Editorial Review
The first solution that gives Apple users the ability to run Windows, Linux or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as Mac OS X--without rebooting--on any Intel-powered iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook or MacBook Pro.
The killer app for Mac is now even better than ever!
Parallels Desktop for Mac enables you to run Windows, Linux, and more side-by-side with Mac OS X on any Intel-powered Mac, without rebooting. With Parallels' award-winning virtualization technology, you can run Mac OS X and your favorite Windows applications at the same time. You can even drag-and-drop files between desktops!
The latest release of Parallels Desktop for Mac comes packed with 50+ new features and enhancements, including SmartSelect, Snapshots, and 3D graphics. Learn more about the new capabilities in the latest release of our award-winning product.
Top 5 reasons to run Parallels: |
 | Run Windows-only applications on your Mac.
Many of today's most popular applications are windows-only. Parallels enables you to run these applications on your Mac. Play computer games? Most PC games only run on Windows. With Parallels, you no longer have to sacrifice your favorite games! |
 | Run Selected 3D Games and Applications.
OpenGL and DirectX support lets you explore a whole new world of 3D games and applications right on your Mac. |
 | Use any phone, MP3 player, and camera with your Mac.
With Parallels, you can use your favorite devices, even if they're Windows-only. Connect your Blackberry, phone, camera, and MP3 player to your Mac! |
 | Run OS X, Windows, and Linux at the same time.
With Parallels, you can run all of your favorite applications at the same time, regardless of the OS! No more rebooting to switch between OSes to use the applications you need. |
 | No-worry migrations!
Parallels Transporter takes the hassle out of migration. No more losing valuable data, customizing your computer all over again, or reinstalling software. In just a few simple steps, you can move your entire existing Windows system to your new Mac. |
With the latest version of Parallels, you can:
- Use Windows and Mac OS X at the same time... without rebooting
- Run Windows programs like native Mac applications with Parallels Coherence
- New! Open Windows files with Mac programs and Mac files in Windows programs with Parallels SmartSelect
- Share files and folders between Windows and Mac OS X
- New! Browse through Windows folders and access files without launching Windows with Parallels Explorer
- New! Run today's most popular PC games on a Mac with support for 3D graphics
- Achieve maximum performance by leveraging Intel Virtualization Technology
- New! Protect your Windows with Parallels Snapshots
- Migrate your entire existing PC to your Mac with Parallels Transporter
Coherence
With Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac, you can run Windows applications like they were native to your Mac! Experience the new Coherence mode to enjoy the benefits of both operating systems, without managing two desktops. In Parallels Desktop 3.0, Coherence has been enhanced to make running both operating systems simultaneously even easier and more user-friendly.
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Enjoy the benefits of both operating systems, without managing two desktops. |
Using Parallels Desktop 3.0's Coherence, you can:
- Navigate Windows using the Windows taskbar directly on your Mac desktop
- Hide the Windows taskbar until you need it
- Launch your favorite Windows applications and access the Windows Start menu straight from your Mac Dock
- Use your Windows applications right on your Mac desktop, without resizing Windows itself
- Manage your open documents and files on the Windows taskbar while enjoying your favorite Mac Dock applications at the same time
- View Windows applications in Dock at your convenience! Choose your level of integration from Never, Always, and Only in Coherence.
- Maintain seamless access to all of your Windows and Mac documents, files, applications, hardware, and devices, making your user environment truly hassle-free
- Drag-and-drop files and folders instantly between Windows and Mac OS X
- Choose the best application for your needs, without flipping from one operating system to another
- Prefer Coherence over managing two desktops? Boot your virtual system to Coherence at startup, and truly avoid switching between operating systems.
- Mount your Windows operating system directly on your Mac desktop and enjoy instant access to all of your files, regardless of their OS Enjoy two operating systems while managing only one desktop. Coherence eliminates your having to switch between operating systems to enjoy your favorite Windows and Mac applications. You can almost forget that you're running two OSes!
Transporter
Transporter is a powerful tool that enables you to migrate your entire PC system to a Parallels virtual machine. Migrate your entire PC system, including operating system, applications, files, and personal settings--without losing data or reinstalling any software.
NEW! Now you can convert VMware Workstation/Server and Virtual PC virtual hard disks to a Parallels virtual machine AND migrate directly to your Mac using FireWire!
Transporter enables you to migrate your entire PC system to a Parallels virtual machine. View the demo.
| Supported OSes
Transporter--the application that creates Parallels virtual machines: * Windows 2000
* Windows XP
* Windows 2003
* Windows Vista
* Mac OS X
* Linux Transporter Agent--the provider which enables online migration of Windows PC: * Windows 2000
* Windows XP
* Windows 2003 |
Installation Assistant built-in tool
Thanks to Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac's Installation Assistant, installing Windows on your Mac is now even easier than installing it on a PC! This new built-in tool is already included in Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac.
How does it work?
With a powerful, easy to use "Express Windows OS Installation Mode" for Windows Vista and Windows XP, the Installation Assistant completely automates the virtual machine setup and installation of Windows--with almost no user interaction.
Start taking advantage of running Windows on your Mac in just three easy steps:
- Select which Windows operating system you want to install,
- Enter your name, company and Windows activation key,
- Click finish--and let the Installation Assistant do the rest!
You do not need to enter any additional information, select settings, or answer any potentially confusing technical questions. This built-in tool automatically completes the full installation in a pre-designed virtual machine.
After Windows is installed, the Installation Assistant automatically installs Parallels Tools, a free set of useful add-ons that improve networking, video, and sound support, syncs mouse activity and OS system clocks, and enables you to cut, copy, and paste of data, as well as file sharing, between Windows and OS X.
Need to run other operation systems on your Mac?
The Installation Assistant provides improved and user-friendly setup for other versions of Windows, plus any Linux distribution, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2, eComStation, and MS-DOS.
NOTE! If you are already using Parallels Desktop for Mac, updating Parallels Desktop 3.0 does not require a reinstall of any guest operating systems or applications. After updating, you should only reinstall Parallels Tools.
SmartSelect enables Mac users to open any Windows or Mac file with whichever software they choose.
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View the SmartSelect demo! |
SmartSelect
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac's new SmartSelect enables Mac users to open any Windows or Mac file with whichever software they choose--regardless of its original OS! Now you can open Windows files with any Mac software and Mac files with any Windows software.
With support in both Windows and Mac OS X and deep document, email, and web-browser integration between the two operating systems, Parallels Desktop 3.0's SmartSelect frees you to choose the best software for the job, without interrupting your workflow.
Previously, Parallels Desktop users had to copy a file into either Windows or Mac OS X to open the file with the application they wanted. Now, in Parallels Desktop 3.0, you can open any file from either OS and view it with the software of your choice.
With SmartSelect, you can:
- View and edit a file with any compatible PC or Mac software available on your Intel Mac
- Set file-associations to open a file-type with specific Mac or PC software
- Set SmartSelect software settings "on the fly" or as the default
Imagine being able to double-click on a text document in Mac Finder and immediately launch Microsoft Word in Windows. Or synchronizing your digital life by playing all the MP3s in your music library with Mac iTunes--even if the files are located in Windows.
Parallels Desktop 3.0's SmartSelect goes beyond document integration. It also supports email and web browsing. Immediately view a PPT file a colleague sent you in Apple Mail using Windows PowerPoint. Click on any hyperlink in an email or document and have your default web-browser--such as Apple's Safari or Microsoft's Internet Explorer--launch. With SmartSelect, the possibilities are endless.
Snapshots enables you to erase mistakes and recover your virtual machine from system crashes and viruses with the click of a button. |
View the Snapshot demo. |
Snapshots
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac's new Snapshots enables you to erase mistakes and recover your virtual machine from system crashes and viruses with the click of a button. Enjoy peace of mind with Parallels Desktop 3.0's Snapshots.
A complete record of your virtual machine at the state it was created--OS, data, software, and settings--Parallels Desktop 3.0's Snapshots enables you to quickly and easily create and save multiple snapshots, even while your virtual machine is running.
In the event a virus or a Windows system crash, you can conveniently rollback your virtual machine to any previously saved state with all of your data and software intact. (As opposed to losing all of your data and reinstalling Windows and all your PC software.) Additionally, periodically creating a set of backups facilitates faster recovery time to get back on your feet, if disaster strikes.
With Parallels Desktop 3.0's Snapshot Manager, you can manage and view all of your snapshots in a tree pane that includes screen shots for each snapshot. Snapshot Manager enables you to revert back to previous snapshots, delete snapshots, and edit description information for each snapshot.
Snapshots are excellent for:
- Bulletproofing your Windows virtual machine from viruses and spyware
- Creating a regularly scheduled backup to revert your virtual machine to any previous stable state
- Rolling back your virtual machine after a software update, system crash, or software testing
In an unpredictable world, Parallels Desktop 3.0's Snapshots safeguards your data and creates a more reliable virtual machine so you can focus on more important things.
Access your Windows files and folders directly from your Mac desktop without even launching Windows using Parallels Explorer. |
View the Explorer demo. |
Parallels Explorer
Just need that one document? Where did that pdf go? Thanks to Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac's new Parallels Explorer, now you can access your Windows files and folders directly from your Mac desktop, without even launching Windows. With a deeper integration between Mac OS X and Windows, Parallels Desktop 3.0 makes it even easier to run Windows on your Mac.
Using Parallels Desktop 3.0's Explorer, you can:
- Access your Windows files and documents directly from your Mac Desktop
- Browse your Windows system directly on your Mac Dock
- Maintain access to your important Windows documents, even if the virtual machine crashes
- Drag-and-drop files and folders between Windows and OS X
- Save time with direct access to all of your critical files, without having to wait for your virtual machine to start and Windows to boot
- Create and delete files in your Windows system "on the fly"
- Troubleshoot your Windows system for tricky file errors and deleted folders
- ...all without even launching Windows.
Enjoy two operating systems while managing only one desktop. Parallels Explorer eliminates your having to wait for your virtual machine to start and Windows to boot just to access your key Windows files, folders, and documents. Running Windows and Mac has never been easier!
3D Graphics
NEW! Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac now supports DirectX 9 and OpenGL 1.5! No need to dedicate a separate Windows machine to running favorite 3D games and key graphics applications. Parallels Desktop 3.0 now brings the world of Windows 3D straight to your Mac like never before!
With Parallels Desktop 3.0, you can:
- Play Windows-only 3D games, such as Half-Life, World of Warcraft, and Unreal Tournament
- Render in complex 3D CAD programs such as AutoCAD 2008
- Work with CPU-intensive video and sound editing software such as Sony Vegas
- Run mission-critical 3D applications on your Mac
- Enjoy your favorite Windows-only games and graphics applications directly in your Windows virtual machine at full native speed--without rebooting
By including deep support for both DirectX and OpenGL, Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac brings a world of Windows-only key productivity and entertainment software to Mac users for the first time. Now you can truly experience the best of both worlds on one machine!
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Customer Reviews
Good Product but damaged 
2008-07-15
I looked forward to receiving this software for installation on my new Apple computer, howver it would'nt install sucessfully. I took it to the Apple store who found the CD to be scratched and replaced it free of charge. I did not return to Amazon because the software package had been opened. I am now sucessfully using the program but not due to Amazon
5-star from website, 1-star from disk 
2008-07-12
I bought the disk with my Mac, but the disk was out-of-date for Leopard, and wouldn't run. So I went to the Parallels website & downloaded the trial version which worked perfectly. Then I went ahead & paid for it again bc Mac said it was a Parallels problem & Parallels charges $30 to talk to them on the phone. Anyhow, for all you Vista/MS haters, trash your PC and enjoy the quality of Mac with Windows XP too! (XP runs better on my Mac than it did on my PC).
Product ok, support sucks, you are the beta tester 
2008-07-10
Parallels treats its customers as beta testers, offers no support. If you want a stable, mature, responsible company you should look at the other Virtualization software company.
Brilliant Idea; Abysmal Performance 2008-07-04
Do not be fooled by the professional reviewers. Parallels 3 is a disaster for the average user. While they've got a lot right, the glitches are killers. My experience has been to put dozens of hours into attempting to get it to work correctly and finally having to abandon it due to regular crashes, difficulties using standard peripherals, and networking problems.
The promise of Parallels is compelling -- to be able to run Mac and Windows programs seamlessly on a Mac. It was this assurance, backed by positive magazine reviews, that I made the ultimately disastrous mistake when my wife and I recently needed new laptops of switching from PC to Mac.
For starters, Parallels is hardly easy or intuitive to set up. Phone tech support is $30 a pop (or by e-mail, where the answers are pat and do not adequately address your specific situation, and the lag time has averaged more than a week, not the promised 3 days, totally hanging me up several times). I am a relatively sophisticated user, but after exhausting every resource available to me (including paid tech support) and squandering many dozens of hours, the program still crashes my MacBook Pro or my wife's Airbook or turns the screen to gibberish (the only way out is to reboot, often losing the most recent data). We cannot get peripherals such as printers or external drives or external monitors to run reliably on both the Mac and Windows sides; same with networking, rendering the program worse than useless.
I sent an earlier draft of this review to Mr. John Rhoades, Director of Operations, hoping to get a rebuttal and to be shown how to overcome the glitches. He informed me that "threatening Parallels with 'bad mouthing' and poor reviews is a poor way to get our attention." Fair enough. However, as I wrote to him, I was not writing in the spirit of threatening, but simply "trying to determine if the program can run standard Windows programs and peripherals without undue problems, and if it can't (even though the company leads the customer to believe that it can), to responsibly warn fellow users to not expect that it can."
I offered to have their tech support team show me how to work out the problems, demonstrating that the program works as advertised. They did not respond again, which I assume means that they were not confident that they could work out the problems since the mention of a negative review did get their attention. My uses are fairly standard. No 3-D games, no video editing; just Office for Windows (I like it a lot more than Office for Mac), a windows e-mail program that has no equivalent in Mac, web surfing, and a few add-ons like a good thesaurus.
The current version is 3.0. My advice: wait for Ver 5, and only if they institute free tech support for the first month while you are setting it all up. Meanwhile, I am resorting to Boot Camp and the inconvenience of reboots to move between OS X and XP. Unexpected crashes and the inability to use peripherals are far more inconvenient.
Parallels 3.0 not so hot 2008-06-25
Parallels installed without difficulty on my iMac Leopard, but after that, the trouble began. Peripherals and downloads proved difficult, if not impossible. I was so turned off, I uninstalled it and went back to Boot Camp. My Windows xp works fine now, and so does my Leopard.
Great Product 2008-07-25
I choose Parallels because I could convert my old Virtual PC images over, and it did it (thought I hit some weird networking stuff in the transition, I was nothing I couldn't work through.)
As a web developer who uses a Mac, this is the easiest way to test web sites for IE compatibility.
Too many bugs and glitches 2008-07-21
Installation went OK on my new iMac 2.8 Core2 Duo. Basic functions looked working fine. Internet connection had no problem. However, as soon as you try to do something more sophisticated, it doesn't work at all. Often times it hangs without any obvious reason and only way to get out of the status is reboot. Seamless mode never worked as advertised. No customer support. Forget about drag and drop between Mac and Windows - it will crash. It cannot detect external hard drive that is connected via USB. It cannot even handle Windows automatic update. Can't believe I paid $79 for this piece of junk. Do not buy this product. Their version should be 0.1.7 or something. Not even close to 1.0.
Parallels Desktop for Mac - Simply Splendid 2008-07-20
Parallels Desktop for the Mac has worked fabulously for me. I use it to run multiple operating systems on my Mac Book Pro at the same time.
I need to run Quicken 2008 Home & Business when I'm away from home for my personal and business accounting. Unfortunately Quicken's Mac version does not support business features like invoicing, so I still use the far superior Windows version. Occasionally I'll encounter a web site that requires Microsoft's Internet Explorer too, so with Parallels I can quickly start Windows and get on with what I need to do.
I could just run Windows on the Mac without Parallels by using Apple's Boot Camp. This requires shutting the Mac down and restarting it in Windows, and then shutting down Windows and restarting to get back to OS X. With Parallels I can have both OS X and Windows running at once.
In practice the Parallels solution works perfectly for me except when the Windows program I want to run needs direct access to the computer's hardware. I use video production programs from Serious Magic, who has now been absorbed into Adobe. I use their DV Rack, Virtual Communicator, and Ultra 2 programs, all of which are only available for Windows. These programs use the gpu on the video card for high speed video processing tasks. Currently these programs cannot run under Parallels since the VM only presents a VESA compliant video driver, so no direct access to video hardware is possible with Parallels at this time. When I use those programs that must have direct access to the hardware I use Boot Camp.
NON-EXISTENT TECHNICAL SUPPORT 2008-07-17
Unless you're particularly computer saavy, you may be a lot better off using boot camp.
There is virtually NO TECHNICAL SUPPORT.
If you have any problems with this program, and I've had several, you're basically on your own.
I bought this program to be able to run some 3rd party software on my new mac pro. When I had trouble with one of the programs, I contacted technical support by e-mail. They responded a week later. (They claim to respond within 3 days). They told me that parallels doesn't work with that particular program.
I contacted them again about a problem I had with running a webcam with windows and they advised me to upgrade to a newer version of parallels. Once I did that, I've lost all ability to access the internet with windows through parallels. I've contacted them twice to resolve this problem and still no response....a week later!!
An excellent addition to Mac! 2008-07-17
Very easy to install and use. You can bounce between your Mac and Windows applications in seconds. An essential improvement to your Mac computer.
