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Parallels For Mac Versions: What's New and What's Different in Each Release



On April 14, 2021, Parallels updated the software to version 16.5, notably adding support for Apple silicon-based Macs. On such Macs, only ARM-compatible OSes can be run in VMs; Parallels does not emulate the x86 architecture.[41] Supported guest OSes include Windows Insider builds of Windows 10 (as no retail ARM versions of Windows 10 nor installation disk images for such versions are publicly available), as well as ARM builds of various Linux distributions.


* Older Parallels Desktop versions are not fully optimized and compatible with the new macOS release, macOS Monterey 12. Please check KB 125506 for known compatibility and resolved issues prior to upgrading to macOS Ventura 13. To avoid these issues, upgrade to Parallels Desktop 18.




Parallels For Mac Versions



Like clockwork, Parallels releases a new version of its desktop virtualization software for Mac computers every year. The new versions often coincide with major new Windows and Mac operating systems, requiring major software changes to bring new Windows features to Apple computers or to make sure everything keeps working properly.


Before we get into other features, here's a look at pricing and availability. A single-computer Parallels Desktop 12 license will cost $79.99, while upgrades from versions 10 or 11 cost $49.99. There's also subscription pricing available for the Pro Edition. The subscription is $99.99 a year for new customers, but only $49.99 a year for customers with a Parallels 10 or 11 perpetual license.


If you have a subscription, you automatically get access to new versions, in which case you might as well check out Parallels 12. The Pro Edition subscription also comes with Parallels Access, a remote desktop service that normally costs $20 a year.


Sierra has "increased security requirements" that "prohibit" installation of Parallels Desktop 9 and earlier versions, a Parallels spokesperson told us. Parallels 10 and 11 will work normally and be able to run virtual machines on Sierra.


Parallels Desktop offers Standard, Pro, and Business editions of its software. The Standard edition, which is intended for home users, costs either a one-time permanent-license fee of $99.99, or $79.99 per year for a subscription. Students can get the Standard edition for $39.99 per year. The subscription includes any upgrades to new versions of the software during the payment period, while anyone who buys a permanent license option is not eligible for free version updates. The Pro and Business editions cost $99.99 per year. You can try any version free for 14 days.


On a Mac with an Intel CPU, you can create virtual systems that run any Intel-based Windows or Linux versions, plus any recent Intel-based versions of macOS from your recovery partition. On these devices, the download menu includes multiple flavors of Android, Linux, and Windows.


Another common way to run alternative versions of operating systems is to use a virtual machine. These software solutions allow people to run Windows 10 alongside macOS on a Mac without having to reboot to launch the other OS.


This is a particularly favoured route for developers creating versions of software that will run on several different platforms. You can check out our roundup of the current crop in best virtual machine software for Mac.


As for the software, Parallels has continued to make tweaks for new versions of macOS. Windows applications will work seamlessly with the upcoming Stage Manager and Windows 11 is now fully supported (rather than the Insider approach required for earlier editions). And Windows will pick up the display refresh rate from the Mac. There is better compatibility with Intel apps running in Windows on Arm, specifically around saving to the disk of the Mac, and game controller connectivity has been improved for some reason. Additionally, USB 3.0 support has received some love.


Snow Leopard, aka Mac OS X 10.6, was released in June 2009, and it represented the last version of macOS to run older PowerPC based software. Its successor, Lion, was released two years later, so back then I wrote a post about how to run Snow Leopard in a virtual machine so you could, at the time, keep on trucking with AppleWorks, QuarkXPress, Quicken, and other apps that did not have Intel versions available.


Bluebeam has stopped development on future versions of Revu for Mac. We released a final update, Revu for Mac 2.1, in December 2019. As of March 1, 2020 Revu for Mac is no longer fully supported, and the official End of Life date is now March 21, 2023.


Parallels Desktop 18 for Mac is offered in three versions: Standard Edition, Pro Edition, and Business Edition. You'll get most of what you want from Standard Edition, but the other two have more advanced features aimed at enterprise users.


For $149.99 per year, Business Edition includes the Pro Edition's features, allowing employees to download preconfigured versions of Windows to their Mac, per-user licensing, a centralized administration and management tool, and unified volume license keys for mass deployment.


As the version number hints at, Parallels 15 is optimized for macOS 10.15 Catalina. That said, you don't need to have Catalina installed in order to run Parallels 15. This is great if you need to run an older version of macOS for compatibility purposes. You can run Parallels Desktop on macOS versions as old as 10.12 Sierra.


Finally, Parallels Desktop 15 has improved performance in various areas. The Parallels website claims that Microsoft Office applications launch up to 80 percent faster. That's not all: 3D graphics have also received improvements and can run up to 15 percent faster than previous versions of the Parallels Desktop software.


Even if you are not a digital expert or a tech-savvy person, you would know that you cannot run a Microsoft Windows application on Mac devices. However, many professional, creativity, and development apps don't have native versions for macOS. This requires many people to look for alternative ways to use them. Parallels Desktop for Mac helps you do just that!


The Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac is now available in three versions: Home and Student, Pro, and Business. The basic features of the Home and Student edition are included, while the Pro and Business versions have more advanced features geared toward developers and business users. You may download and trial Parallels Desktop 14-day free to see if it suits your needs.


Version compatibility: SIS testing was performed on the followingconfigurations.Newer versions, as well as older versions, likelywork as well (or better), and other users have already successfullytried other versions.


Version compatibility: SIS testing was performed on the followingconfiguration. Newer versions, as well as older versions, likelywork as well (or better), and other users have already successfullytried other versions.


The bad news is that Apple Silicon Macs don't support Boot Camp, meaning the official way to get Windows and macOS side-by-side is no longer available. Additionally, Apple SIlicon processors use the Arm architecture, and Microsoft doesn't make Arm-compatible versions of Windows available to general consumers.


Next, you'll need to download a Windows 11 Insider Preview VHDX file for Arm-based PCs. A VHDX file is a virtual hard drive containing the latest Windows 11 build for Insiders. Microsoft doesn't offer stable versions of Windows 11 this way, so you have to download a preview build. That means you may run into some instability, but it's the only supported method to get Windows on the Mac Studio. Using a regular ISO file will not work. Keep in mind you'll also need a Windows 11 license.


While you can access various legacy apps using browsers, some require you to use the PC versions of Office and Windows-specific apps. For instance, the Windows version of MS Office has ingressed to a database that has never been available for macOS.


This is the most interesting part of this work. To decide what virtual machine software to use, it is good to understand how each works on Mac. While parallels and VMware Fusion are great options to run Windows on Mac and will feel as if Apple developed them, depending on the user, they differ significantly.


Although its primary purpose is to run applications on Mac as if they are operating in their native environment, Parallels Desktop has a myriad of incredible features. Parallels tend to issue an upgrade annually to coincide with the macOS latest versions.


Although it is best suited for technical users, Fusion is simple enough for home users and powerful enough for businesses, developers, and IT experts. Depending on your need, you can get virtual machines that run Windows, various Linux versions, and macOS. The newest version, VMware Fusion 12, comes with remarkably incredible features to elevate your Windows-on Mac experience. You can select from hundreds of supported OSes and run them side by side with the latest macOS.


I had the same issue, as Stephan, with installing Ubuntu 22.04 on a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) M1 Pro with 32 GB RAM. I had the Apple store version 1.7.x (I think it was 1.7.2). Per the advice in the accepted solution above, I removed Parallels from my machine, logged into my parallels.com account, and re-installed parallels Version 17.1.2 (51548)) after downloading and activating the new install, I followed the advice given above accepted solution and Ubuntu 22.04 is now running as per the accepted solution answer.


UPDATE 5/4/2022Based on a support email I received from parallels.com, the Apple store version I had installed was parallels desktop and is not the same as the parallel Pro version I purchased on the parallels.com web site. I was sent the following link for future information, but in a nut shell, I do believe that parallels pro was required in my case. 2ff7e9595c


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