Parallels Desktop For Mac Reviews: 4.4/5 — Solid Choice

It's seem less integration with the host machine. The virtual machine doesn't even feel like a virtual machine. It feels like an independent operating system running on actual hardware than on a virtual layer.

I'm not an everyday user of the software so the price it bit high for someone like me.

The ability to run windows on Apple silicon.

I recently tried out Parallels Desktop for Mac, and I have to say, it's been a game-changer for me. Setting it up was a breeze, and even for someone like me who isn't the most tech-savvy, the whole process was surprisingly easy. Once I got it running, I was genuinely impressed by how well it handled all those Windows applications alongside my usual Mac stuff – no lag or hiccups whatsoever. The coolest part? The integration is so seamless that I can run Windows apps right alongside my Mac ones, almost like they're all part of the same family. The interface is user-friendly, offering a bunch of viewing options to suit how you like to work. Plus, knowing that they keep it up to date and have a support team ready to help if needed gives me real peace of mind. Long story short, if you're like me and need both Windows and Mac in your life, Parallels Desktop is the way to go – it's made things a whole lot smoother and more enjoyable.

Parallels Desktop for Mac has genuinely impressed me, and it's challenging to find substantial dislikes.

Parallels Desktop for Mac is like having a tech wizard right on my computer, solving the headache of running Windows stuff on my beloved Mac. You know that feeling of juggling between different devices or rebooting just to use a Windows app? Well, Parallels kicked that hassle to the curb. Now, I can seamlessly dance between macOS and Windows without missing a beat. It's been a game-changer, especially for work where I need both worlds. No more choosing sides - it's like having the best of both tech universes in one happy place. Hats off to Parallels for making my computer life a whole lot smoother!

It was easy to install, and is easy to use with well written documentation.

It takes up more disk space than I expected.

I am now able to run another operating system.

I love how easy and simple it is to use. It's virtually painless to get it up and running and works near flawlessly! I have no overall need to use another computer or windows laptop to get my work done as it can run windows programs in MacOs.

The price has been increasing and now the previous price for a permanent license is now the price for a 1-year subscription. It would also be nice to have a little more flexibility with the Virtual RAM and Virtual CPUs in the standard edition now that Macs in general are becoming more powerful.

Parallels has absolutley removed the necessity to require a windows PC for work. It has made my computing needs and traveling far easier by having the ability to use both Mac and Windows in a single device. I can now use any type of program I could possibly want on my Macbook Pro!

Parallels Desktop is really an fantastic software developed to experience windows interface with Mac. With the help of this software you can use both Mac and windows at the same time and can run applications of both the platforms simultaneously.

Parallels Desktop is not a free software and is not compatible with the lower versions of MacOS than 10.15 which is Catalina.

It helps in using windows platform applications in MacOS without any complications. It saves the files of windows also in the MacOS directory so we can access the files in both Mac and windows. It does not put much load on the hardware system.

The look and feel are great: It seems to be just a regular tab you are using, it is smooth to work and the VM refreshes quickly. Easy to use. The IT guy who configured my VM mentioned that Parallels may be having some issues with Apple M2 Chip machines, however, mine is working perfectly,

So far I like it all, there is nothing to complain about.

There are some business Apps that do not run on MAC machines, which is why Parallels VM helps me to run those Apps on a Microsoft VM.

Occassionally, as an avid Mac user, I run into needing access to Windows applications. I love how it runs in realtime and is easy to flip back and forth almost like a virtual machine.

Honestly, not much to dislike. Usually I might complain about the price, but at $99 CAD for a new license, you can't go wrong. Featurewise, the program does more than I could ever need.

Parallels helps me access legacy software that simply does not have a Mac version available. Although many software developers are now creating for both platforms, Parallels helps me solve this occassional problem that I run into.

Parallels is very easy to use and does not come up with updates all the time like some other products.

It has happened once that I had a VM that got stuck but it was probably due to a hard drive failure.

I used other virtualization software on Mac, but Parallels is the only one that makes it easy for me to have Windows VM on Mac. VirtualBox failed at this, for example.

This software enables for fast and straightforward switching between Mac OS and Windows 10 on my MacBook Pro. I have several Windows-only software that need Windows to run. This solution means I can deploy everything on a single machine. The user interface is intuitive and fast.

This is expensive and requires an annual membership if you want it to stay up to date. It also takes up a lot of storage space on my Mac SDD, which means I have less room for my own files.

It is running Windows 10 on the same machine as my Mac OSX. This prevents the need for me to buy a second laptop that runs Windows on its own. It is fast and straightforward.

Seamless installation of the virtual machines operating systems. You can pick which you want, and it will get downloaded and installed without much interactions.

Nothing much really to dislike in this product.

Playing games in Windows on a Mac OS X :)

I love how simple it is to install and get started with Parallels. Downloading Windows is the most time consuming part of the process. Once you are live, Coherence mode helps you seamlessly meld your Windows apps with the MacOS environment. It doesn't feel like you are working on two different machines.

I think the Windows menu in coherence mode hops around on the screen based on whether you have entered text in the search bar. Maybe that can be fixed with settings, but it is not apparent. Its also easily avoided if you put your Windows apps on your MacOS Desktop or Dock.

Running Windows apps that don't have a fully featured Mac version. Allows me to use the apps I want regardless of OS.

I'm using Parallels Desktop for to have multiple operating systems all in one device. I can set the CPU, RAM, and Harddisk according to how many sources I need. Also, this app works really stable and supports almost all operating systems. Also possible to sync files between the local device and virtual machine.

It's really expensive. I would love to see it on the Windows platform, too.

To test our apps on multiple platforms, I'm using Parallels Desktop for Mac same like a virtualization center.

Parallels has been my go to virtual platform for testing new versions of macOS and for setting up my PC desktop engineer environment. It is so powerful that I can easily use the virtual PC and avoid needing a physical PC laptop in addition to my Mac laptop

The only tricky part with Parallels was getting the virtual network adapter to work right to connect to internal networks

Saving me the hassle of carrying around a PC laptop in addition to my Mac laptop. It is easily customizable to how much power resources Parallels uses

It's easy to set up, runs efficiently, and comes with the Parallels toolbox with lots of different apps to help you be productive. Coherence mode is excellent because it overlays your Mac desktop and lets you seamlessly run 2 OSs in one Desktop rather than running in an application window, though you can run it that way.

Occasionally the VM becomes corrupted, and you have to restore it from a backup,

I have to run some Windows applications at my office but don't want a Windows computer, so Parallels has solved that issue. I have used Parallels for years, and it has always performed well. In some cases, it runs faster on a Mac than on an actual PC hardware!

Essy to install - always being updated and works with latest releases of Mac OS

Nothing to dislike - the app just works and it works well.

Need to test our app and development in Windows and prefer it all to be virtualised locally - also have some dodgy old apps that won't run on Windows so we have to run them in Windows.

This is an extremely easy program to use and install, it is crucial for my job as I require programs that only run on Windows.

The program takes up a lot of memory which is understandable but annoying when Macs are made with so little memory in the first place .

I used to have to use a separate laptop to complete some of my responsibilities at work, I can now work from home easily with access to windows on one laptop.

Speed. Extremely fast boot of virtual machines

Actually nothing. Used for many years and have not encountered any problems using it

Development of Windows Application. Faster than competitors and easier to use

Parallels allows me to run Windows programs on a Mac computer within an office that is predominantly Windows-based. With Parallels I do not have to power down and boot into Windows like I would with Bootcamp which saves me valuable time and allows me to multitask between Windows and Mac.

Parallels itself is fantastic as it's easy to use, fast to operate and easy to setup. Windows however insists on updating every time I use it which can be an inconvenience and requires Parallels to restart.

Without Parallels it would be difficult to access Windows-only software which is critical within the business. As the only Mac user in the company, this tool is extremely valuable to me.

It can function in it's own window or integrated with MacOS. It saves it's state well, and can read files back and forth with MacOS. It starts quickly and I have not found any major limitations in function as of yet. Installing programs is easy, can be done from MacOS or Windows.

I have not tested high performance 3D graphics, or any development applications so I cannot speak to how well it would work in those scenarios. Note that a product key for Windows is also required, not included in the cost of Parallels software, which is substantial.

It allows be to run software required for school/work that is only available for Windows, without having to reboot my Mac to boot with Windows.

Seamless and deep integration with macOS.

Price is too high, I mean literally high.

OS virtualisation.

it is quick compared to the other vendors. I like the coherence feature that just plain works. apps are quick and seamless, almost as if they are installed natively on MacOS

the price, but they did give me a discount

needed to run windows apps. after the upgrade to Catalina, Wine was no longer supported, so I needed a solution that was not resource hungry

I like the ability to be able to run Windows programs and apps directly on my MacBook Pro and that I can easily switch between the two operating systems quickly and without having to shut down either system or programs that I am running in them. This allows me to use programs on the Windows OS that are not available with Mac and then integrate the work that Ive done into projects that I am working on my Mac.

I would like there to be a better pricing option on the Parallels program because I only need to use it for specific tasks on certain projects.

I am able to utilize Windows based software and applications that are unavailable for the Mac OS and then incorporate them into projects that I am working on and this has allowed me to expand the services I can offer my clients.

I have a MAc but sometimes I needed to use Windows-specific software, parallels allowed me to do this and so much more!

I don't have anything that I dislike. Always worked well for me.

It allows me to use software that I could not use otherwise since I have a MAc but it is also very useful for other things.

The fact that I could switch between OS and WIndows was amazing. Being able to run my windows based applications while still retaining my OS applications made myself and team extremely more efficient. This tool coupled with Mac allowed us to upgrade our tech stack across the organization.

Not much that I didn't dislike about this product. However, its worth noting that the applications I ran didn't require much power rather they were legacy systems.

Due to the fact that my org specialized in state and federal grants we were required to use quite a few legacy systems. On the other hand our partners were highly tech advanced and required quite a bit of processing power for us. Parrallels solved this problem for us by allowing us to access the systems while helping accelerate the learning curve for a staff whose medium age was mid 50's.

This application is so much more powerful than boot camp. It allowed me to execute applications in internet explorer in record time.

It’s hard to say I disliked anything. Most of the applications I ran weren’t the most ram or power intensive.

Our office is Mac based, but our systems were windows based. Our business deals with state and federal grants. As a result many times We are forced to deal with “antiquated” systems.

I like how easy it is to increase productivity by partitioning my computer. It’s convenient to use the parallel desktop, I get so much more done!

I had a few problems understanding how to use the software at the beginning, but it gets easier once you get used to the tools and options.

I am able to partition my desktop and get more achieved. I can run multiple software applications and programs at once and it helps me organize my programs better.

I love everything about parallels, the ease of use is best. Just being able to run pc programs on my mac are the best you could ask for. I am genuinely happy with this product!

There aren't many things I dislike except maybe the overall price

I realized I dont have to have 2 computers when you have parallels

I couldn't survive without Parallels on my Mac. What we do involves a lot of Mac computers and some Pc and this helps to not have multiples

I truly don't dislike anything, except for sometimes booting up takes a few seconds

Not having to own multiple types of computers!

I love that I can run Parallels on my Mac and and it runs seamlessly and you wouldn't even know that it was running. You can start programs up and not have to worry if you booted under PC/Mac. I love it

I truly can't figure anything I don't like about Parallels. It works amazing!

I use Mac for most of all my work but a few things need to be ran on a PC and this helps it out without having 2 computers!

Of all the VM software I've used, it's been the most intuitive from the start. The graphics are also really good, which makes a huge difference when checking web responsiveness between Mac and Windows browsers.

The only issue I've had was switching between screens and it getting confused with my mouse, but even then I was able to configure that so it didn't happen. I don't have a lot of negative things to report.

I'm currently developing a tool for our communications platform and it requires both Mac and Windows compatibility. I work primarily on a Mac so I need to reference Windows quite a bit in development. It's been a real time saver.