Information
Performance
- Working with Windows files from macOS® is up to 20% faster if the virtual machine is on a solid-state drive (SSD) and up to 40% faster if on a rotational hard drive (HDD).
- Working with Windows files from Windows is up to 50% faster if the virtual machine is on a rotational hard drive (HDD).
- Working with files on a Thunderbolt™ SSD storage connected to Windows is up to 100% faster.
- Working with files on a USB 3.0 storage connected to Windows is up to 40% faster.
- Creating a virtual machine snapshot is up to 50% faster.
General Enhancements
- If you don't have Windows, Parallels Desktop can help you download and install Windows 10.
- If you want to try Parallels Desktop, the trial period begins only after you start your virtual machine for the first time — so you have more time to work with it.
- During the trial period, all options available only in Parallels Desktop® for Mac Pro Edition are marked with a special "PRO" sign, making it easier for you to choose which edition you need.
- Parallels Desktop shows a confirmation message when you try to stop or reset Windows while Windows is installing updates.
- Parallels Desktop informs you when some actions (for example, downloading and installing virtual appliances) become unavailable because of no Internet connection.
- Distinguish the virtual machines that have snapshots by the new snapshots icon, and use it to open the snapshots manager with a single click.
- Work with your virtual machine in a new view mode: Picture-in-Picture:
- The virtual machine is displayed in a small window that becomes transparent when you switch to another window.
- You can choose to show the virtual machine window on all Spaces and on top of other windows.
- The Close button switches the virtual machine back to the Window view mode.
- New context-sensitive help for all Parallels Desktop options. Just click the “?” icon and read a description of each option on the screen.
- Transferring a Windows PC to a virtual machine on your Mac has been improved.
- Converting third-party virtual machines to the Parallels format has been improved.
- Working with a Boot Camp® virtual machine has been significantly improved.
Graphics
- Now when you resize the virtual machine window or switch between view modes, the virtual machine screen resolution changes faster and more smoothly.
- We continue working on OpenGL 3.0 support. The first results could already be seen in an update for Parallels Desktop 12, where we added support for such games as Rage, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. Now we’ve added support for DIALux evo and Northgard.
- The way Windows is displayed when the Retina Resolution > Scaled option is selected has been improved: the text became crisper and graphics sharper.
Integration with Mac
- Initial support for macOS 10.13 High Sierra as both the host and guest operating systems. Once this system is officially released, you may need to update Parallels Desktop.
- Use the Touch Bar™ on your MacBook® to work with Parallels Desktop, Windows, and Windows applications.
- Customize the Touch Bar for Windows applications.
- Protect the Parallels Desktop preferences and virtual machine configuration from editing with Touch ID®.
Support for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
- Initial support for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Once this operating system is officially released, you may need to update Parallels Desktop.
- Extended support for the People Bar feature:
- Communicate with people from the macOS Dock, Finder®, and Spotlight®.
- Pin as many persons to the Dock as you wish.
- When Windows is running in Coherence, manage the People Bar from the macOS menu bar.
Linux
- Improved support for Zorin OS, Elementary OS, Kali Linux, and Manjaro Linux guest operating systems:
- Parallels Tools can be installed and work properly.
- These systems are automatically detected during the installation.
- Proper icons of these OSs are used in the Parallels Desktop interface, so that users can distinguish them from other Linux virtual machines.
- Download Linux Mint virtual appliances from Installation Assistant.
New Design
- The Parallels Desktop interface has been improved and redesigned to make it even more clear and user-friendly.
- The sign-in and license-related dialogs have been redesigned to make them more clear and simple.
- Editing the virtual machine hard disk properties has been improved and slightly redesigned. By default, virtual hard disks now provide up to 256 GB, so you have less reasons to edit the disk properties.
- Change the Parallels Desktop interface color — you can choose between the light gray and dark color schemes.
- The Parallels Desktop icon has been updated with Windows 10.
Present for Parallels Desktop Users
- Download and install Parallels® Toolbox for both Mac and Windows to simplify your everyday tasks. (Parallels Toolbox is completely free for Parallels Desktop 13 customers.)
For Parallels Desktop Pro Edition and Business Edition Only
- Assign up to 32 CPUs and 128 GB of RAM to a virtual machine.
- Use a new Extended memory limit option to allocate even more memory to your virtual machine than your Mac has. This functionality is designed for developers and testing purposes.
- Use Intel® VTune Amplifier, Linux “perf”, and Mozilla “rr” to improve your applications performance. To use this feature, enable PMU virtualization on the Hardware > CPU & Memory tab of the virtual machine configuration.
- Quickly change the virtual machine screen resolution from the View > Set Resolution menu. To use this feature, enable Show developer tools on the Options > More Options tab of the virtual machine configuration.
- Now you don’t have to spend time looking for your virtual machine IP address. Find and copy it from the Devices > Network menu. To use this feature, enable Show developer tools on the Options > More Options tab of the virtual machine configuration.
For Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition Only
- Don’t bother inexperienced users with the Parallels Desktop interface, Windows installations, and virtualization — allow them to work with selected Windows applications in the all-new Single Application mode. For more information, please read the Parallels Desktop Business Edition Administrator’s Guide.
- Improved structure of the Parallels Desktop Mass Deployment package.
- Add selected Windows applications to the macOS Dock while deploying the Parallels Desktop Mass Deployment package.
- Improved and redesigned security-related settings.
- Use Touch ID to approve various password-protected actions on your virtual machines (for example, changing the virtual machine state, editing the virtual machine configuration, and more).
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