MED: Parallels Desktop Business Edition 17.1.4

Parallels Desktop Business Edition 17.1.4

Parallels Desktop is one of the oldest and most popular applications for virtualization on macOS. There are quite a few options out there for Mac users who want to run other operating systems on their Apple devices, but none are quite as intuitive and novice-friendly as Parallels.

This app allows you to Run Windows, various flavors of Linux, ChromeOS, Android, and many other operating systems in virtual machines, and it makes setting up and configuring these VMs incredibly straightforward. Much of the process is automated, and the virtualized OSes integrate well with macOS.

Anyone can start up a virtual machine with Parallels
It really is that simple. Compared to alternatives like VirtualBox or VMware, it is much easier to create a virtual machine and install an OS. For instance, if you want a Windows 10 VM, the startup wizard guides you through the entire process. It only takes a few clicks and absolutely no technical knowledge.

If you skip the initial Win10 wizard, Parallels still has an installation assistant that can help you set up Windows, Linux, and many other operating systems. The Windows 10 Test and Development environments are available for free, as are numerous Linux flavors and Android, and you can even install macOS from the recovery partition or convert a Boot Camp installation to a VM.

Excellent integration with macOS
Aside from installing Windows via Boot Camp, which isn't likely to be supported on Apple Silicon, Parallels offers possibly the most seamless experience when running another operating system on your Mac.

MacBook Pro users can add Windows apps to the Touch Bar, Office integration lets documents in Safari open in their native Windows apps, and full support is available for Retina displays for the best visual experience.

Sharing files between your Mac and Windows VM could not be easier, as files on the desktop are instantly accessible from either OS, no matter where they were created.

If you want to take things one step further, just enable Coherence Mode. Once it is active, all applications in your Windows VM will appear in separate windows directly on your Mac's desktop, almost as if they were running natively on macOS.

Not just for beginners
Of course, Parallels Desktop is available in multiple editions, with the Pro and Business variants geared towards professionals and enterprises respectively. While the Standard edition includes most features, it limits the amount of RAM and virtual CPUs you can use for each VM and lacks some advanced deployment and management tools.

These include integration with Docker, Vagrant, and Microsoft Visual Studio, among others, VM transferring and deployment capabilities, debugging tools, and centralized administration and management.

Probably the best virtualization application for macOS
Whether you're just starting out or you have a lot of experience with running VMs, nothing can beat the streamlined experience you get with Parallels, and it doesn't lose out to its competitors when it comes to the number of available features either.

With Boot Camp seemingly doomed on Apple Silicon, Parallels will likely be one of the few virtualization options available for M1 Mac users.

What's New:

Version 17.1.4:

This update for Parallels Desktop 17 for Mac 17.1.4 addresses overall stability and performance issues.

Version 17.1.0:

Windows:

To meet the Windows 11 requirements and increase compatibility with Windows 11, a virtual TPM chip is added automatically to new Windows 11 virtual machines. This improvement also simplifies creating new installations of Windows 11, installing Windows 11 updates and upgrading to Windows 11.
For new Windows 10 virtual machines created on Mac computers with the Apple M1 chip, a virtual TPM chip is added automatically.
When a TPM chip is added to the virtual machine configuration, Windows Secure Boot is enabled automatically.

Linux:

Support for VirGL in Virtio GPU which enables Linux 3D acceleration out of the box in supported Linux distributions, brings visual performance improvements, and allows using the Wayland protocol in Linux virtual machines.

macOS 12 Monterey:

Full support for macOS 12 Monterey as a host operating system.
Improved support for macOS 12 Monterey virtual machines on Mac computers running Monterey and equipped with the Apple M1 chip:
Install Parallels Tools in macOS 12 Monterey and copy and paste text between the virtual machine and Mac.
The default virtual machine disk size has been increased from 32 to 64 GB.

Games:

Resolves graphics issues with various Windows games including, but not limited to: World of Warcraft, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Tomb
Raider III, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, World of Tanks, and Raft.

Screenshots: