Parallels Desktop 14: Windows even better on the Mac review
About a month ago Parallels released the annual update of its software that allows you to run Windows on the Mac. Parallels Desktop 14 promises a lot of performance and detail improvements. One of the most important new functions? Support for macOS Mojave, including the dark theme. In this review, we will share our findings about “Windows on the Mac.”
Windows on the Mac
Generally, we are very satisfied with Parallels Desktop 14. For the case that you want to run Windows on the Mac, the program is our first choice. Parallels work super easy and still offers all the options that you expect from such virtualization software. Although the Mac requires quite a bit of power to run macOS and Windows simultaneously, Parallels on our MacBook Pro 15-inch always worked very smoothly. Even the high resolutions of the Retina displays were immediately supported thanks to special drivers. Support for new Windows versions adds Parallels very quickly with updates to its program.
Small details make the difference
It’s the small things that make Parallels so good. If you connect a device via USB, you will be asked in a small window whether you want to use it in macOS or in Windows. The support of the Touch Bar is not new, but also shows that Parallels wants to offer a perfect Mac experience – also for an operating system like Windows. For example, in Microsoft’s Edge browser you can open a new tab directly from the Touch Bar.
You can also determine exactly how you want to use Windows on the Mac. You can turn it into a window like a kind of app, but if you want, you can let everything flow into one another and a Windows start menu will appear in the menu bar of the Mac.
Additional software unnecessary It is unfortunate that we think that Parallels pushes its additional software. After the installation of Parallels Desktop 14, you will immediately see a window where you can install the Parallels Toolbox. That is a small toolbox with apps that have nothing to do with the virtualization software. We know something about free programs in Windows, but we think it is inappropriate for a chic Mac program of eighty euros. But well, the smart user can, of course, skip the installation and also put a check mark to never see the window again.
Conclusion and contest
We said it at the beginning of this article: if you put Windows on the Mac wants (and no sweeping Boot Camp installation), then Parallels is the simplest and most elegant way. On the website of Parallels you download a free trial that you can try out for 14 days.
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