave. Parallels usually release a new version with every new version of macOS and it’s guaranteed to work with Mojave. Mojave hasn’t been released quite yet but you can test the Public Beta version of Mojave in Parallels if you want to give it a spin.
Touch Bar support has been enhanced from the previous version. There are now pre-configured Touch Bar shortcuts for Windows software like OneNote and Quicken and you can still customize Touch Bar controls for any app you like.
If you use a drawing tablet with your Mac, you can now use Microsoft Ink with pressure sensitive support to edit Windows Office documents on Mac. This works with Windows apps such as PowerPoint, CorelDRAW and Photoshop.

Some of the other highlights worth mentioning include:

Dark mode can be used in Windows applications
The new enhanced Quick Look and Screenshot features can be used in Windows
Camera Continuity imports pictures from iOS 12 into Windows
Graphics Support has been improved for OpenGL
Unused virtual video memory is now used by macOS for smoother and faster operation when running Parallels
4K video cameras are now supported for video conferencing

There are also specific improvements to Parallels Desktop Business edition the most notable being automatic Smart Card reader availability in macOS and Windows.

On the downside:

There’s still no support for DirectX 13 that would allow users to play games like FIFA on Mac.
Many of the biggest 3D performance improvements are only for the latest iMac Pros so won’t be of much use to the vast majority of Mac users that have iMacs and MacBooks. This will mainly benefit those that use graphics heavy 3D modelling apps such as CAD applications on Mac.

Parallels pricing remains that same as before depending on which version you need.

As an incentive, Parallels are also offering Parallels Toolbox for free with new purchases of Parallels 14.

You can also try a free trial of Parallels 14 to test it for yourself.

Parallels For Mac How To Not Have Same Folders On Desktop Windows 10

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If you’ve been using VirtualBox to run virtual machines and you want to switch to Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can convert your VirtualBox virtual machines to Parallels—whether you’re using VirtualBox in Windows, Linux, or macOS.

VirtualBox provides a free, bare-bones way of using virtual machines on your Mac. However, Parallels is easier to use and more integrated with macOS than VirtualBox. It’s easier to transfer files between your VMs and the host macOS system, and Parallels even lets you run Windows programs directly from the macOS dock, if you choose to.

If you want to migrate your virtual machine, here’s what you need to do.

Step One: Create a Clone of the VirtualBox Virtual Machine

First, we’ll create a clone of the virtual machine you want to convert to Parallels. To do this, open VirtualBox (on Windows, Linux, or Mac) and select the virtual machine to be cloned. Right-click on the virtual machine and select “Clone” from the popup menu. You can also press Ctrl+O.

The Clone Virtual Machine dialog box displays. On the New Machine Name screen, VirtualBox automatically enters the name of the virtual machine in the box and adds “Clone” to the end. If you want to assign a different name to the cloned virtual machine, enter it in the box. We accepted the default name. Click “Next”.

On the Clone type screen, make sure “Full clone” is selected. This makes the cloned virtual machine independent of the original and allows you to move it to a different computer, if needed. Click “Next”.

Make sure “Current machine state” is selected on the Snapshots screen. This is important because Parallels cannot open virtual machines from VirtualBox with snapshots. Click “Clone”.

A dialog box displays the progress of the cloning process. This may take a while, depending on how big your virtual machine’s hard drive is and how many snapshots you have that need to be merged.

Step Two: Uninstall the VirtualBox Guest Additions in the Cloned Virtual Machine

Once the cloning process is complete, we need to uninstall the VirtualBox Guest Additions in the cloned virtual machine. To do this, select the cloned virtual machine in the list on the main VirtualBox Manager window and click “Start” or press Enter.

Use the standard procedure in the guest operating system to uninstall the “Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions” program. For example, in Windows 7, we open “Programs and Features” in the Control Panel, select “Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions 5.1.12” and click “Uninstall/Change”.

Step Three: Shut Down and Transfer the Cloned Virtual Machine

Shut down (do not sleep or hibernate) the cloned virtual machine using the standard method for your guest operating system.

If your cloned virtual machine is on a Windows PC or a different Mac, you’ll need to transfer the virtual machine. You’ll find the folder for the virtual machine in the default machine location. If you’re not sure where this is, you can find out by going to File > Preferences on the main VirtualBox Manager window.

You’ll find the path to the Default Machine Folder on the General screen. Make a note of the path and then click “OK” or “Cancel” to close the dialog box.

Parallels For Mac How To Not Have Same Folders On Desktop Mac

Head to that folder, select the folder for your cloned virtual machine, and copy that folder to your Mac (using a flash drive or some other means). It doesn’t matter where you paste the virtual machine folder. Parallels will handle creating the converted virtual machine in the correct place.

Step Four: Open and Convert the .vbox File in Parallels Desktop for Mac

Parallels For Mac How To Not Have Same Folders On Desktop

On your Mac, open Parallels Desktop and go to File > Open.

Navigate to the folder into which you copied the cloned virtual machine folder, select the .vbox file and click “Open”.

On the Name and Location dialog box, the name of the is set, by default, to the name of the cloned virtual machine. If you want to change the name, edit the text in the “Name” box. We took “Clone” off of the name. The default virtual machines folder is selected as the “Location”. You can change that if you want, but we recommend allowing Parallels to create the virtual machine in the same location as other virtual machines. If you want an alias on the desktop for quickly accessing the virtual machine, check the “Create alias on the desktop” box. Click “Continue”.

Parallels starts converting the virtual machine.

While the virtual machine is being upgraded, you’ll see that both the original cloned virtual machine a and the converted virtual machine are added to the Control Center.

You can remove the original cloned virtual machine by right-clicking on it and selecting Remove from the popup menu.

Then, the Parallels Tools are installed.

When all that is done, a message displays saying your virtual machine has been successfully configured. Click “OK”.

The virtual machine automatically starts and you can log into your account in the guest operating system and begin working with your virtual machine.

If you converted a Windows virtual machine that was on a different computer, you will have to either call to activate the converted virtual machine or enter a new license key. This is because the Windows detects new hardware, so even though it’s the same virtual machine, Windows thinks it’s a new installation of the operating system. You can search for “windows activation” on the Start menu (Windows 7), Search box on the Taskbar (Windows 10), or on the Start screen (Windows 8) for more information about activating the Windows system in this virtual machine.