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Parallels Desktop 14 ® for Mac makes it easier than ever to get back space on your Mac! Get up to 20 GB back with new disk usage optimization. Get up to 20 GB back with new disk usage optimization. Automatically reorganize your virtual disk to increase limits for optimal storage savings. Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac is fully compatible with macOS 10.14 Mojave. Older Parallels Desktop versions* only partially support working on macOS Mojave due to technical reasons and the following issues may occur (included but not limited to): Issues allowing Parallels Desktop system extensions. Jun 22, 2013 Running Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac on Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9. Discussion in 'Installation and Configuration' started by luke666s, Jun 11, 2013.

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Stiff competition

It was only a couple months ago that we reviewed Parallels Desktop's main competitor, VMware 2.0, and it's definitely no coincidence that a new version of Parallels Desktop has launched so closely on the heels of its Mac virtualization rival. Competition between VMware and Parallels is fierce, and each of the two programs is very visibly trying to catch up and surpass the other in features and performance. From early on, Parallels has been the leader in desktop integration, and Parallels' Coherence mode—which lets you use Windows applications seamlessly in the OS X interface—makes so much sense that you would have to copy it to compete at usability. So VMware 2.0 did copy coherence mode, and it also managed to open up a lead by adding multi-core CPU and 64-bit client OS support. The new Parallels Desktop 4.0 is clearly designed to close that gap by adding:

64-bit guest OS support
Support for up to 8 GB of RAM for VM client OSes
Support for up to 8-way SMP for multicore CPUs

The most interesting thing about Parallels' multi-core implementation is that it correctly shows CPU cores as cores in the client OS, whereas VMware shows the cores as individual CPUs. This is significant because non-server distributions of Windows don't allow for more than two CPUs to be used. The result is that a VMware 2.0 virtual machine only accesses more than two CPUs under Windows if it's using an expensive server-grade version of Microsoft's OS. If you have a Mac Pro and you're looking for maximum performance out of your virtualized Windows install, this is an important distinction. But it's not all good news for Parallels users looking to make the jump to the next level.

Even after Parallels released a second build (3540) of Parallels Desktop 4.0 shortly after the launch, a release that was aimed at addressing a number of problems with the 4.0 gold version, the software still has many officially acknowledged issues that need addressing. Are these problems bad enough for you to steer clear of 4.0? Let's take a look.

Pricing

New: $79.99
Upgrade: $39.99

System Requirements

Processor: Intel-based Mac required
Memory: 1 GB of RAM (2GB recommended to run Windows Vista)
Storage: 450 MB of hard drive space for Parallels Desktop Installation, plus space to allocate to your virtual machine
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.411 or later (including Mac OS X Leopard)

Test hardware

Mobile:
- MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
- 4 GB RAM
- NVIDIA 8600M 256 MB
- OS X 10.5.5
Desktop:
- Mac Pro Xeon Core 2 Duo (4-core) 2.66 GHz
- 7 GB RAM
- NVIDIA 7300 GT
- OS X 10.5.5

Test software

Parallels Desktop 4.0 build 3540
VMware Fusion 2.0.1
Windows XP Pro 32-bit SP3
Windows Vista 64-bit SP1
Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop 64-bit
Mac OS X Server 10.5.5

Getting Started

Parallels' New Virtual Machine Assistant hasn't changed much in version 4. It still does a great job of guessing what the operating system is by the installer disk, and it handles automated installs as well as it used to. However, it does need more options—there isn't an option to pick how many CPUs or how much RAM you want for the VM at install time. If you want to set those, you have to stop the install assistant after creating the VM file but before launching the OS installer, or you can do it after booting into the VM, which will force a restart. The latter is less convenient, but, given the problems that I saw with the Leopard Server installation, it's more stable than setting it afterward. Maybe that's why it was left out of the assistant.

Another slightly annoying thing about version 4.0 is that it boots into Coherence Mode with desktop mirroring on by default. While seasoned Parallels users will know what's going on when they see this, it will probably be very confusing for new users who may look for a Windows desktop but see only a taskbar at the bottom of their screen. Desktop mirroring causes problems with certain software, in my experience, so that's another good reason for it to be off by default.

VM Updates: cross your fingers, it could be a bumpy ride. If you're a Parallels Desktop 3 user, you have to upgrade your existing VM(s) before you can get up and running with version 4. You might want to create a backup copy of your VM files, since the upgrade process has been a bit of a mess for a lot of people (but less so with the newer build). Stories of unusable or disappearing VMs are not unheard of. Also, prepare yourself for a good wait as VM upgrades are slow; it took about an hour to upgrade my very basic XP VM, and reports of three-hour VM upgrades are common.

If you can, I would recommend just doing a fresh install, because new VMs are less prone to virtual barnacles from what I've seen; it makes the setup process faster, to boot (I apologize for that pun).

Compatibility

Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac is fully compatible with macOS 10.14 Mojave. Older Parallels Desktop versions* only partially support working on macOS Mojave due to technical reasons and the following issues may occur (included but not limited to):

Issues allowing Parallels Desktop system extensions.
Issues with creating a Boot Camp based virtual machine.
Visual and graphics artifacts.
Intermittent application crash.

See the extended list of issues below.

Parallels Desktop For Mac With Microsoft Windows Installed

* - Parallels Desktop 13 and 12 for Mac. Parallels Desktop 11 and earlier has reached End-of-Life and are not supported.

Known issues with macOS as a main system

Issue	Workaround
Unable to grant access to camera and microphone for Parallels Desktop in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy	Change configuration of all available virtual machines in Options > 'Startup and Shutdown' to 'Start up and shut down manually' Then restart the Mac and after the restart start Parallels Desktop again. After granting the access it's possible to change Startup and Shutdown settings to the previous values.
Parallels Desktop Preferences: controls are not visible if Preferences window is not active.	Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0.
'Open in Internet Explorer' Safari plug-in cannot be installed.	Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.1.
Virtual machine in Windowed view mode: devices 'LED' indicators do not blink.	Click 'Hide devices' > click 'Show devices'.
Resource Usage window is transparent.	Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0.
Applications (Parallels) folder icon image is broken.	Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0.
Virtual machine Shared Applications are not displayed in 'Recents' Dock area.	Fixed in Parallels Desktop 14.0.0.

Known issues with macOS virtual machine

Note: If you want to upgrade your virtual machine to macOS 10.14 Mojave, please make sure to take a backup.

Issue	Workaround
B

Parallels Desktop For Mac 4.40 Upgrade