Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac
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Discontinued
Availability Details
CloseThis item has been discontinued by the manufacturer and is no longer available.
This item has been discontinued by the manufacturer and is no longer available.
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Parallels Desktop 6 is a software package for Intel Macs that allows you to configure and run virtual machines from within Mac OS X. Make your life easier with the ability to run a variety of Windows, DOS, Linux, and other x86 operating systems side-by-side, all from within OS X.
Desktop 6 for Mac brings vastly improved 3D graphics rendering, battery life and security, all while a new 64-bit engine and added Parallels Mobile iOS app let you take full advantage of the power of your Mac. You can now run Windows and Mac applications side-by-side without ever having to reboot.
Seamless Simplicity
- Improved Logic Between Windows and Mac
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- Setup and manage multiple virtual machines on your Mac simply, quickly and more efficiently with better control over your Boot Camp partitions, your open windows in Expose, and Active Corners
- Easily drag-and-drop documents, pictures and music between Windows and Mac apps
- Boot Camp virtual machines can now be freely suspended and then safely resumed
- Time Machine backups can now be synced with SmartGuard snapshots, to reduce the space required for backups
- Keyboard shortcut for hiding/showing Parallels Desktop and all its windows
- Import of third-party virtual machines has been integrated into the main application
- Parallels Image Tool has been integrated into the main application
- Parallels Transporter is now accessible through the "Import Virtual Machines" option on the Welcome Screen
- Open your Windows applications without seeing Parallels Desktop interface elements even when your virtual machine is powered off
- Shut down Windows and its applications in Coherence without seeing Parallels Desktop interface
- Automatic generation of support code for easier access to Parallels Support
- Improved support for Boot Camp partitions using multiple disks
- Automatic SmartGuard snapshots taken after a timeout if the user does not respond to the prompts
- Improved active screen corners behavior in Full Screen mode
- Scaling of the virtual machine screen when its window is resized, if Parallels Tools are not installed or inactive
- Windows applications can be set as the default applications for handling CDs and DVDs inserted into the Mac
- Windows Applications in Your Dock and Spotlight
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- Windows 7 icons in the Dock behave like true Windows 7 icons, with support for Jump Lists, progress indicators and duplicate app icons being grouped to one icon
- Search for your Windows programs with Spotlight
- Windows Applications folders in the Dock now contain "My Computer", "Control Panel" and other useful shortcuts that are usually present in the Windows Start menu
- Progress for downloads and other operations is now displayed on the Windows 7 applications icons in the Dock
- Smoother Transition from Other Virtual Machines
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- Bring all of your virtual machines into Parallels Desktop 6 for a better experience
- Supports import of Boot Camp partition into a Parallels virtual machine
- Supports import of Virtual Box 3.1.2 and 3.1.4 virtual machines
- Faster and smoother import of VMware and Virtual PC virtual machines
Enhanced Performance
- 64-bit Virtual Machine Performance
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- Fully utilize your Mac's hardware to maximize speed and performance for Windows
- Create powerful 32/64-bit VMs with up to 8 CPUs and 2TB virtual RAM
- Improved 3D performance - up to 80% faster than in Parallels Desktop 5
- Improved battery life
- 64-bit virtual machine process for improved performance of virtual machines, especially of those with more than 1 GB of memory
- Improved overall performance
- Faster Windows startup and shutdown
- Reduced time for resuming paused and suspended virtual machines on Macs with powerful configurations
- Better performance of Linux in virtual machines
- Faster Parallels Tools installation
- Parallels Mobile iOS App
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- Enjoy full access and control of your virtual machine from wherever you are with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad mobile app
- Access and use programs in a virtual machine remotely, even if you are not on the same network as your Mac
- Reduce Costs with Full-Featured Virtual Machines and Devices
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- Support for IPv6
- Intel (e1000) virtual network adapter for Windows and Linux guests
- 35% faster virtual machines with virtual SATA hard drive interface support
- Smoother USB mouse transition between Mac and the virtual machine, even when Parallels Tools are not installed
- Faster input and navigation operations with USB keyboards
- Improved handling of shortcuts and other keyboard operations
- Enterprise-ready for Developers and IT Administrators
Flexible Personalization
- More Mac-Like Appearance
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- Improved user interface and new look and feel
- Use Apple gestures in Windows apps, map your keyboard shortcuts or use Apple Remote to control Windows apps
- Use OS X keyboard shortcuts in Windows applications
- Redesigned USB connection dialog makes connecting USB devices simpler than ever
- Preferences dialog has been simplified and now fully conforms to the Mac OS style
- Virtual machine configuration dialog has been simplified and redesigned
- Crystal mode is an extension for Coherence
- Improved animation when switching between the Coherence, Full Screen, and Window modes
- Mac Keyboard Shortcuts in Coherence Mode
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- Don't worry about learning Windows keyboard shortcuts: Use Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts to make Windows applications work the way you do
- Mac OS shortcuts can be used to manage Windows applications when using Crystal mode
- Arrow icon in the Mac menu bar for customizing Windows tray icons in Coherence
- Make Windows More Like A Mac
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- Use Apple Gestures in Windows applications, map your keyboard shortcuts, or use Apple Remote to control Windows programs
- Support for Multi-Touch trackpad gestures in Windows applications (yes, even 4-finger ones
- Easily organize and view all open windows in stunning style with Exposé
- Use Spaces to group windows and reduce clutter
Immersive Gaming and Graphics
- Enhanced 3D Graphics
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- Up to 80% faster than in Parallels Desktop 5
- Use a wide variety of design programs and games with DirectX 9.0c/9Ex and Shader Model 3 support
- Parallels Desktop 6 boots Windows more than 2 times faster than VMware Fusion 3.1
- Parallels Desktop 6 scores more than 2 times better on 3D graphics performance than VMware Fusion 3.1
- Seamless Gaming and Video Action
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- Enhanced DirectX 9 support for better gaming experience
- Support for OpenGL extensions available in Mac OS X 10.6.4 Snow Leopard
- Support for Xorg 1.8 in Linux virtual machines, including Fedora 13 and Open SUSE 11.3
- Fixed OpenGL support in Ubuntu 10.04 virtual machines
- Added Support for Surround Sound 5.1
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- Immerse yourself in games, movies, and music with Surround Sound 5.1 support for Windows 7, Windows XP, and Windows Vista
- Use any external Surround Sound 5.1 USB or FireWire device simultaneously in your Mac and the virtual machine
| Application | Virtualization |
| Compatibility | Intel Macs |
| System Requirements |
Computer: 1.66 GHz or greater Intel Mac Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.3 Memory: 1GB (2GB recommended); Support for any memory configuration, up to 16GB, without modifying your host system Hard Drive: 500MB (15GB per virtual machine) Hardware: CD-ROM drive Display: 16-bit or 32-bit display adapter Internet Connection: Required for software updates |
| Operating Systems Supported |
64-bit Operating Systems:
|
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 158 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
95%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Easy to install (88)
- Fast (70)
- Easy to navigate (67)
- Great value (67)
- Good power output (51)
Cons
- Slows down system (11)
- Compatibility issues (9)
- Hard to install or upgrade (6)
Best Uses
- Home use (76)
- Multimedia (35)
- Educational purposes (24)
- Office (3)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Quality oriented (90), Budget shopper (12)
- Primary use:
- Personal (71), Business (34)
- Computer Platform:
- Mac (49)
Most Liked Positive Review
Best option if you only need a little
There are 2 ways to run Windows on a MAC, Bootcamp or Parallels. Each have their advantages and each are pretty much flawless.
Parallels is great if you need to run you...Read complete review
There are 2 ways to run Windows on a MAC, Bootcamp or Parallels. Each have their advantages and each are pretty much flawless.
Parallels is great if you need to run your windows programs while simultaneously running your OSX programs. For example, I need to use CorelDraw for just a couple tasks. I could completely reboot via bootcamp into Windows 7, but that's a huge hassle. Instead, I simply launch CorelDraw via parallels and it will boot up Windows from a virtual machine and run everything just like it was running on OSX.
Now this isn't the same as running Windows 7 natively, you can't run games because Windows is being emulated. But you can some critical Windows only programs like your CAD software, graphics software and the like.
You do need a good amount of RAM though, 4GB is good, 8GB is better because what you want to do (for best performance) is dedicate 1-2GB of RAM to Parallels to keep it running smooth so you want to still have some RAM left for OSX.
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Simply doesn't work
Fortunately this was a gift for my brand new Macbook Air. I would be really sad if I paid money for this.
During installation it suggested to download and install a newer versi...Read complete review
Fortunately this was a gift for my brand new Macbook Air. I would be really sad if I paid money for this.
During installation it suggested to download and install a newer version. I agreed, but it failed twice and after all I had to proceed with installing the version from DVD.
Unfortunately it failed to create and start any virtual machine on a brand new macbook air at all. At first it complained about hardware virtualization switched off and suggested to change something in macbook's firmware (what?!). Then it said that there is a problem with some driver and suggested to restart OS. Neither restarts nor re-installs helped.
I ended up paying for VMWare Fusion which turned out to do the job just perfectly out of the box.
Reviewed by 158 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-20
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Pros
- Great Value
Cons
- Hard To Install or Upgrade
Best Uses
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Parallels 6 is a useful program well worth the money. On the other hand, as an amateur computer user I found this program difficult to install. For one thing you have to have the correct Virtual Machine and Firefox.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Useful only if you cannot find any Mac versions of your old windows software.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
- Powerful
Cons
- Slows Down System
Best Uses
- Educational Purposes
- Home Use
- Multimedia
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Easy to configure... Multi Os at the same time; set keyboard shortcut to change from Os... I use to play Linux and Windows to testing and play games...
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
This software is easy to install and very easy to use. By far the fastest and most feature rich VM software I have used.
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
- Powerful
Cons
- Everything runs smooth
Best Uses
- Educational Purposes
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Program is user friendly!!!
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
- Powerful
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Use
- Multimedia
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
It is great that i can run windows on my mac by using parallels thank you
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
If you have moved from PC to Mac, this is exactly what you need.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
Cons
- Compatibility Issues
Best Uses
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
There's a little known "dirty secret" about Parallels 6 that makes it a non-starter for me. You are headed for trouble if you want to run a device such as an external sound interface (SoundBlaster, etc) that uses proprietary drivers for proper operation. Parallels won't let you do this. You're stuck using Parallels-supplied drivers which limit the functionality to a standard Windows sound interface (volume control only with no special effects, sampling frequency selection, etc.)
The VMWare product allows you to use any Windows-compatible driver package, meaning that you'll get full functionality of any Windows hardware you connect to your computer.
Forget Parallels. Get VMWare instead.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy to use
- Fast
Cons
- No Drag and Drop
Best Uses
- Educational Purposes
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
I use this software for a couple development programs that aren't available for mac. As far as ease of install and use of windows this software is great. The fullscreen capability really completes the experience. The one main complaint is the lack of a drag and drop function. I cannot take a file from my mac desktop and drag into my windows vm desktop. I don't want to share all my files just a few and it would be a lot easier if drag and drop was available. Other than this great product.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
Cons
- Compatibility Issues
- Hard To Install or Upgrade
Best Uses
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Fortunately this was a gift for my brand new Macbook Air. I would be really sad if I paid money for this.
During installation it suggested to download and install a newer version. I agreed, but it failed twice and after all I had to proceed with installing the version from DVD.
Unfortunately it failed to create and start any virtual machine on a brand new macbook air at all. At first it complained about hardware virtualization switched off and suggested to change something in macbook's firmware (what?!). Then it said that there is a problem with some driver and suggested to restart OS. Neither restarts nor re-installs helped.
I ended up paying for VMWare Fusion which turned out to do the job just perfectly out of the box.
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Fast
Cons
- Compatibility Issues
- Hard To Install or Upgrade
Best Uses
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
I was unable to import Windows from my old PC to iMac. [...]
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
This came free with a computer that shipped with Mac OSX Lion, and as of now it is not compatible with Lion to my knowledge.
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
- Powerful
- Reliable
- Stable
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Use
- PC-only RIP's
- Quicken 2008 for PC
- Windows business programs
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
I was using VMWare Fusion 3 up until I given Parallels 6 as a freebie [...] when I bought my latest Mac computer from them. I installed it in the new Mac right away, a far more pleasant experience than I had installing VMWare on my other two Macs. The install went effortlessly and the Wizard that guides you through it simplifies that task very nicely. Once installed I found that Parallels 6 ran concurrently with my Mac OSX programs a lot more smoothly than VMWare Fusion did. I then upgraded VMWare on my other Macs but even after doing this it didn't run as well as the latest version of Parallels on my new Mac. As a result I installed Parallels 6 on my first two Macs. Parallels 6 immediately told me that the virtual machines I had created with VMware could be converted to Parallels virtual machines. As I had all my data on separate drives I opted not to do this; I wanted a clean install. I deleted the old virtual machines and created new ones with Parallels and reinstalled my PC software. Once done two of my three computers are running Windows in Parallels 6 virtual machines *very* smoothly concurrently with OSX programs. The third computer is maxed out with 4 gigs of RAM and this just isn't enough to run a virtual machine within Parallels while also running OSX programs. One really needs at least 8 gigs of RAM for this to work otherwise the computer runs *very* slowly. Provided you have a multi-core Mac with at least 8 gigs of RAM, Parallels will let you run Windows programs very smoothly right alongside your OSX programs.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
- Powerful
Cons
Best Uses
- Multimedia
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
This is a really good software that allow me to Run RIP software for windows in my mac computer.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Personally, I am using Mac based programs and left all my Windows programs on my old computer. I've dabbled with this program, but if I ever have to use a Window's program for work, etc. then I will use this program. It provides you the benefits of using a Window's program, but allows you have all of the nice features of a Mac.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
parallels 6 works great
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
Cons
- Slows Down System
- Stability
Best Uses
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
It does everything well, sometimes it does hang up. You can play videos and it does run well. I would recommend having 6GB+ of memory to run, 4GB is not going to cut it. Don't even try running any high end games on it, leave that to Bootcamp. I am running Mac OS X Lion, I'm sure there will be updates to come to improve the stability. Overall, a good product.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Great Value
Cons
Best Uses
- Multimedia
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Great handy tool for a Mac
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Easy To Install
- Great Value
- Powerful
Cons
- Difficult To Navigate
Best Uses
- Home Use
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
Seems to be a great way to integrate windows into a mac. I use a 2011 macbook pro 15" and after using it with windows 7 for about two weeks I haven't had any problems with it all. It's not quite as intuitive as mac software usually is but still very smooth and functional once you figure it out.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Navigate
- Fast
- Great Value
Cons
- Config settings scattered
- Follow-on support pricey
- Included support limited
Best Uses
- Office
Comments about Parallels Desktop 6 Software for Mac:
PD is an excellent tool for running Windows apps seamlessly in a Mac environment. The Coherence mode is especially well implemented.
Good migration tools for importing legacy Virtual PC images into PD. The only downside is that network and printer settings need to be done manually.
Downsides are:
1) Preferences and configuration settings are scattered through the UI.
2) Included support is very limited in time and type. Paid incident support is outrageously expensive.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
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Additional Software
- Price: $174.99
What's in the Box
- Installation Guide
- Quick Start Guide
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- Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac
- Acronis True Image Home 2010
- Acronis Disc Direktor 2011 Home
- 1-Year Limited Warranty
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