What's New in Parallels Desktop 19

Note: This chapter describes major changes introduced with the initial release of Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac compared to previous major versions of the product (i.e., 18.x and earlier). You can learn about all subsequent changes and improvements introduced in the minor versions (19.x) from their respective release notes.

The new major Parallels Desktop version 19.0.0 (build 54570) delivers the following improvements:

All Editions of Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac

Ready for macOS Sonoma 14

Parallels Desktop 19 fully supports macOS Sonoma 14 both as a primary OS on Mac as well as running in a virtual machine, so you can upgrade your Mac computers when the new operating system is available. You will see more details about specific improvements for macOS Sonoma below.

Look and Feel

• Adds a new application icon that reflects the latest design guidelines;

• Adds redesigned dialogs and alerts for easier interaction with the application;

• Adds confirmation dialogs before opening archived and packed virtual machines;

• Adds a "Do not show again" checkbox to the warning dialog when reverting to a snapshot.

Windows on Mac

• Integration with Mac: Enables using your Mac’s Touch ID to log into your Windows 10 or Windows 11 virtual machine. Your Windows account credentials are securely stored in macOS Keychain, protected with Touch ID, and available only on this Mac.

• Graphics: Adds support for OpenGL up to version 4.1 in Windows, enabling you to run ArcGIS CityEngine 2023, Vectorworks Vision 2023, VariCAD, and more. This version also improves performance for ArcGIS Pro software.

• Printing: On macOS Sonoma, Parallels Desktop 19 now uses an Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) for printing from Windows that provides better compatibility with hardware-supported features.

• Keyboard: In Microsoft Edge, Command+W now closes a tab instead of quitting the application.

Linux

• Adds support for several newest Linux distributions, including Ubuntu 22.04.2, Fedora 38, Debian 12, CentOS 9, and more;

• Enables installing and running the Arm version of CentOS 9 Stream on Mac computers with Apple Silicon.

macOS (as a virtual machine)

• Adds the ability to pause and resume macOS virtual machine on Apple silicon;

• On macOS Ventura 13 and newer, adds the ability to install macOS virtual machines on Apple silicon Macs from an IPSW image using the “Create New” dialog;

• On macOS Ventura 13 and newer, adds support for “Scroll & Zoom” multi-touch gestures;

• On macOS Sonoma 14 and newer, enables support for dynamic virtual machine resolution adjustment based on the virtual machine window size.

Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac Pro Edition only

Improved compatibility with HashiCorp Packer

• Parallels SDK and Python are no longer required for Parallels Packer Plugin and Parallels Desktop;

• Adds the ability to use Packer with a macOS virtual machine on Apple Silicon;

• Includes a set of sample Packer templates to be used with Parallels virtual machines: https://github.com/Parallels/packer-examples/

Linux on Apple Silicon: x86_64 emulation

• Adds a ready-to-download Ubuntu appliance to the “Create New” dialog, configured specifically for running x86_64 containers or applications. Note: Ubuntu snap applications are not supported;

• Adds the option in the CPU & Memory settings to enable x86_64 emulation in Linux virtual machines on Apple Silicon machines. This option is enabled by Apple Rosetta 2 and allows developers to run x86 Docker containers and MS SQL Server. Note: Additional configuration is required within Linux. To get started quickly, download a pre-configured Ubuntu Linux virtual machine via the Installation Assistant menu.

Visual Studio Code extension for Parallels Desktop

• Adds a new Parallels Desktop extension for Visual Studio Code to create, group, create and manage Parallels virtual machines and Vagrant boxes in a more flexible way than ever before;
• Allows you to quickly manage your containers from within the Visual Studio Code extension, you can start/stop/restart a container without the need to log into the machine as long as it is running.

Network

• Adds the ability to use port forwarding with a macOS virtual machine on Apple silicon (requires a macOS Sonoma 14 as the host OS). Configure port forwarding rules in the Parallels Desktop preferences -> Network.

Command Line

• Adds the ability to send keyboard key events (press/release) using the prlctl command-line tool (e.g., $ prlctl send-key-event <VM ID> -k,--key <key> | -s,--scancode <scancode> [-e,--event <press|release>] [-d,--delay <msec>]);

Software developers and IT pros using Parallels Desktop are welcome to share their feedback about these improvements, discuss feature suggestions, and have fun with like-minded people at Parallels Desktop Discord channel.

Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac Business Edition only

• Adds support for enrolling Windows virtual machines in Windows management solutions (e.g., Intune):

  • Using Parallels Deployment package (improved);

  • Using Parallels My Account configuration profiles to provision Windows virtual machine (support added);

  • Using a prepackaged Windows virtual machine and sharing it as a file (support added).

• Adds support for deploying Parallels Desktop with a macOS virtual machine for Mac computers with Apple silicon.

What was removed from Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac

According to the statistics from the users who participate in the Parallels Customer Experience program, some product features are rarely used or not at all. We have decided to either stop supporting and remove them from Parallels Desktop or focus on frequently used features and further enhancements.

• macOS 10.14, 10.15, and 11 (as primary OS) will not be able to run Parallels Desktop 19. As a user, you can still use previous versions of Parallels Desktop on these macOS systems and even activate it with your Parallels Desktop 19 license key;

• On Mac computers with Intel processors, older Windows OS versions (2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1) are no longer supported. As a user, you can still install or use them, but they are no longer maintained. Parallels recommends upgrading to the latest versions;

• The “Print to PDF (Mac Desktop)” printing option is no longer available. Use Microsoft’s "Print to PDF" instead;

• On Mac computers with Intel processors, the “Transfer Windows from PC” option is no longer available. Use Apple Migration Assistant to migrate data and reinstall Windows applications in your new Windows virtual machine manually;

• The "Check for Updates" dropdown with the check frequency selector is no longer available. If automatic checks are enabled, Parallels Desktop checks for updates once a day when running.