Parallels 11 Catalina

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Like many developers and tech writers, I wanted to start working with macOS 10.15 Catalina as soon as I could. A vacation and some oral surgery delayed my experimentation, but I decided to give the new OS a try in a Parallels Desktop virtual machine. Released August 19, 2015, Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac includes support for Windows 10 and is ready for OS X 10.11 'El Capitan'. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac is available as a one-time purchase of $79.99 for the Desktop edition, and as an annual subscription of $99.99 for Pro edition. Apr 28, 2020 Information. Parallels Desktop 15 for Mac is fully compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina and supports new macOS features.Older Parallels Desktop versions only partially support working on macOS Catalina due to technical reasons may experience the issues below depending on the configuration. Parallels v11 continues to work with macOS Mojave although the support pages say it won't. Similarly, does someone have experience of v11 working with macOS Catalina? I use Parallels only occasionally and but want to upgrade to Catalina while retaining Parallels v11, as the latest version of Parallels costs a steep $50 for the upgrade.

Despite all of Apple’s success over the last few decades, the Windows software ecosystem is undeniably larger. That’s particularly true if you’re a gamer. Many AAA titles never launch on Mac, and those that do often arrive late. Parallels just announced a new version of its Mac software that makes gaming performance better, so you might not have to wait for a buggy Mac port.

Until the early 2000s, using a Mac meant locking yourself away from the Windows software ecosystem. Apple’s PowerPC architecture ensured that any emulation or virtualization would be slow as molasses. Then, Apple switched to the Intel x86 architecture in 2006, and Parallels was ready a few months later with its Windows virtualization suite for OS X (as it was known at the time). Parallels lets you run Windows applications on macOS side-by-side with Mac apps, and the new v15 release marks the first major update in a few years.

In the latest build, Parallels Desktop 15 adds DirectX 11 support inside Windows applications and games. That’s thanks to the use of Apple Metal, a low-overhead 3D graphics API used on all Apple platforms. Parallels says the new version of its software can render 3D graphics 15 percent faster when they implement DX 11. Past versions of Parallels were a bit too sluggish for 3D games, but the promo video (below) shows the software running Overwatch reasonably well. You’d probably have to keep the graphics settings modest, but it’s better than not playing at all.

Parallels 15 includes support for the new Sidecar feature coming to macOS Catalina. With Sidecar, you can use an iPad as a secondary display on your Mac. Therefore, you will soon be able to run Windows programs (an even games) seamlessly on your iPad. You’ll just need a Mac computer nearby.

Parallels 11 Catalina

Parallels also claims the new version is 80 percent faster when opening Microsoft Office apps, and it works with many non-gaming applications the rely on 3D rendering like Autodesk 3ds Max. There’s also support for sharing files between the Mac and Windows sides in apps like Windows Mail, Safari, Photos, and other macOS apps.

Parallels desktop is available as a one-time purchase for $99.99, but some of the features are locked behind the Pro and Business subscription. That’s $99 per year. If you have an older version of Parallels, you’ll need to buy the new version, but the upgrade price is a bit more reasonable at $49.99.

Now read:

We’re proud to announce that today we released the first update of Parallels Desktop® 15 for Mac. Now Parallels Desktop 15 Update 1 fully supports macOS® Catalina 10.15 as both a host and guest operating system (OS).

To download the latest version, go to the Parallels Desktop menu > Check for Updates, or download the installation image directly.

Wealways want to offer our customers the “best of both worlds” when it comes to Windows10 and Mac®. With Parallels Desktop 15.1, our users can now benefit from:

  • UsingSidecar with iPad® and Apple Pencil® with Windows 10
  • EnjoyingDirectX 11 with Metal®-enhanced performance
  • Benefitingfrom Sign in with Apple
  • Andmore in macOS Catalina!

Plus, our users can easily create a macOS Mojave virtual machine (VM) before upgrading to macOS Catalina to continue running old 32-bit Mac apps.

“macOS Catalina brings significant new benefits for Mac users,” said Nick Dobrovolskiy, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Support at Parallels. “Parallels Desktop 15 Update 1 adds useful new macOS Catalina features to Windows 10 applications. It enables customers to experience CAD/CAM and PC-game performance improvements. Users can also use Finder® to share files, previews or Safari® images via Outlook or Mail for Windows. Parallels Desktop makes it easy to run every macOS and Windows application you need on one computer so you’re always ready to engage with opportunities to work and collaborate with anyone—whether they use a Mac or PC.”

Parallel Desktop 11 Catalina

Use Your iPad and Sidecar toWork with Windows Applications

Parallels 11 Catalina Update

ParallelsDesktop 15 delivers extended Sidecar support for iPad, including use of ApplePencil pressure, tilt, double-tap and native iOS touch gestures with Windows programssuch as CorelDRAW®, Corel® Painter® andMicrosoft SketchPad. Easily enable Windows 10 Tablet Mode, launch Windows Ink Workspaceor open On-screen Keyboard using special Touch Bar options enabled by ApplePencil 2 double-tap exclusively for Windows on iPad via Sidecar.

ParallelsDesktop 15 users can also run both macOS Catalina and Windows 10 togetherseamlessly in Coherence Mode. Or move your Windows 10 VM over to your iPad and workwith each OS via separate devices, as shown in Video 1:

Activation

32-Bit Applications – StillAvailable with Parallels Desktop 15

macOS Catalina is the first macOS to exclusively support 64-bit applications, which means that 32-bit macOS applications will not run on macOS Catalina. Fortunately, the Parallels Desktop Installation Assistant makes it easy for macOS Mojave users to create a macOS Mojave VM before upgrading to macOS Catalina, so they can still run 32-bit Mac and Windows applications on their current Mac.

Seamless Mac and WindowsIntegration

Parallels 11 Catalina Update

Parallels Desktop 15 further blurs thelines between Mac and Windows with a variety of enhanced integration features,providing the best of both worlds on one computer so users can experience newlevels of productivity.

Now Parallels Desktop 15 users candrag and drop images directly from macOS screenshot previews, Safari and Photosto Windows applications to create documents quickly and conveniently, as shownin Video 2:

DirectX 11 Support Brings MoreWindows Programs and PC Games to Mac

Supportingthe Apple move to Metal API, Parallels made significant investments to ensureexcellent DirectX 11 performance with Metal in macOS Mojave—and especially on macOSCatalina (10.15)—in addition to DirectX 10 and 9. (User experience will dependon the hardware, especially the CPU and graphics card utilized on the Maccomputer.) Parallels Desktop 15 users can now run many Windows computer-aided design (CAD)and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs, aswell as PC games which did not run on prior versions, including the followingtitles:

Parallels Desktop 11 Catalina

Bluetooth Low Energy Support

Bluetooth Low Energy support in ParallelsDesktop 15 enables Logitech Craft, IRISPen and some IoT devices (such as smarthome appliances and smart bands) to be used in a VM on a Mac. Supported platformsinclude Windows 10 and 8.1, Android and Linux with kernel 3.13 and newer.Shared Bluetooth driver support is for version 4.0.

Let us know if you have any questionsor feedback about the latest update of Parallels Desktop 15 in the comments.

If you haven’t used Parallels Desktop before, download a free 14-day trial.