īuild 9308, released on December 21, 2009, added some new features.
Therefore, integration between Mac OS X and Linux guest-OS's was greatly improved.
This version included a long-awaited complete “Parallels tools'” driver suite for Linux guest operating systems. Further, Parallels added a security manager to limit the amount of interaction between the Windows and Mac OS X installations. A new snapshot feature was included, allowing one to restore their virtual machine environment to a previous state in case of issues. Parallels Explorer was introduced, which allows the user to browse their Windows system files in Mac OS X without actually launching Windows. A new feature called SmartSelect offers cross OS file and application integration by allowing the user to open Windows files with Mac OS X programs and vice versa. Support for DirectX 8.1 and OpenGL was added, allowing Mac users to play some Windows games without the need to boot into Windows with Boot Camp. Version 3.0 retained all of the functionality from previous versions and added new features and tools. A tool called Parallels Transporter was included to allow users to migrate their Windows PC, or existing VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels Desktop for Mac. This version also allowed users to boot their existing Boot Camp Windows XP partitions, which eliminated the need to have multiple Windows installations on their Mac. A new feature known as Coherence was added, which removed the Windows chrome, desktop, and the virtualization frames to create a more seamless desktop environment between Windows and Mac OS X applications.
This version brought the ability for users with a Windows XP installation to upgrade to Windows Vista from within the VM environment. In addition, a shared clipboard and drag-drop support between Mac OS X and the guest OS was implemented. Full featured CD/DVD drives arrived in this version, which allowed the user to burn disks directly in the virtual environment, and play any copy-protected CD or DVD as one would in Mac OS X. The amount of video RAM allocated to the guest OS was made adjustable, up to 32MB. Version 2.5 brought support for USB 2.0 devices, which expanded the number of USB devices supported at native speed, including support for built-in iSight USB webcams.
Up to four serial ports that can be mapped to a pipe or to an output file,.Virtual CD/DVD-ROM drives can be mapped to either physical drives or ISO image files. This includes virtual hard drives ranging in size from 20 MB to 2 TB each and CD/DVD-ROM drives. A 1.44 MB floppy drive, which can be mapped to a physical drive or to an image file,.VGA and SVGAvideo adapter with VESA 3.0 support and OpenGL and DirectX 10.1 acceleration,.Up to 64 GB of RAM for guest virtual machines,.A generic motherboard compatible with the Intel i965 chipset,.A virtualized CPU of the same type as the host's physical processor,.
There's also a $69.99 perpetual license upgrade for Standard.Parallels Desktop for Mac is able to virtualize a full set of standard PC hardware, including You can add $20 to go from Standard to Pro and $30 more to go from Pro to Business. Version 18 of Parallels is available now, with the usual pricing model of $99.99 for an annual subscription with continual updates or $129.99 for a perpetual license specifically for this version. Pro includes everything from Standard, plus the ability to configure network conditions for VMs, the ability to use network boot with Linux ARM VMs, and a few other small additions.īusiness includes everything from Standard and Pro but adds some IT-specific functionality like deploying, provisioning, and transferring Windows 11 VMs on Mac machines across your org, plus signing into Parallels with a corporate account via SSO/SAML authentication. There are two more editions of Parallels Desktop beyond the Standard release: Pro and Business. The standard edition of Parallels also improves x86 application compatibility when virtualizing Windows 11 on ARM, and it improves USB 3.0 support with a specific focus on devices like game streaming hardware from Elgato. The Parallels team says that users can additionally expect smoother Windows UI and video playback, plus higher frame rates. With Parallels Desktop 18, you can now sync Xbox or PlayStation controllers in macOS on your host system, then jump right in and use them in your Windows virtual machine.