Parallels Desktop for Mac allows you to seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side with speed, control and confidence. Click below for frequently asked questions, documentation and other helpful tools to get the answers you need.
To install and set up Parallels Desktop 15 for Mac, you need:
Parallels Desktop 8 For Mac License Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac License. Parallels Desktop for Mac is the most tested, trusted and talked-about solution for running Windows applications on your Mac. With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side without rebooting. Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac License Parallels Desktop for Mac is the most tested, trusted and talked-about solution for running Windows applications on your Mac. With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side without rebooting. The setup for Parallels Mac Management is pretty straight forward. For this setup, I am installing the tool on my SCCM Primary Site Server. The only real pre-requisites here are an SCCM 2012 instance already setup and you may want a service account for use as a proxy. Install Ubuntu Linux within Parallels Desktop on Mac? January 7, 2012 / Dave Taylor / Linux Help, MacOS X Help / 8 Comments I need to test out some Web site programming on a Linux system and have determined that the Ubuntu distribution is ideal.
Minimum To run most applications such as Microsoft Office, accounting, trading, SAP, Matlab and more | Best Performance For graphics-intensive applications, high loads and running multiple virtual machines | |
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) | SSD drive |
Graphics | Intel, AMD Radeon or NVIDIA | AMD Radeon Pro graphics card |
Operating System | macOS Catalina 10.15 (when released) macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 or newer macOS Sierra 10.12.6 or newer | macOS Catalina 10.15 (when released) DirectX 11 requires at least macOS Mojave |
Internet connection is required for product activation, updates and select features.
Supported Guest Operating Systems
- 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) 7 and 6
- CentOS Linux 7 and 6
- Fedora Linux 30* and 29
- Ubuntu 19.04, 18.04 LTS and 16.04 LTS
- Debian GNU/Linux 9 and 8
- Suse Linux Enterprise 15
- OpenSUSE Linux 15.1 and 15
- Linux Mint 19 and 18
- Kali 2019 and 2018
- Elementary 5
- 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 Catalina 10.15 (when released)
- 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
*Only the version downloaded with help of the Installation Assistant with Parallels Desktop.
** Parallels Tools are not available for this operating system.
Note: Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. You can download the Parallels Desktop trial and install an operating system 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 require X Window System version 1.15–1.20 and Linux Kernel version 2.6.29–5.1.
PC system requirements to move your PC to your Mac (using Parallels Transporter Agent)
PC system requirements to move your PC to your Mac (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 forinstallation 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. Download the Parallels Transporter Agent.
To install and set up Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac, you need:
Hardware:
- A Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor
- Minimum 4 GB of memory, 8 GB is recommended
- 600 MB of disk space on the boot volume (Macintosh HD) for Parallels Desktop application installation
- Additional disk space for virtual machines (varies on operating system and applications installed, e.g. at least 16GB is required for Windows 10)
- SSD drive is recommended for better performance
- Internet connection for product activation and select features
Mac Software:
- macOS Mojave 10.14
- macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 or later
- macOS Sierra 10.12.6 or later
- OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 or later
Guest Operating Systems:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 8
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows 7 (SP0-SP1)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP0-SP2)
- Windows Vista Home, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise (SP0-SP2)
- Windows Server 2003 R2 (SP0-SP2)
- Windows XP (SP0-SP3)
- Windows 2000 Professional SP4
- Windows 2000 Server SP4
- MS-DOS 6.22 **
- Boot2Docker
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7, 6, 5
- CentOS Linux 7, 6, 5
- Fedora Linux 29, 28, 27, 26
- Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, 17.10, 16.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS, 12.04 LTS
- Debian GNU/Linux 9.4, 9, 8, 7
- Suse Linux Enterprise 12 SP3, 11 SP3, 11 SP2
- OpenSUSE Linux 15, 42.3, 13.2, 13.1, 12.3
- Linux Mint 19, 18, 17
- Kali 2018.2, 2018.1, 2
- Elementary OS 5.0, 0.4
- Manjaro 17
- Mageia 6, 5, 4, 3
- Gentoo Linux **
- Solaris 11.3, 11, 10 **
openBSD 6 **- FreeBSD 11.1, 10, 10, 9, 8 **
openVZ 7- eComStation 2, 1.2 **
- ReactOS 0.4 **
- Android OS*
- 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
*Only the one downloaded with help of Installation Assistant.
**Parallels tools are not available for this operating system
Note:
Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. They are not on the list because we didn't test them in our lab yet or we found some critical issues.
You can download Parallels Desktop Trial here and install an operating system of your choice and if it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.
Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. They are not on the list because we didn't test them in our lab yet or we found some critical issues.
You can download Parallels Desktop Trial here and install an operating system of your choice and if it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.
PC system requirements to move your PC to your Mac (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 forinstallation 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 (Service Pack 2 or later), Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit only), Windows Server 2008, or Windows 2000 Professional (32-bit only).
To install and set up Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac, you need:
Hardware:
- Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Intel Core M or Xeon processor
- 4 GB of memory (8 GB recommended)
- 850 MB of disk space on the boot volume (Macintosh HD) for Parallels Desktop installation
- Additional disk space for virtual machines (varies by
operating system installed) - SSD drive is recommended for better performance
- Internet connection for product activation and select features
Software:
- macOS High Sierra 10.13 or later
- macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later
- OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 or later
- OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 or later
Supported Guest Operating Systems:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 8
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows 7 (SP0-SP1)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 (SP0-SP2)
- Windows Vista Home, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise (SP0-SP2)
- Windows Server 2003 R2 (SP0-SP2)
- Windows XP (SP0-SP3)
- Windows 2000 Professional SP4
- Windows 2000 Server SP4
- Windows NT 4.0 Server SP6 **
- Windows NT 4.0 Workstation SP6 **
- Windows ME **
- Windows 98 SE **
- Windows 95 **
- Windows 3.11 **
- MS-DOS 6.22 **
- Boot2Docker
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7, 6, 5
- Fedora Linux 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19
- Ubuntu 18.04, 17.10, 17.04, 16.10, 16.04 LTS, 15.10, 15.04, 14.10, 14.04 LTS, 13.10, 13.04, 12.10, 12.04 LTS, 11.10, 11.04, 10.10, 10.04 LTS
- CentOS Linux 7, 6, 5
- Debian GNU/Linux 9, 8, 7, 6, 5
- Suse Linux Enterprise 12, 11 SP3, 11 SP2
- OpenSUSE Linux 13.2, 13.1, 12.3
- Linux Mint 18, 17, 16, 13
- Kali 2
- Zorin OS 12.1
- Elementary 0.4
- Manjaro 17, 16.10
- Mageia 5, 4, 3
- Solaris 11.3, 11, 10 **
openBSD 6 **- FreeBSD 11, 10, 10, 9, 8 **
openVZ 7- OS/2 Warp 4.5, 4 **
- eComStation 2, 1.2 **
- ReactOS 0.4 **
- Android OS*
- 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
*- Only the one downloaded with help of Installation Assistant.
** - Parallels tools are not available for this operating system.
Note: Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. They are not on the list because we didn't test them in our lab or found some critical issues. You can download Parallels Desktop Trial here and install an operating system of your choice. If it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.
PC system requirements to move your PC to your Mac (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 forinstallation of Parallels Transporter Agent - Ethernet or WiFi network adapter for migrating over
network - External drive storage for migrating via external disk
- Supported Windows: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000
- Supported Linux: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, Ubuntu 8.04
To install and set up Parallels Desktop 12 for Mac, you need:
Hardware:
- A Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core M or Xeon processor
- 4 GB of memory (8 GB recommended)
- 850 MB of disk space on the boot volume (Macintosh HD) for Parallels Desktop installation
- Additional disk space for virtual machines (SSD drives recommended for better performance)
- Internet connection
Software:
- mac OS Sierra 10.12
- OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 or later
- OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 or later
Supported 32-bit Operating Systems for virtual machines:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 8
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2, SP0
- Windows 7 SP1, SP0
- Windows Server 2008 R2, SP2, SP1, SP0
- Windows Vista Home, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise SP2, SP1, SP0
- Windows Server 2003 R2, SP2, SP1, SP0
- Windows XP Professional SP3, SP2, SP1, SP0
- Windows XP Home SP3, SP2, SP1, SP0
- Windows 2000 Professional SP4
- Windows 2000 Server SP4
- Windows NT 4.0 Server SP6
- Windows NT 4.0 Workstation SP6
- Windows ME
- Windows 98 SE
- Windows 95
- Windows 3.11
- MS-DOS 6.22
- Red Hat Enterprise 7.x, 6.x, 5.x
- Fedora Linux 22, 21, 20, 19
- Ubuntu 16.04, 15.10, 15.04, 14.10, 14.04, 13.10, 13.04, 12.04, 12.04 LTS, 10.04 LTS
- CentOS Linux 7.0, 6.x, 5.x
- Debian Linux 8.x, 7.x
- Suse Linux Enterprise 11 SP3, SP2
- OpenSUSE Linux 13.2, 13.1, 12.3
- Linux Mint 17.2, 17, 16, 13
- Mageia 5, 4.1, 3
- Solaris 11, 10
- FreeBSD 10.1, 10, 9.x, 8.x
- OS/2 Warp 4.5, 4
- eComStation 2.x, 1.2
- Mac OS X Leopard Server 10.5.x
- Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server 10.6.x
- Android OS*
- Chrome OS*
*Only appliances downloaded within New Virtual Machine Wizard are supported.
Supported 64-bit Operating Systems for virtual machines:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1, Update1
- Windows 8
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2, SP0
- Windows 7 SP1, SP0
- Windows Server 2008 R2, SP2, SP1, SP0
- Windows Vista Home, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise SP0, SP1, SP2
- Windows Server 2003 R2, SP2, SP1, SP0
- Windows XP Professional SP2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, 6.x, 5.x
- Fedora Linux 22, 21, 20, 19
- Ubuntu 16.04, 15.10, 15.04, 14.10, 14.04, 13.10, 13.04, 12.04, 12.04 LTS, 10.04 LTS
- CentOS Linux 7.0, 6.x, 5.x
- Debian Linux 8.x, 7.x
- Suse Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3, SP2
- OpenSUSE Linux 13.2, 13.1, 12.3
- Linux Mint 17.2, 17, 16, 13
- Mageia 5, 4.1, 3
- FreeBSD 10.1, 10, 9.x, 8.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
PC system requirements to move your PC to your Mac (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 forinstallation of Parallels Transporter Agent - Ethernet or WiFi network adapter for migrating over
network
Supported Windows and Linux versions:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows 2000
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Ubuntu Linux 8.04
Plenty of Mac users are already familiar with Parallels Desktop, which makes it easy to run virtual Windows applications on a Mac computer. IT administrators should become familiar with Parallels Desktop too, because it also comes in a business edition that provides centralized deployment and management features for Parallels Desktop on Macs across the enterprise.
In a typical installation, Parallels Desktop runs locally on a Mac and provides a virtual environment for the Windows operating system (OS). That makes it possible to run Windows-based programs either side by side with Mac-based applications or within a dedicated space isolated from the Mac environment. With Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition, IT administrators can centrally deploy Windows-based virtual machines (VMs) and manage their settings, while providing a secure environment for conducting business and protecting sensitive data.
Getting started with Parallels Desktop Business Edition
To get started with the business edition, organizations must acquire the necessary licensing and set up a Parallels business account to manage the license keys. Administrators can register license keys and view detailed license information in the licensing portal.
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126881198/143478829.jpg)
A computer running Parallels Desktop automatically sends license renewal requests to the Parallels Key Administrator server, which makes that information available to the portal. From the portal, administrators can view a list of computers with active licenses, deactivate licenses on specific computers and even blacklist computers to prevent future licensing.
Preparing the Parallels Desktop VMs
An organization planning to implement Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition will likely want to deploy its own VMs to users, which means first creating one or more master VMs to include in the deployment package. Administrators start by setting up a Mac computer with the business edition installed, and then create and configure the Windows VM exactly as they want to deploy it.
Admins should install the Parallels Tools suite of utilities on the guest operating system to facilitate seamless operations between Mac OS X and Windows. Parallels Tools includes features such as the Mouse Synchronization Tool, which detects when the mouse input is inside the guest OS window, allowing users to go back and forth smoothly. This is also a good time to set up shared folders and user profiles, install applications and take any other steps necessary to prepare the environment for the end user.
The business edition supports a number of features not available to the Parallels Desktop basic edition, which admins can configure when setting up the master VM. For example, administrators can assign asset tags to the basic I/O system to help track and control VMs across the enterprise. They can also password-protect configuration settings, encrypt the VMs, or set an expiration date so the VMs work only for a specific period of time.
Regardless of the features they want to include, administrators should use this time to get the VM images just right. This will make the overall deployment and management processes easier going forward, and keep the user experience as painless as possible. Parallels for mac free.
Deploying and updating Parallels Desktop packages
Next, administrators can download the Parallels Desktop Mass Deployment package, which includes the necessary files and instructions for installing the business edition on the local Macs, configuring the virtual environment and then adding VMs.
The configuration file (deploy.cfg) is a special script that automatically runs on Macs and controls the installation of Parallels Desktop Business Edition and VMs on the target computer. Administrators should update the script to customize their installations. This includes adding the license key to the script's licensing section. They can also configure settings such as restricting users from changing VM settings, controlling where the VM images reside, customizing the Parallels Desktop Control Center window and specifying how Parallels Desktop should check for updates.
There are also several options for how to deploy the packages. For example, admins can integrate their deployments with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), which allows them to deploy Parallels Desktop packages directly from the SCCM console. Administrators can also use Apple Remote Desktop to deploy the packages from a Mac on the corporate network. In addition, they can deploy Parallels Desktop packages from the JAMF Casper Suite or IBM Endpoint Manager.
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition can also link with an update server on the local network. Administrators can download available updates from Parallels to the update server, which then updates the company's Mac computers with the new version. Most admins prefer that option over the alternative, which is downloading Parallels updates for each computer via the Internet.
Making the most of Mac in the enterprise
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition makes it easier than ever to integrate Windows applications on enterprise Macs. The software package also includes extensive command-line utilities, support for NetBoot and a headless mode that allows the business edition to run as a service on a central Mac computer to support remote desktop access. Parallels Desktop also provides a software developer's kit to allow further customization of the service and can support additional guest OSes including Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, Android and Chrome.
Parallels Desktop does not guarantee that all apps will run as expected within their virtualized environments, but most do, and they usually perform well. That said, before implementing Parallels Desktop Business Edition on a mass scale, administrators should first test the applications they plan to run in the virtualized OS. They might run into a glitch here or there that they will need to address.
Even so, administrators will likely find that Parallels Desktop Business Edition takes Window/Mac interoperability to a whole new level, bringing the best of both worlds into a single desktop.
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