Overview
What is Parallels Desktop?
Parallels Desktop is a virtual user session solution built to run Windows on Macintosh computers without rebooting. It is designed for OS X Yosemite with one-click tuning.
Experience Parallels Desktop
Ultimate Decision Yes or No? YES!
Desktop virtualization with power and ease.
Parallels Desktop saved me from buying another computer
Parallels Desktop - The Best Virtual Machine Software for Mac
To support Internet Explorer 11 …
Parallels - what Apple would build if it did virtualization on Mac!
Parallels Desktop saved me from buying a PC... AWESOME!
Parallels Desktop great tool for Mac users running only Windows softwareq
Parallels Desktop Review on a MacBook Pro M3 Max
Superb software for cross environment compatibility
If you need to run Windows Apps and are Mac User, buy Parallels. Best decision you can make.
Works if you need it. Will make your MacBook an inferno.
Best Application of Virtual Machine for MacOS
Parallels give you power, functionality and a smooth interface for all your desktop virtualization needs
Awards
Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards
Popular Features
- File transfer (23)9.898%
- Screen sharing (9)9.090%
- Access to sleeping/powered-off computers (10)8.787%
- Centralized management dashboard (11)8.585%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
Parallels Desktop 16
$49.99
Parallels Desktop Pro Edition
$49.99
Parallels Desktop
$79.99
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac - VM Explorer Demo
Features
Remote Administration
Remote administration software is used to control a computer from a remote location.
- 9Screen sharing(9) Ratings
Allows participants to share their computer screens with others in the meeting, enabling collaborative work and presentations.
- 9.8File transfer(23) Ratings
Securely exchange files with remote computer without having to use email or FTP.
- 7.6Instant message(5) Ratings
Ability for administrator to communicate via instant message with remote user.
- 6.4Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication(4) Ratings
Establish secure remote connection via Smart Card authentication and Smart Card logon.
- 8.7Access to sleeping/powered-off computers(10) Ratings
Remote access and troubleshooting of out-of-band computers.
- 8.9Over-the-Internet remote session(9) Ratings
Establish secure remote connection with computers outside the network firewall.
- 7.1Initiate remote control from mobile(3) Ratings
Mobile application for remote controlling computers from mobile device (iOS, Android)
- 7.1Remote management of servers & workstations(5) Ratings
Server reboot, start/stop services & processes, clear logs, manage disks, shares, etc. without having to initiate remote control.
- 8.6Remote Active Directory® management(5) Ratings
Remotely unlock user accounts, reset passwords, manage Organizational Units, edit Group Policy, etc.
- 8.5Centralized management dashboard(11) Ratings
Dashboard to facilitate management of users, permissions, licenses etc.
- 8.7Session record(7) Ratings
Ability to record session for training purposes.
- 6.5Annotations(6) Ratings
Ability to markup and highlight end user’s screen to provide visual clues or to highlight areas.
- 8.9Monitoring and Alerts(8) Ratings
Monitor CPU usage, memory utilization to proactively address issues. Receive alerts indicating attention needed.
- 9.4Multi-platform remote control(9) Ratings
Ability to remotely connect to multiple operating systems (Windows®, Mac OS® and Linux®).
Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Parallels Desktop?
Parallels Desktop Video
Parallels Desktop Technical Details
Deployment Types | On-premise |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(84)Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-3 of 3)Parallels Desktop saved me from buying a PC... AWESOME!
- Toad for SQL
- Microsoft Access
- Generally playing nice with my iMac.
- Windows 10 is awesome but 11 seems a bit off.
- It really is awesome all the way around!
- Screen sharing
- N/AN/A
- File transfer
- N/AN/A
- Instant message
- N/AN/A
- Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication
- N/AN/A
- Access to sleeping/powered-off computers
- N/AN/A
- Over-the-Internet remote session
- N/AN/A
- Initiate remote control from mobile
- N/AN/A
- Remote management of servers & workstations
- N/AN/A
- Remote Active Directory® management
- N/AN/A
- Centralized management dashboard
- N/AN/A
- Session record
- N/AN/A
- Annotations
- N/AN/A
- Monitoring and Alerts
- N/AN/A
- Multi-platform remote control
- N/AN/A
- ROI was instant as Parallels Desktop is less than Mac's terminal program.
- ROI was instant again as Toad was not available on Mac at the time.
- MS Access is PC only and I did not have to buy a PC so...
- Coherence is rockin' awesome.
- None that I experienced.
If you need to run Windows Apps and are Mac User, buy Parallels. Best decision you can make.
We have a legacy application where only administrative functions can be performed in a Windows App. For some of our customers, all users are Mac users. Parallels and their Coherence Mode provide a near-seamless virtual machine/desktop experience for these users. Coherence Mode means they don't have to deal with a windows environment and can work side by side with our app and their other Mac apps (Adobe Creative Cloud apps, for example).
- Windows (or other OS) virtualization on machines running MacOS
- Using Windows apps side by side your Mac apps
- Coherence Mode allows you to hide the Windows Virtual Machine and only interact with the Windows Apps (no Windows desktop in browser window)
- I think that over time it slows down, but this is really linked to Windows bloating.
- I think Coherence Mode could improve slightly...how the windows search window populates and moves around sometimes is weird. (this could be changed in settings, but I'm not sure)
- Memory Usage optimization (again, they do a great job, so I'm nitpicking here)
- Screen sharing
- N/AN/A
- File transfer
- 100%10.0
- Instant message
- N/AN/A
- Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication
- N/AN/A
- Access to sleeping/powered-off computers
- N/AN/A
- Over-the-Internet remote session
- N/AN/A
- Initiate remote control from mobile
- N/AN/A
- Remote management of servers & workstations
- N/AN/A
- Remote Active Directory® management
- N/AN/A
- Centralized management dashboard
- N/AN/A
- Session record
- N/AN/A
- Annotations
- N/AN/A
- Monitoring and Alerts
- N/AN/A
- Multi-platform remote control
- N/AN/A
- It has allowed us to keep customers and keep them happy.
- It has allowed me to keep my current computer.
- It has made it possible for me to experience our app the way all customers see it without having to switch machines.
- Ability for mac users to access critical windows apps from their Macs
- Need for the VM to be installed on the local machine (not accessed remotely)
- Need for the ability to remove as much of the VM/Windows environment as possible
- Need to share files and copy/paste between local MacOS and local Windows VM
- It has allowed us to keep providing a fully featured application to clients using Mac instead of Windows.
- I believe we are utilizing it fully for our needs.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Implemented in-house
- Installing a new OS can sometimes be tricky
- Installation is easy
- Setting memory and other setting is easy
- Coherence mode makes it easy to forget you are using a virtual machine.
- Downgrading licenses is my only issue
I've used BootCamp to have a separate Windows partition. Parallels allows me to access this also in a running macOS session, which is my primary use (even though performance does suffer a bit).
- Run the Bootcamp partition in a running macOS session.
- Integrate in both directions: copy/paste text, open files in both directions, integrate the file system, to read and write files in either direction.
- Using the same hardware and network connection.
- Run Clickshare in a Windows session, when the Mac-version fails due to non-updated system firmware updates.
- No update for OpenGL 3, which prevents some 3D applications from launching. The Windows-version of SketchUp is but one example.
- Frequent (yearly) updates which don't always bring benefits (I always skip at least one version).
If the models and documents are not too heavy, the ease of integration outweighs the performance loss. However, booting and loading heavy applications takes time, so I avoid running if at all possible.
- File transfer
- 100%10.0
- While the main desktop has a fair price, upgrade pricing is about 50% of a new license. As the yearly updates don't often justify this, I tend to skip the even releases.
- Ease-of-use and convenience are the main reasons to use it.
- OpenGL support has not evolved for recent 3D applications, which is starting to become a problem.
- Too many automatic integrations and impact on macOS, so I have to disable quiet a few in the configurations. Especially inadvertantly launching parallels and Windows applications when double-clicking a file or doing a spotlight search can be annoying.
- Running a Windows application in its own Window alongside macOS applications
- Dragging files from Finder to Windows Explorer
- Copy/pasting text (even using the command-C and command-V shortcut)
- Launching Windows from the bootcamp partition
- Takes a while to boot and launch the first application
- Some applications can not run at all, due to higher OpenGL requirements (e.g. SketchUp Pro for Windows)