Likelihood to Recommend It is well suited in cases where your company/organization is looking for a low/no cost remote desktop solution, or is looking for something that can be used by most anyone right away. Most organizations don't want things to be too complex, especially with a remote desktop solution, which is generally not very complex software to begin with. It would be less appropriate in cases where the company/organization has already purchased licensing for a commercial product, and/or has been heavily using a commercial product for some time.
Read full review I often get asked, why not the "free" stuff (VirtualBox), and/or why not VMWare. VirtualBox, etc. are not as performant for interactive usage. I think they are fine for small applications, perhaps some enterprise app usage, but for developers, it's not good enough. VMWare has become too enterprisey and lacks some of the user-friendly stuff that Parallels focuses on. Ultimately, for developer types running OSes for deep tasks, Parallels is unrivaled.
Read full review Pros Unlike Microsoft's Remote Desktop, this program is the same across platforms, which is helpful for users. This program also allows direct control over the desktop (like TeamViewer) and doesn't give you a simulated log on (like Remote Desktop). This is advantageous for seeing exactly what's on the screen but can make it a little laggy. The interface is very nice and clear once it's set up. It's obvious which computer is which and it's just a couple of clicks from opening the program to a connection. The mobile app is also really really well done. Read full review File Transfer - You can easily transfer files between Parallels virtualized desktops and the host desktop either through Copy and Paste functionality, or Drag and Drop. You can also configure shared folders. Switch Between Virtual and Host Desktop - You can configure swipe gestures on a MacBook Pro to be able to switch between the virtualized and host desktop. You can also launch apps from the OS X Taskbar. Performance - Apps in Parallels run quite smoothly on my 2015 MacBook Pro, as of 2020. Considering they are running on a 5-year-old computer, I give Parallels top marks for performance. Read full review Cons The session can be seen on the screen of the workstation. Could be a privacy issue. It DOESN'T work like traditional RDP, much closer to a screen sharing support session. There is no built in File Transfer. Its not a deal breaker, but definitely an annoyance. Read full review The ability to do snapshots, backups, and other types of branching for VMs is a little confusing and takes a bit to get used to The Parallels tools frequently pop up windows advertising functionality, while this is helpful at times it can also happen when you are doing a presentation or typing in a password. Careful using the VMs on a shared cloud drive such as Dropbox or OneDrive, there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of files which are updated when running a VM and this can clog up your Dropbox or OneDrive sync for minutes to hours even on a 2gb connection. Read full review Likelihood to Renew A very easy lightweight tool that is completely scalable and deployed via google admin platform. The tool is free to use and works extremely well with the chrome devices we currently have deployed. Any organization using chrome or google suites should look into this tool as it's much easier to use then other remote software in the market
Read full review Users are familiar with the application which will keep us going for a little while. However since we are seeing a decline for a need for the software, I wouldn't be surprised to find that this answer changes dramatically in the near future. We would probably keep it to some extent, but we would probably reduce our licensing count.
Read full review Usability I would rarely give a 10 for usability to any tool, but Chrome Remote Desktop doesn't deserves 9 either :) I find all options easy to understand. I don't have to work my brain to understand how things work when using Chrome Remote Desktop.
Read full review It has a good integration, including the connection of peripherals. Taking files back and forth works well and I can attach my Home drive as a network drive in Windows. There is even integration with iCloud and other macOS services. There are also a few different display modes which are useful and fleixible (coherence, windowed, full-screen with multiple screens)
Read full review Support Rating The only support I ever accessed were help files and web tutorials. I never tried to access personal support, mostly because I don't believe much of it is available. As a free service, my expectations for support are pretty low; that said, Chrome Remote Desktop is easy enough to configure and troubleshoot even with limited technical knowledge.
Read full review So, this rating is a little skewed toward older behavior from Parallels, as I haven't had to contact them recently. However, in an older version of Parallels, an "update" included pop-ups urging users to upgrade to the latest version, implying that their current version wouldn't work for the latest MacOS. I found it very frustrating to be getting ads for a new version of the software in a version I had already paid for. I contacted support about this and got a generic, uncaring response. It was pretty disappointing.
Read full review Implementation Rating None, its quick and easy
Read full review The only advice I can provide is think about who is using the product and build the image based on the true needs of the user.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Chrome Remote Desktop seems to be a an easy to use and efficient program. Such as
TeamViewer , however
TeamViewer offers more program features such as able to control a device's function (shutting down, restarting, audio input, cmd etc). With those added program features I believe Chrome Remote Desktop can almost be up to par with
TeamViewer .
Read full review Main two features that made the balance decission go to the Parallels Desktop were the possibility to pause the Windows partition easily (allowing to consume less resources in Mac and save battery) and the other one is the user interface feature called "Coherence" with allows you to show the Windows application windows as if they were native to the
macOS , allowing for a better user experience.
Read full review Return on Investment Using Chrome Remote Desktop, we've saved money on remote desktop software. Using Chrome Remote Desktop, we've saved money by not needing to purchase additional hardware (monitors). Using Chrome Remote Desktop has improved the productivity of my organization by allowing employees to work from anywhere. Read full review Avoid extra costs: majority of users have a Mac, so if they needed to dod something that is Windows related, it will require to users have an extra computer to do that tasks, and this have a lot of costs Developers have more concerns how websites behaves on Windows only browsers, which increased the satisfaction of users Read full review ScreenShots