Parallels is the go to standard for running Windows on Mac in virtualization (as opposed to booting into a Windows partition via Boot Camp), and with version 16 just released, it’s gotten a lot better.
New and Improved
- Visual redesign to go with the upcoming Big Sur release of macOS. Everything is clearer, brighter and easier to read. But if you happen to be on the Big Sur public beta, you’ll also notice that Parallels is now using native virtualization technology new to macOS rather than its own deprecated kernel extensions. This is a big win for both security and system stability.
- Graphics performance has also improved, translating even DirectX11 calls directly to the Metal graphics engine on the Mac. This means that even Windows games can run at nearly full speed in virtualization.
- Virtual machines (VM) automatically reclaim unused disk space, dramatically shrinking the size of the VM on your hard drive. It also features improvements to printing, full support for macOS multitouch trackpad gestures in Windows apps and a new installation assistant that will download Windows itself for you from the Microsoft Store as part of creating the VM.
- It supports nested virtualization, which means you can run a Windows VM in parallels that itself runs numerous Hyper-V virtual machines. And if you’re going to do that, you’ll also appreciate being able to assign up to 32 virtual CPUS and 128GB of virtual RAM to each VM. Pro Edition also expands custom network options to create virtual switches inside your Mac and a new feature called linked clones that lets you save even more disk space by spawning one VM off another and the second VM only using the disk space of the differences between it and the source.
For more information and pricing, see the Parallels 16 release page.
Jeff | PEI
