Parallels Desktop15.1.4

An indispensible app to everyone who needs to run several operating system!

I deleted my previous review because I found a work-around to the vexing only-one-resolution-in-Catalina problem in Parallels 15. The work-around is to copy the Parallels Tools ISO (Applications>Parallels Desktop>Show Package Contents>Resources>Tools>prl-tools-mac.iso). Copy the ISO to the desktop of your Catalina VM. You might not be able to see ANY shared folders or be able to drag and drop (because there are no tools installed, duh). I logged on to my host via the network and copied the ISO to the root of the hard drive in my host, then I could see it inside the Catalina VM. Open the ISO, install Parallels Tools, reboot, and you should now have multiple resolutions available (in addition to all the other functionality that Tools provides). Nowhere that I could find is this mention ANYWHERE on the Parallels support site (though it will be shortly). For this glaring oversight on behalf of Parallels, I rate this version low.

Good when you need to run Win only apps.

It gets extremely slow by the time. On every new release, my version (v11) got slower and slower. Almost not usable anymore. I felt I've been forced to upgrade. I am not sure if they do it on purpose tho.

This is decent

A huge improvement over earlier versions. It's not an app I use a lot - I install other Mac OS's rather than any ghastly Windows nonsense, which I did in the past - but Parallels is much improved and Parallels Toolbox offers genuinely useful tools.

--> ON SALE AS PREMIUM MAC APP BUNDLE through February 29th --> (Follow the link below for details). Parallels Desktop 15. New customer: $79.99. Upgrade: $49.99 - - PLUS you get $1025 worth of additional software. [1] MindManager 12 ($200) [2] Twist (1 yr, $300) [3] 1Password Families ($60) [4] Parallels Access ($20) [5] Datal Rescue 5 ($100) [6] Hype 4 Professional ($100) [7] Intego Mac Internet Security X9 ($50, I recommend!) [8] Roxio Toast 18 Titanium ($100) [9] Parallels Toolbox (Mac & Windows, $20) [10] PDFpen 11 ($75) - - I'm posting this because most bundles these days suck. This one is instead EXCELLENT! (I'm not affiliated with any of these companies, BTW. I just like this bundle and own it). - - > https://www.parallels.com/promo-mac-app-bundle/

v15 at last supports DirectX 11. That means it supports nearly all 3D games and more on Windows. *Hurrah* [Took long enough!] Part of the problem was waiting for Apple Metal API support. - - Q: Do Virtual Box or VMWare support DirectX 11 yet? A: NO! But seeing as Parallels has figured it out, I suspect they'll catch up soon. We've been waiting for this for many, many years.

Really useful and powerful app. I just bought the upgrade license with the blackfriday discount. I tested ( once again ) VMware Fusion and parallels: For me, parallels is really better. More customization options of sharing between OS'es, and it performs better. Although, it's quite expensive for a home usage. I try to upgrade only every 2-3y when it's possible.

An indispensible app to everyone who needs to run several operating system!

Parallels 14.1.3 is available.

Strange to list 14.1.0 as a new update, because it is an update from months ago!

Parallels Desktop v14.0.1 is now available. It is compatible with macOS 10.14 Mojave and adds several new features.

[this review is for version 14]: switching back to Parallels 14 after moving to Fusion 8, 10 post Parallels 12.
This version is a big winner (vs. Fusion, including the current 2018 Tech preview). Coherence integration is so much superior to the shaky Fusion Unity view, it's not even funny. The entire experience is a lot smoother (on 2018 i9 MBP with 32GB RAM), more responsive, and has more integration options.
Network performance to local/Mac host folders is 100x faster, no delays (unlike Fusion).
Massive thumbs up for Parallels.
Only downside: More expensive for the Pro version on the annual subscription, and doesn't cover two machines like Fusion (but worth it).

13.3.2 is a rather important update. It implements 64bit parallels tools for OSX guest, improving the performance of osx guests.

Nice upgrade. I’ve been using their stuff since Parallels Desktop for mac 6

When I bought my iMac back at the end of 2015, I bought the Parallels version of it. It slowed down my computer to the degree that everything crashed despite adjusting settings to make it fast. I quit using Parallels and decided to use my mac functionality of Bootcamp. I wish also that I could get a refund for my money. I'm tired of believing companies that software sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.

This is probably one of the easiest VM applications to use. Sadly, their pricing is absolutely terrible and greedy. If they don't take care of their pricing, they will probably lose in the long run. For now, I paid for this.

After a frustrating experience with VMWare after paying for and spending the best part of a weekend trying to get their their latest version upgrade installed on my MacPro Desktop, only to find out after installation it is incompatible with my processor, I emailed Parallels presages questions. That was 3 weeks ago and never got a reply. I switched from Parallels years ago due to poor support and customer service. Based on this experience that has not changed! So I will continue using Fusion until I get my new MacPro Desktop next year and then try Virtual Box. If I am not going to get decent support from either company, why should I pay for their software when open source is available?

MU has a wrong, DEAD link for downloading Parallels 13.1.1:
http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-[blahblahblah]

Use this real instead:
https://download.parallels.com/desktop/v13/13.1.1-43120/ParallelsDesktop-13.1.1-43120.dmg

NOTES: I did research on the now DEAD http://www.jdoqocy.com website and discovered that it was a nuisance marketing website that forwarded victims to another nuisance marketing site formerly called Commission Junction (Junk-tion IMHO) now called Conversant. RipoffReport.com users have repeatedly reported this company as "an elaborate scam ripoff con!" Why MU has a link to them, I cannot imagine.

IOW: FIX THIS PLEASE MU!

? no more mouse and keyboard input in Mac OS 10.8 VM after update to 13.1 Very funny, Parallels. That costs little, happy stars ;-)

An absolutely superb product on every level, with years of polish behind it. Best in class, and significantly better than its competitors in my experience.

Not a hugh fan. Very slow on a 2015 32 gb ram i7 iMac. Was expecting better performance.

Parallels Desktop 13 Greedy Edition out! Go get your uss rammed!

Parallels 13 was released today. Information @ http://www.parallels.com/upgradepd13

Parallels V13 should be out any day soon.....

Love Parallels a must for any Mac power user or professional who uses different apps in their day some of which are only available for Windows. Let's face it there are some apps on Windows with no Mac equivalent. Parallels let's me run those special Windows apps I need without having to go to another computer or reboot my Mac into Windows. It's so convenient and powerful and saves me a ton of time and allows me to use all the tools I need.

Running the "Reclaim Disk Space" action on all my Windows VMs (Windows 10, 8.1, 7, Vista, XP) corrupted their disks. When trying to launch the VMs some of them start with "Preparing Automatic Repair" and other just present a black screen. Trying to repair the disks was not successful. I had to restore the VMs from backups. Using the "Reclaim Disk Space" action on macOS or linux VMs seems to work fine. I'm using Parallels Desktop 12 Version for Mac Pro Edition (Version 12.1.2 (41525)) on a MacBook Pro (late 2016) running macOS Sierra 10.12.2 (16C67). This looks like a fatal bug to me as it results in data loss. I've posted this on the Parallels forum but got not response.

12.1.3 (41532) is out: http://kb.parallels.com/en/123948 This update for Parallels Desktop 12 for Mac 12.1.3 (41532) for Parallels Desktop Standard and Pro Edition addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes and improvements: • Resolves an issue with request to enter Mac administrator password on every Parallels Desktop start. • Resolves an issue with Problem ID 15380 on Parallels Desktop start. • Resolves and issue with mouse not working on external display after it has been reconnected • Resolves an issue with Parallels Desktop crashes when trying to print to PDF

Any reason we're not seeing current updates here anymore?

!!!! PARALLELS USERS : CAUTION !!!! DO NOT UPGRADE TO VERSION 12.1 IF YOU HAVE A "NON RECURRING" VERSION (that is not Pro version and not Business Edition). IF YOU UPGRADE YOU WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO ASSIGN 8GB OF RAM TO YOUR VM's !!!! IF YOU UPGRADE YOU WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO ALLOCATE 4CORES TO YOUR VM !!!! This is simply the most outrageous update EVER ! They already showed their greed when MacOsX 10.11 came out, claiming that Parallels 10 would not be compatible... when it was perfectly. So they scared people urging them to upgrade when there was ABSOLUTELY no need to do so ! But this is simply going much to far... and this is a simple way to tell : "Give me 80€ each year". I will NOT do that... I would urge people to try the competitors... One is even FREE !

Version 12.1.0 is out... Info about it is here http://kb.parallels.com/en/123948

I have Parallels Desktop Pro 12, which was won in a prize draw. I thought that I'd be getting a standard non-Pro version, and I was disappointed that I got a professional version instead. Why would I be frustrated in getting a more advanced edition, you might ask, it is because the app will stop to function within a year, as I discovered when I registered serial number on Parallels website. I want to upgrade apps at a pace of my own choosing and as such, I will not even install the app, as to not to get locked out when the time is up. Technically it is a great peace of software, it's a pity that stance on customers blows it all away, for me at least.

I've used Parallels since Version 6 and it has always worked pretty well for me BUT the yearly upgrade price of $49 is becoming pretty onerous. I now wait until it is bundled with a few other apps or offered as a special on MU before buying it. Not sure if I'll be upgrading to v12, however, as v11 in conjunction with Windows 10 is working well on my mid-2011 iMac :-)

When I see Parallels appear in the daily MacUpdate listings it shows as 3.5 stars. When I click on it in the listings I go to the Parallels page, where it shows at the top as half a star. If I scroll down past the ads to where the comments/reviews start I now see that the overall rating is 4 stars. Can we have a little more consistency here. What do the 3 different star ratings mean? I went back through all the comments/reviews for about 4 years and even 3.5 stars looks very generous indeed. I know that for many years now Parallels have been hosing their customers and I think the reviews that imply a rating over lifetime need to culled down to something like maybe 3 years. Just because every man and his dog thought Parallels was awesome back when it first came out and there wasn't really anything like it at the time bears no reflection at all on what seasoned users think of it today (after how they've been treated by Parallels).

No DirectX 10 support in sight. Same old 'wait and see' response from Parallels when asked about this now ancient holdup. Can't play modern 3D games. *Discontented* :-( :-P

BUYER BEWARE. As at 7/30/16, there is a big problem with Windows 10 activation recognizing the Virtual Machine if you're switching from using BootCamp to Parallels, and Parallels 11 blows away your Windows license in both Parallels AND on BootCamp if you try to point Parallels at Win 10 on BootCamp. If you're running Win 8.1 on BootCamp, installing Parallels 11 will kill the Win 8.1 license in Parallels, but it leaves it OK on BootCamp, so if you're dead with Win 10 in Parallels you can downgrade back to 8.1 in BootCamp and your license will still be there. I've been told by Parallels support today that they're working on a workaround, but be sure they've fixed it before you kill your Win 10 license. They said "We apologize for the inconvenience, but this issue is caused by Windows 10 activation policies: the activation key is bounded to the hardware and as the virtual machine emulates hardware it differs from the real one reasonably enough. You're not the only one facing this issue and our Development team already works upon a workaround for this issue, but you should understand that it is a Windows licensing issue, not the Parallels one." Er, not really. It's a Parallels issue because they claim you can run Windows in their Virtual Machine, and now you can't! Personally, I'm leaving them completely after it took me 48 hours of support calls before they 'fessed up that that they knew they had a problem. I'll try something else.

I was a parallels suporter, but the new licencing is no go, it's not an upgrade but a big downgrade, there are better less ripping user software, I have moved do VMWare, after this.

By the price of this software you can buy an infocus kangaroo and have a Windows machine allways with you.

Version 11 is a rip off because it's basically version 10 minus version 11's pro features. Why on earth would I buy a downgraded version or pay an annual subscription to get same old features!? I will be using my old version 10 which is great!

I am still using v8 with OSX10.11.5 and working fine. As long it does, I will not update for sure. The license scheme is just plain -How to ripping off people every year-.

Version 11.2.0 is out

11.1.3 (32521) has been out a while now, might want to bookmark: http://kb.parallels.com/en/123410

The current version is 11.1.2 (not 11.1.1 as listed today).

I've had minimal problems with Parallels 11 for my purposes. It is an improvement over v10 IMHO.

DirectX Problem:
I continue to be dismayed that NO virtualization system, including Parallels, VMWare and VirtualBox, supports anything beyond DirectX v10. Note that WINE is no better. That knocks them all out as able to play the most recent 3D games. And no, the problem is NOT (necessarily) the GPU hardware of the Mac. The problem is bothering to code the translators to allow use of the GPU hardware on the Mac. I consider this a dead end issue. Sad.

I finally had enough with Parallels version 11. I´m one of those who didn´t read the licensing terms good enough. I thought Great, I can activate and deactivate some Parallels with my Parallels account (As Microsoft beautifully do it with Office 365). But you are forced to BOTH log in to the account AND enter a serial number (Oh why?) AND you are only allowed to have ONE installation?? If something fails you have to call them to reset you install counter one ONE!! In addition Parallels 11 fails to update Windows 10 when there is a new release. It freezes my computer and I have to force KILL my mac and reboot. Then it rolls back the failed Win 10 installation. So today I used the cross grade offer from a competitor, even if it has slightly lower 3D performance it is allowed to have it installed on my iMac, Mac Pro and Mac Book in addition to it being more stable. Version 10 of Parallels was beautiful, so I´m a little sad to say goodbye. But I cannot support these practices. So goodbye Parallels, hope to see you again when you clean up your business practices and fix your instability.

I decided to abandon Parallels now after being told I should be able use the PD11 trial side by side with my older PD8 installation. At no point during installation am I Informed that the PD11 Trial will delete my older installation, but that is of course the end result. The sales support were nice and helpful, but I got enough of such schemes. I don't fully understand the crticism of the yearly fees as that is optional. Cross-grading to Fusion is my next step.

A comparison review of Fusion 8, Parallels 11 (and VirtualBox 5) http://www.tekrevue.com/2015-vm-benchmarks-parallels-11-vs-fusion-8/ Very interesting...for many years most reviews gave PD the speed edge (especially with Windows guests), and Fusion a slight stability edge. Fusion v 7 closed the speed gap, and now Fusion 8 and PD 11 are for the most part neck and neck. With the new licensing policy of PD, it just makes it easier to switch to Fusion knowing that you are also no longer sacrificing functionality or performance in doing so. I used PD and Fusion both from their inception. Mainly PD for Windows guests, and Fusion for OSX guests and cross compatiblity with VMWare Workstation. After PD 11 was released and the new licensing, I migrated all my PD images to Fusion and now using Fusion exclusively.

This app has been updated

Just as I was getting used to Parallells, this crazy they come up with this new licensing s**t. I can't afford it. So I am forced to look for a better option. Not wise, Parallells. Good bye!

Just as I was getting used to Parallells, this crazy they come up with this new licensing s**t. I can't afford it. So I am forced to look for a better option. Not wise, Parallells. Good bye!

Well after using Parallels from version ONE, I now find I am unable to use/support this product. Parallels has forced a change in licensing, our University can not buy a perpetual licence, we must now pay a 12 month "rent" for it. We are NOT going to do this, we will be shifting all of our business to VMWare instead. None of the "Pro" features are worth the extra costs, and obviously having a customer with tens/hundreds of units is of no interest to Parallels. Its incredibly easy to loose a customer, and once they have shifted, its incredibly difficult to ever get them back.

Bad faith: Moving Basic features to the Pro edition because "Parallel found out that basic features were well enough for users". What a f*** joke! Previous versions of Parallels allowed virtual machines with up to 16 virtual CPUs and 64GB of RAM. Now only the Pro edition can make virtual machines that big; the non-Pro edition goes up to 4 CPUs and 8GB of RAM. Virtualization for Linux guests, both available in the basic Parallels last year, are now restricted to Pro version only. Support s**ks: It's either, "well you should upgrade to the last version $$$" or simply poor recommendations. Tired of being milked away...

Awful license scheme is holding me back buying. Although VMware Fusion has the same yearly update, it is much faster when you need OS X VM.

There are many posts on the Net about how to install El Capitan beta into Parallels (v 10). I've tried most of them, the only one I've been successful with is here:
http://www.lostentropy.com/2015/06/10/installing-os-x-10-11-el-capitan-inside-parallels-desktop/

It's involved, but if you follow carefully, don't try to outsmart the instructions and take shortcuts because you think "you know better", then the instructions work. And bear in mind the following, you've been told:
1) the method only works with the Developer Preview of 10.11, not the Public Beta (as of the date of the article, later PUblic Beta after that may work, i don't know).
2) to successfully install Parallels Tools afterwards, you MUST disable SIP/rootless first. You can leave it off or turn it back after PT is installed, but it must be off to install PT.

It is very clear after all my experimenting with the various methods to install 10.11 in Parallels, that the bootloader, install mechanism and creation of a bootable image is different in 10.11 from 10.10, which was also slightly different from 10.9. Heck , even between the Developer Preview and Public Beta of 10.11, there is apparently a difference in the booting and install mechanism, as evidenced by the fact the method referenced above only seems to work with the DP.

Parallels is going to need to make some major adjustments to support painless install of 10.11, which likely means a new Parallels v.11 after El Cap ships.

In anticipation of all the bemoaning about another Parallels 'forced' upgrade to support El Capitan, just keep that in mind that the devs are simply having to keep up with Apple, which continues its history of making MAJOR system level and core changes in OS X with every release since Lion, Not just the boot and installing functions, but the graphics engines, audio, video, hardware abstraction and so on. Parallels is not TextEdit, it's very sophisticated software engineering, that takes development resources to maintain and test, every time Apple makes sweeping changes across the board, all of which comes with a cost. It is not as simple as just changing the 'supported version of OS X' from 10.10 to 10.11 in a some little plist file, and shipping an update to Parallels.

Even the video subsystem in El Cap seems to have been reworked again by Apple. Screen drawing with Yosemite virtual machine in PD, is slower than in Mavericks, but had improved in the latest PD 10.2.2. With El Cap, using the same video driver in Parallels Tools for Yosemite, the screen drawing is very glitchy, and slow, like it was with early Yosemite betas.

Regardless, testing El Cap in a VM is nice. I have El Cap installed natively as well on a partition, but this saves from rebooting between El Cap and my every day configuration.

Serial key does not work, webhelp is "down". I am so tired of this.

v10.2.2 update is out. Again, it's a messy update. If you run into a failed Parallels Tools installation, the secret is to let the virtual system reboot, then FORCE install Parallels Tools AGAIN. (o_0) You have to reboot your virtual drive a second time. This is not good. Icons on your desktop will be a mess. You may get a screwy screen resolution, although mine reset itself back to normal. IOW: Updates like this are geek worthy. We're used to stuff going wrong all the time. But granny will have a FIT. They have to do better.

I have been a paid user since version 3 through version 6, Now I can't even use the software, MAC isolated the software as a "Problem Child" now I just have to wonder, what value is this product when every time you turn around you have to pay an "upgrade" fee ? I see this as a seriously flawed and destructive business model that will certainly come back around, (Karma is a female dog) I am sick and tired of the nickel and dime (failed business model) I am moving to another platform that performs better and actually works when my operating system updates. Were mainly talking about 32 bit versus 64 bit here, so really this is a failure on the part of this product and while you may have my money you will never have me as a customer again.

I have to give Parallels high marks this time around. I had been putting off upgrading because, frankly, I don't need it yet. But I got an e-mail offer for $10 off the usual upgrade price of $49.99; so I paid only $39.99. What's more, they had a companion offer for Toast 12 Titanium for $29.99, which is half the standard upgrade price for Toast. I couldn't pass that up either. I hadn't upgraded Toast since version 8. While 8 still works in Mavericks, I thought this was the best price I'd ever be likely to find on a Toast upgrade. As it turns out, the one I got, version 12, isn't the latest – version 14 was just released – but it's still four versions newer than the one I was using. What really got me posting here was the ease with which I was able to create a Windows 7 virtual machine in Parallels 10 by converting my VMWare Fusion Windows 7 virtual machine; the process left the Fusion virtual machine undisturbed. It went as smooth as you-know-what through a goose. I didn't even know it would be possible. I had been worried about installing Windows 7 in Parallels given that I am already using my Windows 7 license in Fusion – Microsoft licensing policies set the standard for being difficult to deal with (I have been running Windows XP in Parallels. That, too, was not disturbed). But there were no issues when I started up Windows 7 in Parallels 10 - though it took me awhile to get the settings where I want them. And Parallels started up in Coherence mode by default, which was a nuisance till I figured out what was going on and turned Coherence off. The only other issue I had was getting the USB 3 drivers for Windows, but Parallels had a link for that in the USB settings. Very thoughtful. I'm running OS X Mavericks on a 27" iMac with a 1TB Fusion drive, so there's plenty of room for the extra VM. Eventually I plan to upgrade to Windows 10 in VMWare Fusion since Microsoft will be offering it for free for a year. And yes, I have the requisite Windows 7 license to qualify for the free Windows 10 offer. In the meantime, I've skipped Windows 8 altogether because, in my opinion, it's more trouble than it's worth. Windows 10 should be a lot easier to deal with. You may be asking, why am I using both Parallels and Fusion? Well, I bought Parallels at an introductory discount when it first came out. But a version or two on it became unreliable so I decided to give VMWare Fusion a try, also at an introductory discount. I had XP in Parallels and originally put Vista in Fusion – though I had to install XP there because my copy of Vista was an upgrade, not a standalone. I moved that to Windows 7 because Win 7 couldn't easily be installed over XP. Now, of course, I could put Win 10 in either program. Maybe I'll toss a coin. ;-) But I'll continue my policy of running two versions of Windows. Nowadays I could run all my VMs in either app, but they keep leapfrogging one another in feature development so I've never been able to decide to stick with one or the other. And my early experience with Parallels made me wary of putting all my eggs in one basket. They've both gone haywire at one time or another. So, for now, I'll give Parallels 10 five stars. YMMV

YMMV, but I've seen a noticeable improvement in speed and 'snappiness' with the 10.2.0 upgrade from the previous 10.1, across all VMs (Windows 10, 8, 7, XP; OS X Yosemite, Mavericks). With the Windows 7 VM, which is also installed on Bootcamp on the same machine, it feels virtually native in terms of response. The VM is allocated 2GB RAM on and 1 CPU, on a quad core iMac with 8 GB of RAM, so saying it runs basically as good as the native Windows in Bootcamp which has access to all 8GB and all cores, is saying something. Again, YMMV, I don't run games, so can't speak for raw graphics or 3D acceleration speed, but things like Word and Excel 2013 load and respond quicker in the VM now.

The current version is very buggy!

Don't have a problem, they don't answer e-mails or try to help fix a problem, and $50 a year makes this software not worth the price

I have no complaints whatsoever about the software but the insistent "encouragements" to upgrade and the advertisements are repulsive.

http://www.securityweek.com/parallels-desktop-mac-feature-allows-guest-host-vm-escape

still amaze how much the cost to keep up to date... it will cost about 100 for me (i have macbook and iMac), yes it might fast ... but not worth those price... Better use virtual box... i'm sure it will enough for most of us. if you need more you can have VMware, 1 licence for 3 mac your own. those are better the choice