The Parallels system is really good at making Mac resources available under the VM environment. For example, I use Dropbox for file storage. I don’t have to install Dropbox on the Mac and Parallels VM.
I am writing this review and rating it only 3 stars, but I continue to love Parallels. I actually hope that others will buy Parallels 9 and then call, write, and chat with the support team to complain about the loss of Parallels Mobile and its replacement with a more expensive, but more functional version called Parallels Access. Hopefully, people reaching out and complaining will push them to re-visit their idea.
So, here’s my review of the actual software.
Parallels makes upgrading easy. I just popped in the Desktop 9 CD, then realized that they will let me download it. I prefer to download as the CD will never survive in my house. If I ever needed to re-install, then I will have to have it. So, I downloaded the software and hit install. It found my Parallels 8 and replaced it. All of my OS’s are still there.
Now my Dropbox and Google drive docs are available on the Windows machine. This may seem like nothing, but I can access my Photo Stream, my iCloud Docs (which I don’t use), and my Google Drive docs straight from my Windows machine without having to create shares and links or by installing and mirroring the same data on the Windows machine. This is very nice and makes it much easier for me to update a file and know it will be pushed to Google Drive or Dropbox.
The last time I upgraded my Mac, I had an issue because Parallels stopped working. Apparently, Parallels Desktop 7 worked for Lion (10.7), but not Mountain Lion (10.8). That was a frustration that I wanted to avoid. When Mavericks (10.9) comes out, I can upgrade my laptop without worrying that all of my Parallels Operating Systems will shut down. I use the windows side for some of the work that I do and that was frustrating to realize that I couldn’t access Windows until I upgraded Parallels. In their defense, they notated this on their website and had sent emails that I must have missed. I was pleased that the issue was documented and easy to see if I searched.
Parallels has replaced Parallels Mobile with Parallels Access as of this version. First off, what are these things, you might ask. These are Apps that you run on your iPhone/iPad which allows you to takeover your remote machine. I can sit at the coffee shop and remember I needed to hit send on an email. I grab my phone, open the Parallels Mobile app, and it connects to my laptop at home, shows me the desktop, and lets me do what I need to do. You don’t have to setup your router or anything. Parallels desktop 13 for mac. Just have Parallels running and you’re good to go. * The downside, Parallels Mobile worked for iPhone and iPad. This meant that if I just had my phone, I was still good. Parallels Mobile was introduced around version 7 and now it’s being phased out. It’s being phased out in favor of Parallels Access, which does the same thing, but costs $79.99/yr and doesn’t currently work on the iPhone. When you connect with Parallels Access, the computer you takeover gets all funky as Parallels us tweaking the desktop resolution so that it can show you one Mac/Windows application at a time. * The upside, Parallels Access is pretty sweet. You can takeover just one Mac/Windows Application at a time. You don’t have to re-size the application to perfectly fit in the screen. They have taken the iPad finger strokes and made them work when you are taking over a remote computer. It’s pretty amazing and has allowed me to get more done faster.
Parallels Access might be worth $20/yr to me, but not $79.99. It’s worth even less to me because I don’t have a choice. Parallels Mobile is End of Purchase. http://www.parallels.com/support/desktop-virtualization/mobile/ This means that you can’t get it anymore and those of us that have been with them for years can’t use it if we want to upgrade. If the next Mac upgrade to Mavericks works the same, then once I upgrade my Mac, I will have to upgrade Parallels and lose access to Parallels Mobile. (This is what I was talking about on the first paragraph. Please phone, chat, Skype, and email support. Please push for Parallels Mobile to come back or Parallels Access to be reasonably priced.)
I love Parallels and they have always come out with something new and some reason that it’s worth it to me to upgrade. This is the first time I wouldn’t want to give 5 stars. I still love them and want to stick with them. If you are choosing between Parallels and Fusion, I’d still say to go with Parallels. We just need them to get a little less cocky and be more open with us the consumers.
I would recommend this item to a friend!This review is from Parallels Desktop for Mac — Use Windows Applications alongside your Mac Apps!.
Editors’ note, October 30, 2014: This review has been updated with new features added after the release of the Windows 10 technical preview.
Parallels Desktop for Mac has been letting people run Windows and other operating systems on their Macs for years. And with every major update, Parallels has added yet another feature that makes switching between your regular operating system and virtual machines even more seamless.
There are other apps that do virtualization, such as $60 VMWare fusion (also available for £36, or AU$64) or Virtual Box (free). These will both let you run Windows on your Mac (as long as you own a copy) and might be good enough for your purposes.
But what makes Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac special, is the way it incorporates Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 features. Some of the new features give you more interactivity between operating systems, letting you place Windows apps on the Mac Launchpad or Dock, for example, and even as far as letting you use new features in Mac OS X Yosemite straight out of a Windows environment.
What is Parallels for?
Parallels Desktop ($80, £50, or AU$86) is a virtualization system for running other operating systems on your Mac. As an example, this would be useful if you use Windows at work, but have a Mac laptop at home because it means you can run all the Windows specific tools from work on the Mac without having to buy a separate computer.
• Save disc space. • Office 365 integration. Free download parallels desktop 9 for mac. • One-click performance tuning.
Virtualization is used by software developers as well, because it allows them to run an operating system that has no ties to the computer it’s on. This way, even if a virtual system gets a virus, it can only infect that enclosed system, leaving the host computer virus free. From there all they need to do is shut down and restart from an earlier healthy snapshot of the virtual system to start again fresh.
Parallels is also useful for people who play video games because it lets them pick from the much larger library of Windows titles and play them on a Mac. In this particular case, your mileage may vary because your Mac may not have the video processing power of high-end video cards.
If you’re going to use Parallels with one of the free operating systems offered in the app (more on this later), you’ll only need to spend the $80 for Parallels. But be warned, that in order to use this software with Windows as I did in this demo, you’re going to be spending $80 for Parallels, plus the price of Windows 8.1 (currently available for about $120, £70, or AU$130). While it is not cheap, if you identify with one of the use cases above, it’s worth the money.
Installing an operating system
Parallels For Mac Free Download
To get Parallels up and running, you’re going to need to have the full version of another operating system on hand. From the Parallels launcher, you can download free operating systems including Chrome OS, Ubuntu Linux, Android OS, or even another version of Mac OS X using your Mac’s recovery partition.
Past versions of Parallels had the option to purchase and install Windows 7 from within the software, so you could get started right away. Microsoft no longer has a deal with Parallels, but Parallels Desktop 10 enables you to download and install a 90-day trial of Windows. The wizard also lets you move a PC, including Windows and all of its applications and files to your Mac so you have everything you need on one computer
If you know you’ll need to run Windows for the long term, the easiest option is a box copy of Windows 8 on a DVD. As long as you have an internal or external DVD drive, you can select it from the Parallels Launch Center, and start installing straight away. In the latest version of Parallels, you also can drag and drop a .ISO file straight into the interface to start the installation.
If you downloaded Windows from Microsoft hoping (like I did) to just select the installer executable, you’re going to have a tough time. Parallels requires either a DVD or image file (ISO), or you can use the Parallels Transporter Agent to migrate Windows from another PC.
Parallels For Mac Torrent
To create an ISO file, you’ll need to start the installation on another Windows PC, download all the data files, then select create as image, and choose either DVD or thumb drive. It took me some time to figure it all out, but I finally used a thumb drive to transfer the installer and get it running on my Mac. This is all just a precaution to make sure you don’t make the same mistake I did and already have an ISO image or boxed version of Windows before you get started.
How To Use Parallels Desktop For Mac
While I think it’s OK that Parallels has specific requirements for the installation file, it would be nice if the app took care of the conversion for you. Without knowing, it’s pretty easy to buy and download an operating system in the standard way (resulting in an .exe file) that requires a lengthy process for conversion before it will work.
