Parallels helps Mac users run virtual machines with other operating systems like Windows, Linux and even a test version of macOS or OS X on their Mac or MacBook. Parallels 12 updates the software with some interesting new features and support for the latest versions of the major operating systems from Microsoft, Apple and more.
After the user installs Parallels Desktop 12 they can fire up the program and create a new virtual machine to install an operating system on. The new setup screen lets the user select which operating system to install. Since Microsoft doesn’t give away Windows 10 unless you buy a new computer, you will need to buy a copy. Parallels lets the user buy a license and download the OS directly inside Parallels Desktop 12.
If you have already installed Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp, you can set Parallels Desktop to run Windows from the Boot Camp Partition or import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into Parallels Desktop as a new virtual machine. Edit: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Mac are all the default file types for their respective files in Parallels/Windows, and the problem seems to be when the Windows-only programs call to open Office that they're having trouble communicating through Parallels. Edit 2: Does my business account really include 5 Mac/PC installs per user?
Parallels Desktop 12 with Parallels Toolbox
Parallels will include a new feature in Parallels Desktop 12 called Parallels Toolbox. The utility runs independent of Parallels Desktop 12 and sits in the menubar on the OS. It comes with a PD12 subscription. The $79.99 fee for PD12 includes the new Toolbox. Here’s what you get in Parallels Toolbox.
Archiver – compresses files to make them take up less space as you email them or just back them up to another safe space.
Record Screen – Do you need to show someone how to do something on a Mac or in your Windows virtual machine in Parallels Desktop. Record the screen using this tool.
Take Screenshot – Takes quick image of what’s showing on-screen.
Time – time-based tools like alarms, countdown timers, date countdown or a stopwatch.
Convert Video – drag a video of one format to this tool and it will offer to covert it to another format, like MOV to MP4.
Do Not Disturb – turns on Do Not Disturb so that you don’t get distracting notifications during a screen recording or while presenting.
Do Not Sleep – keeps the computer from going to sleep.
Download Video – downloads your video that you uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo to name a few sites.
Hide Desktop – hides anything that’s on the Mac desktop, which helps in screenshots or screen recordings.
Lockscreen – locks the screen immediately, so that you will have to enter a password if you’ve set the OS up to require it.
Mute Microphone – mute’s your mic, helpful if you’re in a video call but need to mute the mic.
Record Audio – quickly records some audio, great for things like voice memos.
That’s a great bunch of utilities and worth the $9.95/year subscription fee alone if you don’t need Parallels Desktop 12.
Other New Parallels Desktop 12 Features
In addition to the better VM setup features for Windows and Parallels Tools, Parallels Desktop 12 adds a number of other great features, like backup of their virtual machines with Acronis True Image. This is included in the subscription and lets the user back up their OS inside a VM with full and incremental backups.
Users can also schedule Windows maintenance tools when the user wants instead of forcing them to follows Windows 10’s schedule.
Use Office 2016 for Windows on a Mac.
Cortana’s supported still, but now they can use the Always On feature that comes in Windows 10. Get Microsoft Office 2016 support on a Mac, since some Office users prefer the Windows versions over the Mac version of Office.
Parallels Desktop 12 for Mac also gives users the following:
Parallels For Mac 12 Access Windows Folders 10
Faster suspends of your VMs.
Run a VM in background – each time you log into your Mac it runs automatically.
Open Windows program files in Safari and they will automatically open in your VM version of the windows program (i.e. a PowerPoint 2016 file or Word 2016 file).
The pop up menu on the dock icon includes Windows program specific features as always, but now has app settings like a feature to auto hide Mac apps when you run PowerPoint, or always full screen.
Recent files in Windows on VM finds recent files opened on the Mac side of things.
Tool to free up disk space used by your VM and now uses Sierra Optimized Storage from within Parallels Desktop 12. They will show up in the tool in macOS 10.12 Sierra.
Optimize the speed of the network for as low as 3G or Edge and up to Cable speeds.
Registry editing via a one click tool.
Integration with Ubuntu.
Play Blizzard Overwatch on Mac
The creators of Blizzard Overwatch worked with Parallels to make a customized version for Parallels Desktop 12 that lets gamers play the game inside Windows 10 using Parallels Desktop 12. They customized it to work specifically for the PC on a Mac.
In addition to this one game, gamers can also use the Windows 10 Xbox streaming feature to play their Xbox games on their Mac.
Parallels Access 3.0 Update
The company will also update Parallels Access to version 3.0. This app runs on iPad, iPhone and Android so that users can run their desktop Windows and Mac apps on their mobile device.
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With macOS® Catalina, applications can’t access every folder without your permission.
These macOS improvements make your data and Mac® more secure, especially when you use an application from an unknown developer or download an app from a third-party location. Parallels is far from being an unknown developer, but trust in the Parallels brand can be used maliciously. We always suggest downloading Parallels software directly from parallels.com to ensure you’re purchasing a legitimate license.
What does Parallels Desktop use these permissions for?
Parallels Desktop® for Mac uses these permissions to:
Ensure you can continue using your existing Parallels virtual machines and the files that are in these folders. If you keep your virtual machines on external network storage, then Parallels Desktop might ask about access to them, too.
Search for a third-party virtual machine to import.
Search for installation images (e.g. .ISO files) to simplify the installation.
Allow Windows applications to open and save files from these folders.
What if I don’t want Windows and Windows applications to access these folders?
Parallels recommends the following approach:
Provide Parallels Desktop with requested permissions so features will work.
Disable sharing that you don’t need in your Windows virtual machine by going to Configuration > Option > Sharing tab.
With this approach, you can have an isolated virtual machine but have all other Parallels Desktop features working.
What if I don’t provide permissions?
If there are no permissions, you may experience the following issues:
Windows or other virtual machine is shown as “?”.
Windows or other virtual machine is unable to connect to CD image.
Windows Recycle Bin is corrupted.
Desktop, Documents, Downloads, iCloud or other folders are empty in Windows.
Drag and Drop a file from Mac to Windows doesn’t work.
Opening a file on Mac with Windows application is not possible.
And many more
Many of these errors are covered in Parallels knowledge base articles.
Why does Parallels Desktop ask for my permissions and many other applications don’t?
It’s true—in most cases, you don’t see such requests in other applications. That’s because macOS doesn’t ask permissions in certain cases:
Double-clicking a file in Finder to open it with the application.
Using native macOS dialogs in the application: File>Open, File>Save
Drag and Drop file to the application.
Simple applications are fine with this. Unfortunately, these approaches don’t work with Windows or other operating systems running in a Parallels Desktop virtual machine. Windows applications only work with files that are available to Windows file system. In order to provide Windows with access to macOS folders, Parallels has implemented and improved Shared Folders technology for over 13 years. Shared Folders help you to avoid file duplication and make it possible to navigate through macOS folders in Windows open/save dialogs.
How do I provide Parallels Desktop with necessary permissions?
Parallels Desktop version 15.1.0 or later will ask you for required permissions on the first start.
Limit Folder Access Windows 10
If you have an older version, you can review the list of permissions and enable them in macOS Preferences > Security & Privacy > File and Folders Tab.
The Parallels engineering team works endlessly to ensure that Parallels Desktop is the best solution to run Windows, Linux and other popular OSes on Mac without rebooting. Feel free to download a free 14-day trial and get started today!
Let us know what you think or if you have any feedback to help us make the experience better. You can reach us on Facebook or Twitter, 24/7. We’re here to help.