Parallels Desktop 6 is a software package for Intel Macs that allows you to configure and run virtual machines from within Mac OS X. Make your life easier with the ability to run a variety of Windows, DOS, Linux, and other x86 operating systems side-by-side, all from within OS X. Desktop 6 for Mac brings vastly improved 3D graphics rendering, battery life and security, all while a new 64-bit engine and added Parallels Mobile iOS app let you take full advantage of the power of your Mac.
You can now run Windows and Mac applications side-by-side without ever having to reboot. Rated 5 out of 5 by Corey the Grateful from Useful tool for anyone making the switch Desktop 6 is a must have for anyone making the switch from HP to Mac. So many of the programs that exist for HP are virtually useless on a Mac without it. If I couldn't run some of the programs I've gotten used to, I think I'd go crazy. It's easy to use and you never really have to think about it being there.
Without installing this product, it would have been difficult for me to use some of the files I need from my old computer on the new one. It's helped me make full use of my laptop and I'm thankful for it. The only issue I had was the fact that it took a little while to install (longer than I thought it would) but other than that, it's run seamlessly. Rated 4 out of 5 by Calaverasgrande from No Expresscard34 I use the macbook pro for IT work, web design, and audio recording. In roughly that order. I am disapointed that they got rid of the expresscard34 slot last year on this model. It limits the connectivity to pro level audio gear, such as apogee, to firewire only.
I really like Mac OS and the hardware is solid and well engineered. That said, I wish the front edge had more of an ergonomic curve to it. I run WIN7 as a VM so I can view windows browsers like firefox and IE. Another con is that Macbook Pros have the CPU chip soldered in, so you cant DIY your way into a faster macbook down the road. Something I have done on Lenovos several times.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Ralph B. From Does the job. I use Parallels to run Quicken under Windows XP. With 3GB RAM in my old MacBook Pro, running Parallels alongside Mac programs was a struggle. However, with 8GB RAM in my new machine, everything works beautifully. I have not yet encountered a problem, even with XP and Quicken running alongside Aperture, Safari, Mail, Skype and a few other odds and ends.
It was easy to install as an upgrade. Once installed, it is easy to forget it is running. I find it helpful, though, to shut down Quicken each night, and to suspend or shut down Windows, too. The fresh start seems to smooth things. This is the way to go if you need Windows while you use Mac software simultaneously.
Rated 4 out of 5 by Anonymous from Parallels Desktop 6 This software suite is an essential tool for individuals cutting over into the Mac OS world from Windows. It runs flawlessly within Intel-based Mac OS systems providing you the opportunity to run Windows, Linux, or any IBM x86-based OS. The great thing about it is that it runs in parallel allowing you to access your guest hosts seamlessly avoiding the reboots required for Bootcamp.
This suite also affords you the ability to avoid theidiosyncrasies associated with sharing information, application integration, and the overall experience typically associated withguest OS virtualization software. Rated 2 out of 5 by Jeff S. From Sorry folks I can't praise I intended to use this product to make my existing Windows 7 operational in a Virtual Machine running under Mac Snow Leopard. I bought Parallels and also received a copy with my MacBook purchase. I never got close to making it work on my MacBook. It installed correctly on the Mac and Windows but never talked to each other.
Please realize that the Parallels product support team is tremendous. They communicated with me extensively and even initiated the contact. In the future, if they hire a good technical writer, and he/she focuses on steps that can fail, the documentation and install process may run more smoothly. Rated 4 out of 5 by Sasha from Windows apps on your mac Really in most cases there are great native Mac OS apps for you Mac. Parallels Desktop is handy when you need something from Windows world on your mac and you cannot find similar app for Mac.
Overall it's pretty easy to use; productivity is about what you can expect from virtual machine (tried on MBP 13 2011 - Core i5). MacBook may become pretty warm (and even maybe hot) when using this software actively. Coherence mode is quite impressive. Start of software takes time if you used to shutdown virtual machine instead of suspending. Windows not included of course. Rated 2 out of 5 by Geo from VMWare Is Better There's a little known dirty secret about Parallels 6 that makes it a non-starter for me. You are headed for trouble if you want to run a device such as an external sound interface (SoundBlaster, etc) that uses proprietary drivers for proper operation.
Parallels won't let you do this. You're stuck using Parallels-supplied drivers which limit the functionality to a standard Windows sound interface (volume control only with no special effects, sampling frequency selection, etc.) The VMWare product allows you to use any Windows-compatible driver package, meaning that you'll get full functionality of any Windows hardware you connect to your computer. Forget Parallels. Get VMWare instead.
Rated 5 out of 5 by randommanM from 22nd century computer: the imac i3 27 i cannot believe how intuitive the set up is on this desktop computer, and how fast all the programs i am running on it (often at the same time!). The ultra high dp makes this amazing to view any form of video, especially hd.photography literally bursts out of your screen it is so detailed. I cannot emphasize how pleased i am with this machine, i feel like i could almost transport myself through the internet to far flung and exotic locations at the click of a button.
. Pros Stable and reliable. Runs guest macOS virtual machines. Can use the same virtual machines created on VMware products running in Windows and Linux. Can be used to run nearly any intel-hardware OS. Cons Slower and less beginner-friendly than Parallels Desktop.
Virtual machines not as tightly integrated with macOS as Parallels Desktop's. Bottom Line VMware Fusion 8.5 is a top corporate-level choice for virtual machines on Macs. It's rock-solid, flexible, and can share its virtual machines with Windows and Linux machines running other VMware software. VMware Fusion is the steady, reliable workhorse app for running Windows apps under macOS, and steady and reliable are good things. Like its rival, Parallels Desktop 12, Fusion lets you either run a complete Windows desktop or run individual Windows apps in a macOS window or full screen. Like Parallels, Fusion lets you drag and drop files to and from the macOS desktop and the Windows desktop running in a.
Fusion lacks Parallels' speed, some of its fancy trappings, and its appeal to less technical users, but it surpasses Parallels in its overall solidity. Both are Editors' Choice utilities. VMware Fusion and and Parallels Desktop tend to come out in new versions within a few weeks of each other. After Parallels Desktop got a full-version update from version 11 to version 12, VMware Fusion got a no-cost 'point-five' upgrade from version 8 to version 8.5 (which is what I review here). The new version supports macOS Sierra's built-in tabbed-window feature, which reduces desktop clutter if you keep more than one virtual system running at the same time. Otherwise, it works exactly like version 8, with some minor bugs fixed and full support added for macOS Sierra.
Getting Started You start using Fusion by creating or importing a virtual Windows machine—or, if you prefer, a virtual Linux machine or any of a few dozen other operating systems, including corporate-level OSes like Novell Netware or Solaris and obsolete ones like OS/2 or even the two macOS precursors designed by Steve Jobs, NeXTstep and OpenStep. You can install from a DVD or disk image, or import an existing PC using a free transfer utility available from VMware. You also have the option of creating a Windows virtual machine from a Boot Camp partition, if you have one on your Mac. You can even install a second, virtual copy of your current using the recovery partition on your Mac. The point of creating a virtual copy of your current macOS is that you can use the virtual copy for testing without risking your normal copy. When you've finished installing your virtual machine, you can install VMware Tools software (for Windows, Linux, and macOS systems), which makes it easy to share files between the virtual guest and your macOS host systems. A well-packed panel of options lets you decide how deeply to integrate the guest and host systems—for example, whether to use macOS apps to open mail or Web links on the guest Windows system, or to use Windows apps to open mail or Web links in macOS, or any combination, like using macOS Mail to open mail links in Windows, or the Windows 10 Edge browser to open macOS web links.
For more details on the way virtualization software works in general under macOS, see my review of. Like Parallels, Fusion lets you switch on the fly among a mode where Windows runs full screen, a mode where the whole Windows desktop runs in a window on the macOS, and a mode that Fusion calls Unity, in which a single app—for example, Excel or Word—runs in an macOS window, as if it were an ordinary macOS app. Notifications that normally appear in the Windows notification bar (at the right end of the Taskbar) appear in the macOS top-line menu bar. Integration Fusion, like Parallels, automatically installs your macOS printers into a Windows guest machine, so you can print from Windows apps in the same way you print from macOS. Other integration features include a Shared Folders icon on the Windows desktop that lets you access any macOS folder that you choose to make directly accessible from Windows through that icon. When you install Windows in Fusion, you get an option to make Windows either more integrated with macOS or more isolated from macOS. If you choose the more integrated option, then everything on your macOS desktop also appears on the virtual machine's Windows desktop, a feature that seems to me to add clutter and confusion, though you can turn it off in a Settings menu.
One reason this feature is especially confusing is that any alias (or shortcut) icon that is on your macOS desktop will also appear on the Windows desktop, but the copy on the Windows desktop doesn't act as a shortcut to another folder the way an alias does under macOS. In fact, it doesn't do anything at all. This seems to be one way in which Parallels is unquestionably superior to Fusion, because when Parallels displays a copy of a macOS shortcut icon on the Windows desktop, the shortcut leads to the same macOS folder that the corresponding shortcut leads to when you click it in macOS.
Slightly Sluggish In terms of speed, Parallels also surpassed Fusion in my tests, both in its speed at starting a virtual machine and at waking a sleeping one. On my MacBook Air, Windows 10 started up in twelve seconds under Parallels and twenty-eight seconds under Fusion. Once each system got started, however, both ran real-world applications like Word and Excel at just about the same speed. That is to say, they ran more sluggishly than the native macOS versions of those apps, but certainly fast enough to be usable. Fusion is part of the corporate-level VMware family of products, so any virtual machine you create with VMware Workstation on a Linux or Windows machine will also run under VMware Fusion on a Mac, and any virtual machine you create in Fusion will also run under VMware Workstation. Parallels, in contrast, only has a Mac version. And while Parallels and Fusion both support a wide variety of OSes, experimenters may prefer Fusion for its ability to run oddball historically-interesting systems like NeXTstep and OpenStep, though you'll need to do some discreet searching online to find pre-built VMware virtual machines running those ancient systems.
Excellent Choices Both Fusion and Parallels do a far better job of running Windows on a Mac than their freeware rival, which lacks the integration features that make it easy to share files and data between a macOS host and Windows guest. But you may want to look at a low-cost newcomer in this field called, which is free for the basic version and $39.95 for a premium version that can import VMware or Parallels virtual machines. Veertu offers minimal integration with macOS and almost no frills, but it may be enough for occasional use. If you just want to run a few simple Windows apps or games, you might also try Urge Software's Wineskin Winery. It's also free, but it can be tricky to set up, and it didn't work well with complex apps in my testing.
Virtual Machine Under Parallels For Desktop 6 For Mac
When choosing between Fusion and Parallels, keep in mind that Parallels now uses a subscription model, so if you don't renew your $79.95 annual subscription, you can't continue to use Parallels Desktop. Fusion, in contrast, continues to use the more user-friendly buy-once-use-forever system, with a reduced-price $49.95 upgrades for new versions. I keep both Fusion and Parallels on my system.
Virtual Machines Under Parallels For Desktop 6 For Mac Mac
Fusion is there for the sake of its rock-solid reliability and ability to perform oddball, complex tasks, even though Parallels offers more speed and tighter operating-system integration. Both apps are winners of our Editors' Choice award for virtualization software for macOS, and you can't go wrong with either.