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Parallels Desktop 14 makes it a snap to run macOS, Windows, or Linux virtual machines on your Mac. It has improved launch times, graphics improvements, and automatic monitoring of storage, CPU. User Review of Parallels Desktop: 'As a person whose job it is to test and troubleshoot audio video equipment with a variety of equipment attached, and as a Mac user that relies on a variety of Windows software tools to accomplish my job, I spend most of my work day in virtual operating environments. When I first started using Parallels, I tested it against other options such as VirtualBox. Parallels Inc., a global leader in cross-platform solutions, makes it simple for customers to use and access the applications and files they need on any device or operating system. We help businesses and individuals securely and productively use their favorite devices and preferred technology, whether it’s Windows®, Mac.
- More reasons why I love using Parallels Desktop for Mac
- 4. The subscription plan gets you a FREE copy of Parallels Toolbox
- Final thoughts on my Parallels Desktop for Mac review
Hey there, fellow Mac user! If you’re looking for a greatapp that will help you run Windows on your Mac, then you’re in the right place.For me, Parallels is the perfect Boot Camp alternative for us Mac users. Want tofind out why? Please scroll down and read my Parallels Desktop for Macreview!
A quick story on how I got started with Parallels
Before I begin, let me just say that I’ve been using Parallelsalmost daily since 2018.
As a freelance writer and part-time digital marketer, I’veneeded to use a number of Windows-only apps on my MacBook.
Now, you may say that Boot Camp is available for free. Yes, itis, but it didn’t fit my needs.
So, I looked around and did my research on the best BootCamp alternatives.
Seeing that Parallels offers a free 14-day trial, I tookthem up on their offer.
Parallels For Mac Review 2018
After my trial, I decided to sign up for an annualsubscription. And to date, I’ve never regretted my decision!
Because without a doubt, I can definitely say that Parallelsgives me the best of both Mac and Windows.
What’s Parallels Desktop for Mac? What does it do?
Well, in techie words it’s a “virtualization software thatallows MacOS computers to run Windows, Linux, and even Chrome operating systems(OS).”
In other words, these other operating systems run parallelto your computer’s native MacOS.
That being said, to keep things simple throughout thisarticle, I’ll be using Windows in my examples. Feel free to replace ‘Windows’with Linux, Chrome, or whatever your favorite OS is.
With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can easily switchbetween MacOS and Windows.
This means you can literally copy info from Pages (a nativeMac app) and then paste it directly into Microsoft Publisher (a native Windowsapp).
All you need to do is just toggle between Pages andPublisher like they are both native MacOS apps!
So, in a nutshell, Parallels transforms Windows into a virtualOS.
It makes native Windows apps run like native apps on yourMac. It’s mind-blowing, right?
How does Parallels compare to Apple’s native Boot Camp?
Apple’s free Boot Camp is always an option,but it’s not nearly as useful as Parallels.
For one thing, Boot Camp can only run one operating systemat a time.
When you start up or boot up your Mac, you’ll be askedwhether you want to boot up MacOS or Windows.
This means that if you need to copy and paste data between aMac-only app and a Windows-only app, you’d need to get creative.
Let’s use the Pages and Publisher example again.
If in Parallels you can copy and paste directly betweenPages and Publisher, in Boot Camp, you can’t do this.
Here’s what you’d probably need to do:
Save your Pages file to the cloud. Shut down your Mac.Reboot in Windows. Open Publisher. Retrieve Pages file from the cloud. Copy andpaste data to Publisher.
Whew! That’s a lot of steps!
Imagine doing the same thing over and over and over again.It can quickly get annoying and very tiresome!
With Parallels, however, you get to avoid doing all thoseunnecessary steps.
A simple toggle between applications and you’reautomatically transported from MacOS to Windows!
Of course, when it comes to price, Boot Camp will beatParallels all day long.
That’s because Boot Camp is free. You just need to meet these requirements to usethis powerful tool.
Parallels Desktop for Mac, on the other hand, is going tocost you a pretty penny.
But for people like me who don’t want to leave Mac BUT needto use Windows apps, this is a worthy investment.
More reasons why I love using Parallels Desktop for Mac
Watch Parallel Movie 2018
In addition to letting me use my favorite Windows apps on mybeloved MacBook, I also love Parallels for the following reasons:
1. Windows is blazing fast (like really, really fast!) on my MacBook
So, before I bought my MacBook, I was using a Lenovo laptop.It initially booted up fast (later on it became much more sluggish but that’snot the point of this article).
However, Lenovo’s ‘fast’ didn’t come close to howfast Parallels boots up Windows 10 on my MacBook!
I was honestly blown away.
No words can express the joy I felt when I saw my Windowsdesktop in under 8 seconds!
And that’s not all, shutting down Windows on the Lenovolaptop took a good minute or two.
But with Parallels, I just need to press Command +Q on my keyboard, and voila! Windows is instantly ‘suspended.’
Basically, what Parallels does is it suspends Windows. So,the next time you activate it, you’ll see all yourpreviously-opened-but-not-closed apps on your screen!
It’s quite amazing, honestly. Try it out so you can see justhow amazing this software is!
2. I can run Microsoft Office apps natively on my Mac
I know Microsoft Office has a Mac version. But truth betold, it’s not as robust or as ‘complete’ (I’m using the term loosely here) asthe Windows version.
I have an Office 365 subscription which allows me to downloadand install Office apps on both Mac and Windows.
I normally use Microsoft Word (Mac) when writing, but forPowerPoint, I prefer the Windows version. The PowerPoint Mac version lacks somefeatures that are available on the Windows version.
Check out this screenshot:
Microsoft Access and Publisher don’t have a Macversion. So, if you need to use both these apps on your Mac, then Parallels isyour friend.
While I love MacOS, certain aspects of my freelance work andother personal projects require me to use Windows apps.
Personally, my relatively small investment in ParallelsDesktop has paid off several times over.
3. The subscription plan gets free upgrades
When buying Parallels, you’ve got two choices. You can gothe one-time payment route, or you can purchase an annual subscription.
Parallel 2018 Imdb
Sure, 1-time purchase sounds good because you do get to savesome money (if you don’t upgrade every year). But I think in the long runyou’re going to miss out on a lot.
For instance, with the subscription, you get free upgradesto newer versions.
I originally bought Parallels Desktop for Mac 14 in December2018.
But a couple of weeks ago, I got an email telling me thatParallels Desktop 15 is now ready for download!
So, of course, I downloaded my free upgrade. It is part ofwhat I pay for, right?
With Parallels 15, I noticed right away that Windows and myfavorite Office apps load a whole lot faster than the previous version (theiremail did say it’s up to 80% faster)!
Parallels 14 was already zippy enough for me, but this newversion literally made it feel like Windows is on steroid! It’s that fast!
Parallels For Mac 2018 Review Cnet
In addition, the subscription plan also gives me free accessto Parallels Access and Parallels Toolbox.
Here’s a screenshot of my Parallels account:
As you can see, I’m only paying for one subscription, but Ihave 3 products listed in my account: Parallels Desktop for Mac, ParallelsAccess, and Parallels Toolbox.
4. The subscription plan gets you a FREE copy of Parallels Toolbox
When I first bought Parallels Desktop for Mac, I honestlythought I’d have no use for my free copy of Parallels Toolbox (standalone versionwill cost $19.99/year).
Granted, some of the apps in the toolbox are redundant. Thatis, I already have other existing apps that do the same thing.
But I found a few gems that I’ve been able to use for work.Here are some of my favorite apps in Parallels Toolbox.
Let me give you a quick walkthrough on my favorite apps in ParallelsToolbox:
Camera
There are actually 3 sub-apps in Camera. These are BlockCamera, Take Photo and Take Video.
I only use Block Camera because, you know, I don’t wantanybody spying on me!
Clipboard History
Normally, the clipboard function in either Mac or Windowsonly lets you copy and paste one thing at a time.
However, with Clipboard History, you literally have ahistory of items you’ve copied to your Clipboard.
Every time you cut or copy an object, it gets stored inclipboard history.
You can choose to keep your history for 3 days, 7 days, or30 days!
Download Video
If you need to download a video from, say, YouTube, you caneasily do so with this app.
You just copy the link and paste it into the Download Videoapp.
You can choose the quality of your downloaded video – from 320p (low quality), 720p (normal), 1080p(high quality), or Max (whatever’s the highest quality available).
Resize Images
I write for the web. And to make my content interesting, Ibreak up text using images (just like what I’m doing in this article – lots ofimages!).
For best results, it’s important to optimize images beforeyou upload to the web. This means resizing images to reduce its size.
In the screenshot above, you can see that an image Idownloaded from Unsplash.com is 2MB in size with a resolution of 5999 x 2172pixels.
For web content, I normally resize images to at least1080px. And I use this app to do resize the pics.
To further optimize my resized images, I then upload to TinyPNG.com to compress and reduce the imagesize without affecting quality.
5. The subscription plan gets you a free copy of Parallels Access
In addition to getting the free upgrades and ParallelsToolbox, you also get Parallels Access for free. If you were to purchase thisapp separately, it’s going to set you back $19.99 for a 1-year plan.
I honestly don’t really use Parallels Access. I mean, Itried it out, but I don’t use it.
But at least, it’s good to know that if I need to access my files on my MacBook, I’ve got a secure app that will come to my rescue and help me retrieve my files!
6. Travel Mode works like a charm
One of my previous concerns about running Windows onParallels Desktop for Mac is battery life.
This is because I sometimes work in coffee shops and don’t likebringing my charging brick when I’m only going to be working for a couple ofhours.
When I’m only using native MacOS apps, I can get theadvertised 10 hours for my MacBook Pro.
However, when I use Parallels, I get maybe 5-6 hours.
Which is really not bad considering I only stay at cafes for2-3 hours at most (I plug in when I work in coworking spaces though).
And I can thank Parallel’s Travel Mode for this.
Parallels For Mac Reviews
As you can see in the screenshot below, Parallel’s isconfigured (by default) to go into Travel Mode when running on battery power.
7. You can try it out for FREE in 14 days!
Parallels For Mac 2018 Review Release
One of the things I really liked about Parallels is their generous14-day full-featured FREE trial.
That’s right, you can experience all the powerful featuresof Parallels Desktop for Mac for 2 whole weeks (but not Parallels Toolbox andAccess though).
You just need to download and install the Parallels software.And then install your flavor of Windows. That’s it!
What I don’t like about Parallels Desktop for Mac
There’s not a lot that I don’t like about Parallels. If youcan’t already tell, I’m a big fan of this software. But that being said, it’snot perfect. Here’s why:
I normally close my MacBook’s lid to put the laptop tosleep. And the battery level will remain about the same when I open it againseveral hours later.
But if I don’t exit Parallels before I close the lid, Inotice that the battery life will have gone down significantly.
To be honest, however, I’m not entirely sure if it’sParallel’s fault. I haven’t done any scientific tests on this, I’m justrelating my personal experience.
So, please do take this ‘con’ with a grain of salt.
Final thoughts on my Parallels Desktop for Mac review
Parallels has a lot of features that can benefit a lot ofpeople. As a writer, my use case may be simple and limited (unlike developerswho need to use multiple virtual machines).
But for what it’s worth, this software has opened so manydoors and created so many doors for me as a freelance writer and onlinemarketer.
Now, I know committing to an annual subscription for mostkinds of apps is hard. But in my opinion, Parallels is worth every penny I’vepaid for.
That said, I highly recommend you try out the software for14 days, and see how it goes for you!