After just a few steps, you can begin using Windows applications on your Mac. Setting up your Mac to run Windows applications involves the following steps:

Step 1: Install Parallels Desktop on your Mac.

Step 2: Install Windows in a virtual machine.

Step 3: Install your Windows applications in Windows.

You only need to follow these steps once. Then, you can open and use your Windows applications on your Mac anytime, just as you do with your Mac applications.

With Parallels Desktop, you can:

• Open Windows applications side-by-side with your macOS applications without having to restart

• Copy and paste text and drag and drop files between Mac and Windows applications

• Run Windows games and other 3D applications

• Transfer all your data from a PC and use it on your Mac

• Easily share files, devices, and other resources between Windows and the Mac

• Install different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, and macOS, and use them together

• Download and use free pre-configured virtual machines

• And much more

The new major Parallels Desktop version 20.0.0 (build 55653) delivers the following improvements:

All Editions of Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac

Ready for macOS Sequoia 15

Parallels Desktop 20 supports the upcoming macOS Sequoia 15 as a primary OS on Mac and as a virtual machine, so you can upgrade your Mac computers once the new operating system becomes available.

Look and Feel

• Brings significant improvements in the reliability and usability of Parallels Tools, which have been reworked using native UI in all supported operating systems: Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Windows on Mac

• Adds support for Windows 11 24H2 once it becomes available. Based on our testing, Windows 11 version 24H2 improves the stability and speed of running x86-based apps in Windows on Arm, making many important Windows apps feasible on Apple Silicon Macs;

• Fixes the dynamic resolution issues when running a Windows 11 24H2 virtual machine in a windowed mode;

• Improves the safety of the Windows file deletion process by sending files deleted from shared folders to macOS Trash instead of permanently deleting them;

• Fixes the wireframe rendering issue in the Rhino 8 app on Apple Silicon Macs;

• Fixes the issue of Houdini 20 modeling software displaying graphical glitches and missing parts of modeled objects;

• Improves compatibility with numerous Windows apps, including ArcGIS Pro, LabVIEW, Ninja Trader, and many more;

• Mitigates the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) compatibility issues for Windows 11 machines running on Apple Silicon Macs by defaulting to WSL 1 instead of WSL 2.

Linux on Mac

• Adds support for newer Linux distributions, such as Fedora 39/40, Kali 2024.2, and Ubuntu 24.04;

• Resolves the issue which prevented Ubuntu 24.04 installation on Intel Macs;

• Adopts the high-level FUSE API for the Parallels Tools to eliminate multiple compatibility issues with newer Linux kernel versions;

• Adds support for IPP printing from Linux virtual machines, enabling you to print from Linux using a printer connected to your Mac;

• Adds updated icons for Ubuntu, Fedora, and Kali Linux distributions;

• Fixes the issue with keyboard and mouse not working during the manual installation of an Ubuntu virtual machine.

macOS (as a virtual machine)

• Allows you to sign into Apple Account from macOS 15+ virtual machines running on Apple Silicon Macs (requires both your Mac and the virtual machine to run macOS Sequoia 15 or newer). Note: This feature does not yet let you sign into the Mac App Store or Xcode;

• Adds support for creating snapshots of macOS virtual machines on Apple Silicon Macs.

Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac Pro Edition

• Introduces Parallels AI Package, a Linux-based virtual machine tailor-made to allow developers and students to quickly learn and begin developing machine learning, large language models (LLMs), and computer vision applications. The package is available via the Visual Studio Code extension catalog. Read more about AI Package here;

• Adds the ability to control virtual machines using natural language with Microsoft Copilot integrated into the Visual Studio Code extension;

• Adds support for using GitHub Actions to automate the deployment and management of virtual machines directly from a GitHub repository, e.g., triggering a virtual machine provisioning, testing, and configuration as part of a specific pipeline;

• Improves the Parallels Packer plugin experience for macOS virtual machines running on Apple Silicon Macs by automating the initial setup process using the Apple Vision framework (OCR).

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 20 for Mac Business Edition

• Adds the ability to control and orchestrate multiple Parallels Desktop hosts and virtual machines using our new Parallels Desktop for DevOps service;

• Improves compatibility with multiple MDM solutions (e.g., Microsoft Intune) thanks to a re-engineered deployment package that supports downloading pre-configured virtual machines from cloud-sourced and network storage destinations.

Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac Enterprise Edition (coming later in 2024)

Introducing the new tier: Enterprise Edition, coming later this fall. This edition is designed specifically for organizations that require more control, visibility, and efficiency in managing large-scale virtual environments. Enterprise Edition will:

• Streamline the deployment of virtual machines, saving time and effort;

• Let you assign policies across groups of machines or users;

• Enable improved visibility into your managed virtual machines.

If your company is interested in this solution, please contact our sales team here.

What was deprecated or removed from Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac

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

Below is the list of features that are no longer supported and have been removed in Parallels Desktop for Mac 20.

On all Mac computers, the following things are no longer supported:

• Network boot for Windows, macOS, and Linux virtual machines.

On Intel Macs, the following things are no longer supported:

• Support for network and USB emulation that relies on kernel extensions;

• Support for macOS 10.5 to 10.8 and Oracle Solaris virtual machines.

You no longer have to choose between the Mac and the PC. Parallels Desktop lets you use Windows side-by-side with macOS on your Mac.

Use this guide to quickly set up and start using Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac.

Parallels Desktop comes in four main editions:

• App Store Edition, which can be purchased on the Mac App Store.

• Standard Edition, available as a one-time purchase and aimed at home users who run one or several virtual machines primarily to play games and use everyday Windows apps. If you have earlier purchased a previous version of Parallels Desktop Standard Editon, you can benefit from upgrade pricing

• Pro Edition, available on subscription and designed for software developers, designers, and other types of professional users. As a subscriber to Pro Edition, you will always enjoy access to the latest available version of Parallels Desktop for Mac.

• Business Edition, designed for organizations that require multiple copies of Parallels Desktop and need to manage them centrally.

To learn more about the differences between various editions of Parallels Desktop, please visit the following pages:

• A comprehensive overview of the differences between the Standard and the App Store editions can be found here.

• To learn more of the advantages of the Pro version over the Standard version, please follow this link.

There is a difference in supported versions of Windows between Apple Silicon Macs and Intel Macs:

• For Apple Silicon Macs, Parallels Desktop 20 supports installing versions of Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise Editions designed for running on Arm processors.

• If you install Parallels Desktop 20 on a Mac with an Intel processor, you can run any editions of Windows 10 and 11.

This guide primarily focuses on using Parallels Desktop 20 to run Windows 11, with mention of Windows 10 where applicable.

In addition to Windows, you can run several on your Mac, such as several flavors of Linux and Unix, macOS Server, and more.

Finding Information On Running Other Operating Systems

You can find much more information and details on using Parallels Desktop to run other operating systems on your Mac by checking the resources listed in .

Additionally, though not explicitly stated, many of the instructions presented in this guide also apply to supported operating systems other than Windows. Some important instructions relating to other operating systems can be found in the section.