Parallels lets you run many different types of operating systems on your Mac. Because the developers knew that most Mac users will want to install at least a Windows OS, Parallels includes a Windows Express installation option that eliminates the need to babysit a Windows XP or Vista installation.
This guide will take you through the Windows Express installation, which creates a virtual machine on your Mac. We'll stop short of actually installing Windows, because the specific steps depend on whether you're installing Windows XP, Vista, Win 7, or Win 8.
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What You Will Need
Parallels Desktop 9.0 is a reliable and convenient way to run Windows on Mac. It’s not an essential upgrade: despite some useful touches, Desktop 8 users will see little improvement. But newcomers will find Parallels Desktop 9.0 robust, reliable and thoroughly up to the job. Parallels 11 is a polished virtualisation solution that allows Mac users to switch easily between OS X and Windows apps, regardless of which operating system they were written for. Parallels is mainly used on MacBooks; Parallels Desktop for Mac was deployed to Mac users who need Windows to run some applications but wanted a stable operating system to run on. Once deployed we were able to recoup PCs and redeploy them to other users.
Parallels Desktop for Mac v3.0 or later.
The installation CDs for Windows XP or Vista.
20 GB free disk space. You can get by with less (I've performed an installation with as little as 8 GB of available disk space), but you'll appreciate the extra room if you later want to install more Windows applications or store larger Windows files than you originally intended.
About an hour of free time, for the Windows Express setup and to actually install Windows.
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The Parallels OS Installation Assistant
By default, Parallels uses the Windows Express installation option. This option creates a virtual machine with settings that will work just fine for most individuals. You can always customize the virtual machine parameters later if you need to.
The real advantage of Windows Express is that it's fast and easy; it does most of the work for you. It will collect most of the information that Windows needs by asking you some questions. Once you supply the answers, you can leave and then return to a fully installed version of Windows. This is a much more pleasant Windows installation than the standard. The downside is that the Windows Express method doesn't let you directly configure many settings, including type of network, memory, disk space, and other parameters, although you can always tweak these and other settings later.
Using the OS Installation Assistant
Launch Parallels, usually located at /Applications/Parallels.
Click the ‘New’ button in the Select a Virtual Machine window.
Select the installation mode that you want Parallels to use.
Windows Express (recommended)
Typical
Custom
For this installation, select the Windows Express option and click the ‘Next’ button.
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Configuring a Virtual Machine for Windows
Parallels needs to know which operating system you plan to install, so it can set the virtual machine parameters and collect the information necessary to automate the installation process.
Configure the Virtual Machine for Windows
Select the OS type by clicking the dropdown menu and choosing Windows from the list.
Select the OS version by clicking the dropdown menu and choosing Windows XP or Vista from the list.
Click the ‘Next’ button.
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Entering Your Windows Product Key and Other Configuration Information
The Parallels Windows Express installation option is ready to collect some of the information it needs to automate the installation process.
Product Key, Name, and Organization
Enter your Windows product key, which is usually located on the back of the Windows CD case or inside the Windows envelope. The dashes in the product key are entered automatically, so just enter the alphanumeric characters. Be careful not to lose the product key, because you may need it in the future if you need to reinstall Windows.
Enter your name by using the alphanumeric keys and the space key. Do not use any special characters, including apostrophes.
Enter your organization's name, if appropriate. This field is optional.
Click the ‘Next’ button.
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Name That Virtual Machine
It's time to specify a name for the virtual machine that Parallels is about to create. You can choose any name you like, but a descriptive name is usually best, particularly if you have multiple hard drives or partitions.
In addition to naming the virtual machine, you will also choose whether your Mac and the new Windows virtual machine should be able to share files.
Pick a Name and Make a Decision About Sharing Files
Enter a name for Parallels to use for this virtual machine.
Enable file sharing, if desired, by placing a check mark next to the 'Enable file sharing' option. This will let you share files in your Mac's home folder with your Windows virtual machine.
Enable user profile sharing, if desired, by placing a check mark next to the ‘Enable user profile sharing’ option. Enabling this option allows the Windows virtual machine to access the files on your Mac desktop and in your Mac user folder. It's best to leave this file unchecked and manually create shared folders later on. This provides more protection for your files and lets you make file sharing decisions on a folder-by-folder basis.
Click the ‘Next’ button.
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Performance: Should Windows or OS X Get Top Billing?
At this point in the configuration process, you can decide whether to optimize the virtual machine you're about to create for speed and performance or allow applications to have dibs on your Mac's processor.
Decide How to Optimize Performance
Select an optimization method.
Virtual Machine. Choose this option for the best performance of the Windows virtual machine you're about to create.
Mac OS X applications. Choose this option if you prefer your Mac applications to take precedence over Windows.
Make your selection. I prefer the first option, to give the virtual machine the best performance possible, but the choice is yours. You can change your mind later if you decide that you made the wrong choice.
Click the ‘Next’ button.
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Start the Windows Installation
Parallels Desktop 9 For Mac Reviews
All of the options for the virtual machine have been configured, and you've supplied your Windows product key and your name, so you're ready to install Windows. I'll tell you how to start the Windows installation process below, and cover the rest of the process in another step-by-step guide.
Begin the Windows Installation
Insert the Windows Install CD into your Mac's optical drive.
Click the ‘Finish’ button.
Parallels will start the installation process by opening the new virtual machine you created, and booting it from the Windows Install CD. Follow the onscreen instructions to install Windows.
Parallels 14 is definitely faster to launch and more slimline than previous versions. The improved Touch Bar support for Windows apps also makes it more convenient to use major Windows apps on Mac.
Faster to launch and use
Touch Bar ready for Windows apps
Requires less hard drive space
No DirectX 13 support for games
80%Overall Score
Parallels is still the best way to run Windows on a Mac simultaneously and the latest version of Parallels 14 has just been released.
Parallels allows you to conveniently run all those Windows only applications and games that don’t run on Mac.
Here we’ve taken a first look at the new macOS Mojave ready version of Parallels.
In a nutshell, here’s what’s new and what we like in Parallels 14.
The biggest improvement we’ve noticed with Parallels 14 is speed. One of our biggest gripes with Parallels has always been the amount of time it takes to open but Parallels 14 launches Windows noticeably faster. Parallels claims it opens “four times faster” than Parallels 13 and while it doesn’t quite feel that fast, it’s a big improvement. While using Windows, it also feels a bit snappier than before with less lag when using big apps or games.
Parallels takes up less space on your hard drive than previous versions. It now takes up to around 20GB less space which is a significant saving. However, this mainly applies to Windows 10 installs – the savings for other versions of Windows are a lot less.
Parallels 14 is optimized for macOS Mojave. Parallels usually release a new version with every new version of macOS and it’s guaranteed to work with Mojave. Mojave hasn’t been released quite yet but you can test the Public Beta version of Mojave in Parallels if you want to give it a spin.
Touch Bar support has been enhanced from the previous version. There are now pre-configured Touch Bar shortcuts for Windows software like OneNote and Quicken and you can still customize Touch Bar controls for any app you like.
If you use a drawing tablet with your Mac, you can now use Microsoft Ink with pressure sensitive support to edit Windows Office documents on Mac. This works with Windows apps such as PowerPoint, CorelDRAW and Photoshop.
Some of the other highlights worth mentioning include:
Dark mode can be used in Windows applications
The new enhanced Quick Look and Screenshot features can be used in Windows
Camera Continuity imports pictures from iOS 12 into Windows
Graphics Support has been improved for OpenGL
Unused virtual video memory is now used by macOS for smoother and faster operation when running Parallels
4K video cameras are now supported for video conferencing
There are also specific improvements to Parallels Desktop Business edition the most notable being automatic Smart Card reader availability in macOS and Windows.
On the downside:
There’s still no support for DirectX 13 that would allow users to play games like FIFA on Mac.
Many of the biggest 3D performance improvements are only for the latest iMac Pros so won’t be of much use to the vast majority of Mac users that have iMacs and MacBooks. This will mainly benefit those that use graphics heavy 3D modelling apps such as CAD applications on Mac.
Parallels pricing remains that same as before depending on which version you need.
As an incentive, Parallels are also offering Parallels Toolbox for free with new purchases of Parallels 14.
You can also try a free trial of Parallels 14 to test it for yourself.