Running virtual machines is something that many would consider a technical task. However, setting up and running a separate operating system whilst not leaving your own is actually incredibly simple, and beneficial to those of you who need to do work that requires a Windows operating system.
Many, myself included, would have just dual-booted a separate operating system using something such as Bootcamp on my Mac, or if I was on Windows I’d manually install a separate OS on a different partition. This process is time consuming, can be slightly dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, and is generally a massive hassle when it comes to loading the new OS up due to the fact that you can’t have the original OS running.
Using a Virtual Machine is the ultimately easier option due to the fact that you can customise the amount of RAM, CPU, VRAM and more that makes up the virtual OS. With the ability to load the operating system in a window on your Mac this means you can also transfer files in to the Virtual Machine and have them both running side by side.
Parallels is compatible with a wide range of Macs including those with OS X 10.6.8 “Snow Leopard” and above, and also those with Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, i5, i7 & Intel Xeon Processors.
From Parallels Desktop 10 and above, for Mac, there is support for guest operating systems including multiple versions of Windows (from Windows 8 and above), Mac OS X Leopard / Snow Leopard Server and Mac OS X Lion, various Linux distributions and also a wide range of others.
Parallels Desktop for Mac 12 is available for $79.99 for new customers, or $49.99 if you’re upgrading from Parallels Desktop 10 or 11.
If you wish to upgrade your system with the latest version, we’d definitely recommend checking out some great deals offered by Parallels.