- #Parallels desktop 12 review mac os x#
- #Parallels desktop 12 review install#
- #Parallels desktop 12 review windows 10#
- #Parallels desktop 12 review code#
- #Parallels desktop 12 review mac#
About the only problem I’ve had with OS X El Capitan in a virtual machine has been a slight flicker in the video, especially just after rebooting El Capitan. It runs much faster than it did off a dedicated Thunderbolt external drive, so I’m now using that Thunderbolt drive for extra storage. The other operating system I am running under Parallels Desktop 11 is, of course, the beta version of OS X El Capitan. I was even able to point Edge to YouTube and watch full-screen video with no hiccups.
#Parallels desktop 12 review mac#
For those situations where Safari or Chrome on the Mac just aren’t getting the job done, Edge is a nice alternative browser.
#Parallels desktop 12 review windows 10#
The new Windows 10 browser, Microsoft Edge, operates perfectly under Parallels Desktop 11. Cortana is very useful for getting quick answers to questions, pulling up maps, and even doing simple calculations.
#Parallels desktop 12 review mac os x#
I’ve found Coherence mode to be perfect for running Microsoft’s virtual assistant, Cortana.Ĭortana on a Mac makes me wish that Apple would get Siri on Mac OS X soon. Windows appears a just another app in a standard Mac window, mingling with all other open Mac apps. In full-screen mode, it’s possible to switch between Windows 10 and OS X Yosemite with a three-finger swipe on the Magic Trackpad.īut Parallels Desktop 11 has another way that you can view Windows and any apps running on that operating system - Coherence mode. In fact, it’s almost “invisible” in terms of its impact on the iMac’s performance, so I have taken to keeping the Windows virtual machine up and running all the time. Windows 10 is very fast on the iMac under Parallels Desktop 11, and never really made the iMac suffer performance-wise. It’s not a brand-new Mac, but it’s pretty darned fast. Most of my day-to-day work is done on a late 2012 27-inch iMac with a 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 processor and 16 GB of RAM.
#Parallels desktop 12 review install#
Oddly enough, it only showed OS X 10.10 Yosemite, which I definitely didn’t want to install in a virtual machine on a Yosemite-based Mac! What I finally had to do was update the “old” El Capitan beta to a newer version, at which time the recovery partition appeared and the installation proceeded. For OS X installs, it usually looks for the installation files that are stored in the recovery partition on every Mac disk. Would you believe that I actually had more issues installing OS X El Capitan beta on a virtual machine than I did installing Windows 10? Parallels is supposed to look for installers and then display them in the “free appliances” list. After that, the installation was done quickly. It couldn’t tell that the flash drive was valid media, so I had to spend about a half hour downloading a Windows 10 image file from the Microsoft website. For example, I had purchased Windows 10 on a flash drive from Microsoft, thinking that Parallels would just see the installer as it does other media. Most of those issues were easily resolved, though. Of course, Mac OS X is one of the operating systems available, and Parallels Desktop 11 is designed to run the OS X 10.11 El Capitan beta out of the box.ĭuring my two-week review of Parallels Desktop 11, I did have a few problems with installation of the guest operating systems. Many of these are set up as “free appliances”, meaning that the Wizard is set up to install the OS with a click. PC users who are switching to a Mac for the first time will enjoy the migration tool that moves an existing Windows installation, apps, and settings to a virtual machine.Īs mentioned earlier, there’s a choice of operating systems to install. With an installation DVD or image file mounted on your Mac, Parallels “sees” the media and starts installation. Your choices of operating system are impressive, but the main thing the wizard is there for is to help users set up a Windows installation on a Mac. Parallels Desktop 11 starts off by displaying the Parallels Wizard (see image above), which makes installation of new virtual machines as easy as a few clicks.
#Parallels desktop 12 review code#
There’s an installer app to run, enter the license code that comes with your purchase, and it’s time to set up a virtual machine. Don’t have one? They’re available for as little as $39 from OWC. Purchasing Parallels Desktop 11 from OWC, you receive an installation DVD so you’ll need to have an optical drive on hand. Developers often need to be able to switch between a number of operating systems, like OS X, Windows 10, various Linux distributions, and even Chrome OS.įortunately, Parallels Desktop has made it possible for the Mac to run all of these operating systems and more, and the latest edition - Parallels Desktop 11 ( $79.99 or $39 with a qualified purchase from OWC) - stands out as a fast and reliable method of getting control of OS madness on your Mac. In a world where Mac sales growth is outpacing that of PCs, there’s still - for many users - a need to run Windows applications on a Mac.