Editors' note, October 30, 2014: This review has been updated with new features added after the release of the Windows 10 technical preview.
Parallels desktop for mac with microsoft windows installed.
Parallels Desktop for Mac has been letting people run Windows and other operating systems on their Macs for years. And with every major update, Parallels has added yet another feature that makes switching between your regular operating system and virtual machines even more seamless.
Even better, Windows 10 is a free upgrade for most Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users, so it’s not surprising that many Windows users are upgrading—including users on virtual machines, of course! It’s very easy to install or upgrade to Windows 10 in Parallels Desktop. Of course, if you want to see what Windows 10 is like while running in Parallels 10, or any other virtualization software, you should grab the dedicated program and Windows 10 ISO and get started.
There are other apps that do virtualization, such as $60 VMWare fusion (also available for £36, or AU$64) or Virtual Box (free). These will both let you run Windows on your Mac (as long as you own a copy) and might be good enough for your purposes.
But what makes Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac special, is the way it incorporates Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 features. Some of the new features give you more interactivity between operating systems, letting you place Windows apps on the Mac Launchpad or Dock, for example, and even as far as letting you use new features in Mac OS X Yosemite straight out of a Windows environment.
What is Parallels for?
Parallels Desktop ($80, £50, or AU$86) is a virtualization system for running other operating systems on your Mac. As an example, this would be useful if you use Windows at work, but have a Mac laptop at home because it means you can run all the Windows specific tools from work on the Mac without having to buy a separate computer.
Virtualization is used by software developers as well, because it allows them to run an operating system that has no ties to the computer it's on. This way, even if a virtual system gets a virus, it can only infect that enclosed system, leaving the host computer virus free. From there all they need to do is shut down and restart from an earlier healthy snapshot of the virtual system to start again fresh.
Parallels is also useful for people who play video games because it lets them pick from the much larger library of Windows titles and play them on a Mac. In this particular case, your mileage may vary because your Mac may not have the video processing power of high-end video cards.
How To Install Windows 10 On Mac
If you're going to use Parallels with one of the free operating systems offered in the app (more on this later), you'll only need to spend the $80 for Parallels. But be warned, that in order to use this software with Windows as I did in this demo, you're going to be spending $80 for Parallels, plus the price of Windows 8.1 (currently available for about $120, £70, or AU$130). While it is not cheap, if you identify with one of the use cases above, it's worth the money.
Installing an operating system
To get Parallels up and running, you're going to need to have the full version of another operating system on hand. From the Parallels launcher, you can download free operating systems including Chrome OS, Ubuntu Linux, Android OS, or even another version of Mac OS X using your Mac's recovery partition.
Past versions of Parallels had the option to purchase and install Windows 7 from within the software, so you could get started right away. Microsoft no longer has a deal with Parallels, but Parallels Desktop 10 enables you to download and install a 90-day trial of Windows. The wizard also lets you move a PC, including Windows and all of its applications and files to your Mac so you have everything you need on one computer
If you know you'll need to run Windows for the long term, the easiest option is a box copy of Windows 8 on a DVD. As long as you have an internal or external DVD drive, you can select it from the Parallels Launch Center, and start installing straight away. In the latest version of Parallels, you also can drag and drop a .ISO file straight into the interface to start the installation.
If you downloaded Windows from Microsoft hoping (like I did) to just select the installer executable, you're going to have a tough time. Parallels requires either a DVD or image file (ISO), or you can use the Parallels Transporter Agent to migrate Windows from another PC.
To create an ISO file, you'll need to start the installation on another Windows PC, download all the data files, then select create as image, and choose either DVD or thumb drive. It took me some time to figure it all out, but I finally used a thumb drive to transfer the installer and get it running on my Mac. This is all just a precaution to make sure you don't make the same mistake I did and already have an ISO image or boxed version of Windows before you get started.
While I think it's OK that Parallels has specific requirements for the installation file, it would be nice if the app took care of the conversion for you. Without knowing, it's pretty easy to buy and download an operating system in the standard way (resulting in an .exe file) that requires a lengthy process for conversion before it will work.
Guest blog by Manoj Kumar Suresh, Parallels Support Team How to increase ram for parallels 13 in mac sierra.
Windows 10 has been here for a year, and continues to be much better than Windows 8, period. (Right?!)
How Can I Get Windows 10 On My Laptop
Even better, Windows 10 is a free upgrade for most Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users, so it’s not surprising that many Windows users are upgrading—including users on virtual machines, of course!It’s very easy to install or upgrade to Windows 10 in Parallels Desktop. Let me walk you through the process.
Before We Get Started…
Before you can install Windows 10, please verify the following requirements in order for you to get the best experience on Windows 10 in Parallels Desktop:
Installing Windows 10 as a fresh installation
This is the most simple and straightforward way to get your hands on Windows 10. If you have prior experience installing any other operating system in Parallels Desktop, it’s going to be even easier.
Windows 7 On Mac
Take the following steps to install Windows on your Mac using the .iso disc image file.
Step 1: Purchase and download Windows 10.
Windows 10 comes as a USB if you purchase it from the Microsoft Online Store or as an online download if you purchase elsewhere. Either way, we advise you to download the image directly from Microsoft.
Step 2: Create a new virtual machine.
If you have just installed Parallels Desktop, you should already be on this screen. Otherwise, click on Spotlight, type Parallels Desktop and click to launch it. It will bring up the following screen:
If you already have an existing VM, all you have to do is open Parallels Desktop and press the plus (+) sign at the top right corner of Control Center:
Click Install Windows or another OS from DVD or image file, then click Continue.
Step 3: Select the installation media.
The Parallels Wizard will detect the installation media automatically for installing Windows.
Step 4: Enter your Windows product key.
Click Continue. In the Windows Product Key window, leave Express installation selected.
Note: If Express installation is checked, Parallels Tools will be installed automatically after the Windows installation.
When you’re ready, click Continue.
Step 5: Select how you want to use Windows.
Select how you want to use Windows in Parallels Desktop:
And in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Edition:
Step 6: Specify a name, location, and configuration.Name:
You may specify a name for your VM or leave it at the default.
Location:
The default location for Parallels Desktop VMs is in the /Users/username/Documents/Parallels folder.
If you want other user accounts on your Mac to have access to this installation of Windows, select Share with other users of this Mac.
Configuration:
Change your VM settings by selecting Customize settings before installation and configure the VM as per the system requirements I mentioned earlier.
Step 7: Begin the installation.
Click Continue; from here, the Windows installation will begin. Once Windows is installed, launch it by opening a Windows application or by clicking the Power button in the Parallels Virtual Machines list.
There you go! You’ve got your all-new Windows 10 VM loaded and you’re ready to explore the endless possibilities of a brand-new OS. Parallels for mac windows 8.
Upgrading to Windows 10 from 8.1, 8, or 7
Let’s be honest here. Parallels desktop for mac business edition key. The biggest reason behind us even considering this upgrade to Windows 10 is because…it’s free! We might have to sacrifice one or two simple but favorite features (especially if you’re upgrading from Windows 7), but still, who wouldn’t take a chance to get the latest version of Windows at no cost?
Before We Get Started…
Before upgrading, you must check the following steps to make sure that your upgrade to Windows 10 will proceed smoothly.
Upgrading Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 to Windows 10 in a VM.
To upgrade your Windows VM to Windows 10, please follow the following steps:
In my case, I’m downloading Windows 10 Pro version x64, but you may have a different edition and bit:
Even though you can click on Upgrade this computer now and continue, it’s better to download the ISO image from the link above. Once you do…
That’s it! Easy! We’ve just upgraded to Windows 10 in a Parallels Desktop virtual machine!
Wait! What if something goes wrong?
I hope you’re not reading this part, but if you are, hopefully you’re just a tech geek who wants to know how to fix things. Even if something went wrong with your Windows 10 installation or upgrade, it’s not over yet! Read on for a few helpful tips and tricks.
Scenario 1: “Something happened.”
Before the release of Windows 10, I’ve heard about this issue and just like everyone, I thought it was a hoax. But as I went through some upgrades, I realized it’s a real error message from the Windows side!
The reason for this happening most of the time is because Windows updates were not installed properly. So the first thing you should do is to check for Windows updates using this Microsoft Fix ittool and run the sfc /scannow command. This should help. If not, contact Microsoft—this issue could happen on real PCs, too.
How To Get Windows 10 On Windows 7Scenario 2: The “SAFE_OS” error.How To Get Windows 10 On Mac For Free
This is a critical error, as there is no definite fix for this issue. This happens when the Windows files are corrupted, and we can try to repair them using sfc /scannow and different other options from Microsoft. Still, we can’t be absolutely sure that these steps will fix the issue. The only sure way to fix this issue is to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows and perform the upgrade from scratch.
Scenario 3: The Windows 10 activation issue.
This happens onlyif your previous Windows was not activated. So the best way to avoid this is to make sure that your Windows 7/8/8.1 is activated before initiating the upgrade process.
That’s it! You’ve just joined the ranks of Windows 10 users, which will bring a lot of surprising features like Cortana on your Mac and more. (Yes, you canuse Cortana on your Mac now.) I hope you found this blog useful. Please share it with your friends, and don’t forget to follow Parallels Support on Twitter!
Interested in running Windows 10 on your Mac? Download Parallels Desktop for Mac for a free 14 day trial: Try Now. Want to install Windows 10 with one simple click? More info here.
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