Parallels Desktop 11 Software For Mac

9.0Outstanding

Pros

✓Runs Windows and Linux VMs on Macs
✓Tight integration of Windows and Mac features
✓Improved performance and battery life
✓Supports Windows 10 and OS X El Capitan

Cons

✕Requires plenty of memory and processor power
✕Poor documentation for newcomers

Updates to the popular Parallels Desktop virtualisation program generally coincide with new versions of the Mac operating system, so it's no surprise to see that Parallels Desktop 11 arrives just a few weeks ahead of Apple's new OS X v10.11 -- a.k.a. El Capitan. But, of course, this year's update also follows the recent arrival of Windows 10, which means that Parallels Desktop 11 is a fairly major update that provides support for both of these new operating systems.

Hey Cortana, where's Siri?

The most impressive aspect of Parallels Desktop 11 is not simply that it allows you to run Windows as a virtual machine (VM) on the Mac (along with various versions of Unix, and even Android and ChromeOS too), but that it continues to integrate the Mac and Windows environments so that features from each operating system become almost interchangeable.

One of the headline features in Windows 10 is Cortana, the 'personal assistant' that lets you use voice commands to find information on the web, send messages and perform a variety of other tasks. Cortana is often compared to Apple's Siri, but Siri is currently only available on Apple's iOS devices and doesn't run on the Mac. Parallels Desktop 11 therefore pulls off quite a trick by allowing Cortana to not only run within a Windows 10 virtual machine, but also to run with the VM hidden or running in the background while you work in native Mac apps. So, while I'm typing this review in Apple's Pages wordprocessor, I can say 'Hey Cortana - schedule a meeting'. The Cortana window then pops up from the Dock on the Mac desktop and lists options for my meeting.

OS integration

Parallels Desktop for Mac is simply the world's bestselling, top-rated, and most trusted solution for running Windows applications on your Mac. With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side without rebooting.

Other examples of this OS integration include the Mac's QuickLook option, which now works within Windows too, allowing you to preview documents stored on a Windows virtual machine just by hitting the space bar on your keyboard.

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The latest version

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.2.3 (32663) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes and improvements:

Resolves an issue with Windows 10 not booting after updating to Creators Update
Resolves an issue with dragging and dropping files from Mac to Windows 10 Creators Update
Resolves an issue with web pages opening in Windows 10 Creators Update instead of opening in Mac
Resolves an issue with Windows 10 not installing from a USB thumb drive

NOTE: Parallels strongly recommends to keep your copy of Parallels Desktop up-to-date. To download the latest update go to Parallels Desktop menu ->Check for Updates, or download the installation image directly from here.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.2.2 (32651)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.2.2 (32651) addresses overall stability and performance issues, brings support for macOS Sierra as a host or guest OS, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with printing from Windows using a shared Mac printer
Resolves an issue with memory leaks in the Linux Shared Folder driver
Resolves an issue with Parallels Tools failing to uninstall or update in Linux virtual machines
Resolves an issue with Parallels Tools failing to update in Mac virtual machines
Resolves an issue with recognizing external mice in macOS virtual machines
Resolves an issue with Ubuntu 16.04 application icons in the Dock not responding to system menu commands like Hide and Show All Windows
Resolves an issue with generating the same MAC address for multiple virtual machines
Resolves an issue with Parallels Tools not installing in Fedora 24 virtual machines

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.2.1 (32626)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.2.1 (32626) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with the Windows 10 Insider Preview Start menu not showing up in Coherence
Resolves an issue with Parallels Desktop crashing on quit when downloading a Free System from the New Virtual Machine assistant
Resolves an issue with Parallels Tools not installing in OpenSUSE Linux 42.1
Resolves an issue with not connecting to Mint 17.3 and Ubuntu 16.04 virtual machines via VNC if Parallels Tools are installed
Resolves an issue with an error switching to Coherence in Ubuntu 16.04 virtual machines
Resolves an issue with a kernel panic when upgrading OS X Mavericks virtual machine to OS X El Capitan
Resolves an issue with the Space key not working in virtual machines after upgrading the host OS to macOS Sierra Preview or Public Beta
Resolves an issue with sharing Windows with a macOS Sierra host OS
Resolves an issue with accidental sticky keys in OS X virtual machines
Resolves an issue with bridging to tagged VLAN networks
Resolves an issue with desktop visual artefacts in Ubuntu virtual machines on the MacBook 12-inch Retina

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.2.0 (32581)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.2.0 (32581) addresses overall stability and performance issues, brings new features for Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition, introduces new downloadable free systems from the New Virtual Machine Wizard, and includes the fixes listed below.

New features in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition:

New Developer Settings pane in virtual machine configuration, with the following features:
- Manage automatic Parallels Tools update in virtual machines
- Use a Linux virtual machine name as the Guest OS hostname
- Sync SSH public keys from Mac with Linux virtual machines to make an SSH connection without entering a password.
New free downloadable appliances in New Virtual Machine Wizard:
- Windows 10 Development Environment by Microsoft.

The update includes the following fixes for each Parallels Desktop for Mac edition:

Adds support to Ubuntu 16.04
Resolves an issue with resizing a file system when increasing a virtual hard disk size
Resolves an issue with interruptions when downloading free systems from the New Virtual Machine Wizard
Resolves an issue with detecting a CD/DVD installation media as USB when installing a new virtual machine
Resolves an issue with a virtual machine crashing when adding a new printer to Mac
Resolves an issue with a virtual machine not starting if Rollback mode is set to discard changes
Resolves an issue with switching to Coherence mode on Ubuntu 15.10 virtual machines
Resolves an issue with an error message when reassigning a USB device from Mac to a virtual machine
Resolves an issue with an error message about some of the required kernel modules are missing in Linux virtual machines
Resolves an issue with compressing some types of DNS records in Shared Network, which led to the inability to resolve some names with some types of DNS-servers
Resolves an issue with some domain-specific DNS-servers when domain-names begin with a space in the System Configuration

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.3 (32521)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.3 (32521) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with virtual machines crashing with Nested Virtualization enabled
Resolves an issue with virtual machines crashing when adding a printer
Resolves an issue with an OS X Yosemite host OS crashing when connecting a USB device
Resolves an issue with virtual machines starting with a critical error
Resolves an issue with Chinese (Simplified) input method in Coherence
Resolves an issue with an incompatibility error message when starting OS X virtual machines
Resolves an issue with performance degradation over time when running a 3D intensive application in Windows
Resolves an issue with graphic artifacts in the Adomi 2016 application

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.2 (32408)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.2 (32408) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with connecting USB devices to virtual machines after upgrading the host OS to OS X El Capitan 10.11.2
Resolves an issue with an error waking virtual machine from sleep
Resolves an issue with virtual machines not recognizing additional displays when using all displays in Full Screen
Resolves an issue with Parallels Desktop crashing when adding a new printer in an OS X host OS
Resolves an issue with accidental network connectivity failure in virtual machines
Resolves an issue with a black screen appearing after installing Parallels Tools on OS X 10.6 and 10.7 virtual machines.
Resolves an issue with UDP port forwarding not remapping back to the source IP port

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.1 (32312)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.1 (32312) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with Boot Camp virtual machines not booting, and instead showing Windows recovery options.
Resolves an issue with a mouse cursor looking corrupted when Retina settings are applied to an external display.
Resolves an issue with not being able to mount an NTFS drive in Mac OS X when Parallels Desktop is running.
Resolves an issue with Ubuntu 15.10 not working in Coherence.
Resolves an issue with Microsoft Outlook crashing in Windows after opening an Outlook file from OS X.
Resolves an issue with incorrect display arrangement when switching to a virtual machine working in Full Screen on multiple displays.
Resolves an issue with Parallels Desktop crashing after quitting a virtual machine in Full Screen while another virtual machine is running.
Resolves an issue with virtual machines hanging when removing a snapshot.
Resolves an issue with the screen blinking after Parallels Tools are installed in Fedora 23.
Resolves other crash and stability issues.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.0 (32202)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.1.0 (32202) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with a sound error when starting a virtual machine
Resolves an issue with accidental crashes when starting Windows applications
Resolves an issue with recognizing external USB devices in Windows virtual machines
Resolves an issue with virtual machine offset after using either a dedicated desktop Space or Split View
Resolves an issue with inaccurate mouse positioning in Windows virtual machines with two displays
Resolves an issue with not being able to start a virtual machine, with the “Operation timeout” error message
Resolves an issue with switching to Full Screen when working with multiple virtual machines
Resolves an issue with importing a Boot Camp partition into a virtual machine on 2015 MacBooks
Resolves an issue with copying and pasting files from OS X to Windows virtual machines in Coherence mode
Resolves an issue with graphical artifacts in the SolidWorks application in Coherence mode
Resolves an issue with Shared Folders in OS X virtual machines
Resolves an issue with virtual machines getting stuck on pausing when in headless mode
Resolves an issue with grey background artefacts in Coherence
Resolves an issue with DropBox sharing with OS X virtual machines
Resolves an issue with prl_cc.exe excessive CPU usage
Resolves an issue with accidental events when virtual machine settings are not saved
Resolves an issue with virtual machines crashing when playing GTA 5

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.0.2 (31348)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.0.2 (31348) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with mouse cursor positioning in Windows 10 when using all displays in Full Screen
Resolves an issue with dragging and dropping from a virtual machine to OS X in Coherence
Resolves an issue with installing an OS X El Capitan virtual machine from the .app image
Resolves an issue with opening virtual machine applications from the Dock in OS X El Capitan
Resolves an issue with Microsoft Office application windows rendering in Coherence after restoring a window from the Dock
Resolves an issue with Parallels Tools installation in Ubuntu 15.04 virtual machines
Resolves an issue with the Network Conditioner tool not working in virtual machines with Bridged networking
Resolves an issue with some applications not appearing in iCloud Drive shared from OS X with Windows virtual machines
Resolves an issue with shared folders being incompatible with Visual Studio projects
Resolves an issue with virtual machine desktop icons rearranging after restart
Resolves an issue with the button to switch a virtual machine to Coherence being positioned incorrectly
Resolves an issue with graphic artefacts when running an application in a Linux virtual machine.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.0.1 (31277)

This update for Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac 11.0.1 (31277) addresses overall stability and performance issues, and includes the following fixes:

Resolves an issue with virtual machines stalling when trying to boot from a SATA drive
Resolves an issue with virtual machines crashing in certain circumstances when suspending
Resolves an issue with copying and pasting from the Mac side to a virtual machine
Resolves an issue with converting third-party virtual machines with split hard disks
Resolves an issue with converting third-party virtual machines based on a Boot Camp partition
Resolves an issue with empty icons in Parallels Desktop Control Center for virtual machines on external drives
Resolves issues with installing Windows 10 from USB media
Resolves an issue with Parallels Tools installation not automatically starting after installing Windows 10 from USB media
Resolves an issue with Boot Camp virtual machines not suspending
Resolves an issue with booting Windows from a Boot Camp partition after installing the virtual machine from Boot Camp.
Resolves an issue with importing a Boot Camp virtual machine

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac release build 11.0.31193 includes the following new features:

Support for Windows 10

An onscreen guide walks you through upgrading a Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 virtual machine to Windows 10.
Use Cortana, the Microsoft speech-enabled virtual assistant, even when your Windows 10 virtual machine isn’t the frontmost application.
When running Windows 10, the Action Center has an icon in the OS X Menu Bar, so you won’t miss messages from Windows.

Optimized for longer battery life

Parallels 11 For Mac Download

Battery life is extended up to 15% in office and heavy 3D graphics scenarios.
Travel Mode extends battery life by temporarily shutting down resource-intensive services running in the VM.

Performance

Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 startup and shutdown are up to 50% faster
Operations with files in Windows are greatly improved (the PassMark disk test shows up to 20% improvement).
Operations with files moving from Mac to Windows and vice versa are up to 5% faster.
Suspending a virtual machine is up to 20% faster.
Improved network performance in certain scenarios.

Productivity

OS X Quick Look for Windows apps: Quickly preview a Windows file before opening it, just as you would on the Mac.
Menu item 'Open Recent' when right-clicking Dock icons of popular Windows applications.
Menu items 'New Document', 'New Spreadsheet',” and 'New Presentation' when right-clicking Dock icons of Microsoft Office and some other apps.
Resuming a virtual machine can be cancelled while in process.
Menu item 'Open in Windows' when right-clicking Mac files.
When you open a Mac file in a Windows VM, a notification gives you the option to set files of that type to always open in the Windows application.
Printing from Windows using a printer shared from OS X allows you to adjust paper size and select one- or two-side printing using the OS X Page Setup dialogue.
Quickly lookup a word or preview a file in Windows using a Force Touch trackpad.
Added new default shortcuts for Windows virtual machines:
- Command + Backspace = Shift + Delete
- Alt + Right = Ctrl + Right
- Alt + Left = Ctrl + Left
- Alt + Shift + Right = Ctrl + Shift + Right
- Alt + Shift + Left = Ctrl + Shift + LeftCtrl + Alt + Backspace = Ctrl + Alt + Delete

Other new features

OS X Location sharing with Windows virtual machines.
Automatic synchronization of the volume setting of the virtual machine with the volume setting of the Mac.
New 'English Japanese (Apple) - Parallels' layout to support JIS keyboards.
Create a new OS X virtual machine from any OS X recovery partition.

General enhancement

Improved support for Boot Camp virtual machines.
Simplified virtual machine configuration interface.
Virtual Machines with Snapshots enabled now support compacting.
Automatic virtual machine Pause mode intelligence improvements.
Switch to Coherence using a button in the virtual machine title bar.
Improved importing of third-party virtual machines.

Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition

A new edition to the Parallels Desktop family, Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Pro Edition is designed for developers, web and graphic designers, power users, and other professionals with demanding needs.

Support for popular developer tools

A plugin for Visual Studio for remote debugging in target virtual machines.
Integration with Docker: Manage Docker hosts in (or with) Parallels Desktop.
Integration with Chef: ohai now detects Parallels Desktop as host system on Mac and as guest system on Mac, Windows and Linux.
Integration with Jenkins: a plugin for continuous integration.Parallels Control Center toolbar
Debug Guest with help of the Parallels debugger (DBG).
Connect to a virtual machine via secure shell (SSH).
Generate a guest OS core dump with one click (DMP).
Open the virtual machine IP address in default browser on Mac (WEB).

Network tools

Analyze network traffic in virtual machines using the tcpdump or wireshark utility from the Mac host.
Create custom virtual networks.
Simulate various network instabilities by configuring bandwidth and packets loss.

Work with multiple virtual machines

Headless mode for running virtual machines in background.
Sorting option for virtual machines in the Parallels Control Center.
Easily distinguish between your virtual machines with color boundaries and Dock icon badges.
Resolve DNS requests from virtual machines through the host.
CLI bash completion.
Network boot for OS X virtual machines.
Change virtual machine icons in the Dock to custom icons. To do so, right-click a virtual machine .pvm bundle and select 'Get Info' Paste a custom icon to replace the original.

Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition