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.

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 11 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.

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.

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.

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 20.4.0

Windows:

• Introduces support for using Dragon Medical One macros (step-by-step commands) in Mac apps (e.g. Epic Hyperspace).
• Introduces support for creating and running Windows 10 22H2 and Windows Server 2019 virtual machines in x86 emulation mode on Apple silicon Macs.
• Fixes the issue that prevented Windows virtual machines from packing successfully in preparation for transfer on Macs running macOS Sequoia 15.
• Fixes the issue that produced black screens when waking a Windows 11 virtual machine from sleep mode on Intel Macs.
• Fixes the issue that prevented the “Send with Windows Email App” feature from working correctly with Microsoft Outlook when attempting to send a file from your Mac using the Windows virtual machine email client.

Linux:

• Fixes the issue that occasionally prevented unarchiving Linux virtual machines on Macs running macOS Sonoma 14.
• Fixes the issue that prevented Ubuntu 25.04 virtual machines with Parallels Tools for Linux installed from accessing files in the host Mac’s shared folders.
• Fixes several issues that prevented Debian 12, Ubuntu 24.x, RHEL 9, and Mint 22 from being installed in x86 emulation mode on Apple silicon Macs.
• Fixes the issue that caused black screens when moving app windows in Ubuntu 24.04.

macOS (as a virtual machine):

• Improves the network implementation for macOS virtual machines running on Apple silicon Macs, resolving multiple issues with VPN clients.
• Fixes the implementation of “host-only” network configuration on macOS virtual machines. In this mode, the macOS virtual machine can only connect to the host Mac and its other virtual machines but is invisible from the outside.
• Fixes the issue that affected various Parallels Tools for Mac functionality (including drag-and-drop, copy-and-paste, network sharing, and more) on macOS virtual machines on Intel Macs running macOS Sequoia 15.4 and newer.
• Fixes the virtual network adapter configuration issue, which affected network connectivity and virtual machine cloning in macOS virtual machines on Intel Macs.
• Fixes the issue that affected the speed of switching between snapshots of macOS virtual machines.

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