Category Archives: Parallels Desktop 16

Just Released! Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac


It’s finally here! We’re so excited to introduce a new version of Parallels® Desktop: Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac.  

With Parallels Desktop, you can run Windows, Linux and other popular operating systems on your Mac without rebooting. For 14 years, we’ve been the #1 solution for over 7 million users worldwide. 

Learn more about the hottest new features in Parallels Desktop 16—and stay tuned for more blog posts coming this week detailing everything you need to know about Parallels Desktop 16. 

What are the top new features in Parallels Desktop 16? 


Incredibly fast  

This version of Parallels Desktop is THE fastest version ever released. It starts up twice as fast as previous versions. Plus, Windows resumes and quits up to 20% faster.  


Improved graphics 

Parallels Desktop 16 users can now run even more graphic-heavy, resource-hungry Windows apps with ease. Version 16 delivers up to 20% faster DirectX 11 and improved OpenGL graphics support for both Windows and Linux so you can run more Windows applications and games, including DIALux evo 9, ProPresenter 6, Samson Connect and more. Plus, the new version includes the world’s first support for applications with 3D capabilities running in a macOS Big Sur VM. 

Parallels Desktop users collectively run more than 200,000 Windows applications and with Parallels Desktop 16 can run even more applications.  


Ready for macOS Big Sur and other OSes 

Parallels invested more than 25-person-years of engineer programming to take full advantage of the new architecture in macOS Big Sur. We also revamped kernel extensions to deliver our best Windows-on-Mac performance ever. That’s why we’re proud to say that version 16 is optimized for macOS Big Sur 11.0 (when released) with a refreshed design, easier setup, and much more. Plus, our developers continue to update Parallels Desktop for future releases of Windows, macOS and Linux. 


Better productivity 

  • Wouldn’t it be nice to get extra screen time while traveling? Windows in Travel Mode now uses less energy and extends battery life by up to 15%. 
  • 10% of Parallels Desktop users are short on available disk space. We’ve included a feature that will help you better manage disk space, with the option to reclaim available disk space to Mac automatically. 
Reclaim space Parallels Desktop
  • Set Do Not Disturb on your Mac and Parallels Desktop will make sure that Windows 10 doesn’t disturb you either. This is especially useful when you’re in an important presentation. 
  • Do you usually work with a Trackpad instead of a mouse? Now you can zoom and rotate objects smoothly in Windows applications with Trackpad gesture support.  

Enhanced integration 

Every year we develop new features to perfectly integrate Mac and Windows with each other. In Parallels Desktop 16, we’ve added some powerful new features that make it even smoother to run Windows apps as if they were native on the Mac. 

  • Do you want to use duplex printing from Windows applications, with paper sizes ranging from A0 to envelope? Good news—you now can with new print options
Printing Parallels Desktop
  • Now you can confidently work on Mac files in Windows by engaging the “safe removal check” to ensure files in shared folders aren’t accidentally deleted.  

Linux and Mac VMs 

Everyone who is passionate about using Linux virtual machines (VMs) has reason to cheer. With version 16, you can be more productive when working with Git repositories in Linux Shared Folders with up to 75% faster “git status” execution. In just one click, you can use and download the latest Linux distributions including Ubuntu 20.04, CentOS 8, Fedora 32 and Debian 10. Plus, Linux OpenGL improvements now let you run Steam.  

Do you want to achieve picture-perfect quality and performance using macOS Big Sur in a VM? You can now, thanks to the first-in-the-world Metal graphics acceleration in a VM with macOS Big Sur. 


Parallels Desktop and Apple Silicon 

We’re all very excited about this demo shown at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which depicts a prototype of a forthcoming version of Parallels Desktop running on Mac with Apple Silicon. Parallels and Apple work closely to bring virtualization capabilities to Mac with Apple Silicon. Learn more.


New features in Pro Edition and Business Edition 

For our professional and business customers, we recommend Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition and Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition. Of course, all new features of Parallels Desktop 16 are included in these editions. Pro Edition and Business Edition now offer improved virtual machine deployment, including export capabilities to reduce the network load when deploying to many Mac devices on a corporate network. For developers, Parallels Desktop 16 enables users to name their custom networks for more organized testing.  

Check out all new features that are exclusive to Pro Edition and Business Edition.  


Special gift for Parallels Desktop users 

In all subscriptions of Parallels Desktop 16, users get more than 30+ single-click utilities from Parallels Toolbox for Windows and Mac, plus Parallels Access to remotely access your PC or Mac from your iOS or Android device or any web browser.  

Check out all the recently released features in Parallels Toolbox and Parallels Access. 

There are lots more new features to discover! Check it out yourself and let us know which feature you like most in the comments, or on Facebook or Twitter.  


How to get your copy of Parallels Desktop 16  

 If you… 

…are an existing customer, upgrade now
…are a new customer, purchase your copy here—or test it for 14 days for free
…have just recently purchased Parallels Desktop 15, check out our Tech Guarantee to see if you get a free upgrade. 

The post Just Released! Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac appeared first on Parallels Blog.

Parallels Desktop 16 System Requirements and Supported Guest Operating Systems


The system requirements and supported guest operation systems (OSes) for Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac are fully detailed below. We encourage every potential or existing user to explore the requirements prior to downloading or purchasing Parallels® Desktop. Users may be pleasantly surprised at the incredible performance of Windows, Linux, and other popular OSes on their Mac with Parallels Desktop. 

Supported Apple Mac hardware configurations:

Check your Mac hardware to ensure you can run Parallels Desktop without experiencing compatibility issues. Our team would love to make sure every user gets the most out of Parallels Desktop and the virtual machines (VMs) they create. 


Minimum Requirements Recommended for Best Performance 
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9 or Xeon processor
 
Memory 4 GB of RAM 16 GB of RAM or more
Storage 500 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows 10) Solid-state drive (SSD)
Graphics Intel, AMD Radeon or NVIDIA AMD Radeon Pro graphics card
Operating System macOS Big Sur 11.0 (when released) macOS Catalina 10.15.3 or newer
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer
macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 or newer
macOS Big Sur 11.0 (when released) DirectX 11 requires at least macOS Mojave 10.14, but works best on macOS 10.15.3 Catalina or newer

Important Note: Internet connection is required for product activation, updates and select future features.

Supported guest operating systems that can be created as Parallels Desktop virtual machines:

  • Windows 10
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 8
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows 7 (SP0-SP1)
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP0-SP2)
  • Windows Vista Home, Business, Ultimate and Enterprise (SP0-SP2)
  • Windows Server 2003 R2 (SP0-SP2)
  • Windows XP (SP0-SP3)
  • Windows 2000 Professional SP4
  • Windows 2000 Server SP4
  • Boot2Docker
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8, 7 and 6
  • CentOS Linux 8, 7 and 6
  • Fedora Linux 32, 31, 30 and 29
  • Ubuntu 20.04, 19.04, 18.04 LTS and 16.04 LTS
  • Debian GNU/Linux 9 and 8
  • Debian GNU/Linux 19
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise 15
  • openSUSE Linux 15.1 and 15
  • Linux Mint 20, 19 and 18
  • Kali 2019 and 2018
  • Elementary OS 5.0
  • Manjaro 18
  • Mageia 7 and 6
  • Gentoo Linux **
  • Solaris 11 and 10 **
  • openBSD 6 **
  • FreeBSD 12 and 11 **
  • openVZ 7
  • eComStation 2 and 1.2 **
  • ReactOS 0.4 **
  • Android OS*
  • macOS Big Sur 11.0 (when released)
  • macOS Catalina 10.15
  • macOS Mojave 10.14.x
  • macOS High Sierra 10.13.x
  • macOS Sierra 10.12.x
  • OS X El Capitan 10.11.x
  • OS X Yosemite 10.10.x
  • OS X Mavericks 10.9.x
  • OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.x
  • OS X Lion 10.7.x
  • OS X Lion Server 10.7.x
  • Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server 10.6.x
  • Mac OS X Leopard Server 10.5.x
  • and many more…***

*Only the version downloaded with the Parallels Desktop Installation Assistant

**Parallels Tools are not available for this operating system

Note: Parallels Desktop emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. We encourage users to download a free 14-day trial of Parallels Desktop first to install the OS of your choice. If it doesn’t work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.

Parallels Tools for Linux requires X Window System version 1.15-1.20 and Linux Kernel version 2.6.29-5.1.


Moving your PC?

Below are the Windows PC system requirements to move a PC to your Mac and use it as a Parallels Desktop VM (using Parallels Transporter Agent):

  • 700 MHz (or higher) x86 or x64 processor (Intel or AMD)
  • 256 MB of RAM
  • 50 MB of available hard disk space for installation of Parallels Transporter Agent
  • Ethernet or WiFi network adapter for migrating over network
  • External USB drive for migrating via external disk
  • Supported Windows: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000*

*To migrate Windows Vista or older, Transporter Agent from Parallels Desktop 13 should be used.


We sincerely hope this resource helps you navigate your experience with Parallels Desktop. Since 2006, Parallels has delivered excellence by being the #1 choice of Mac users to run Windows on Mac without rebooting. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help. The Parallels support team can be contacted on Facebook or Twitter, 24/7. 

The post Parallels Desktop 16 System Requirements and Supported Guest Operating Systems appeared first on Parallels Blog.