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Parallels Desktop for Mac is the top-rated application for Mac users who want to have it all. By running Windows on Mac devices, it can effectively double the functionality of your computer.

With Parallels Desktop 14, Parallels has doubled down on everything that makes the software great. Over 50 new features have been introduced. Graphics and performance have been improved. It runs faster, comes with more add-ons, and supports more software and technologies than previous versions. And for the first time ever, it’s being offered as an annual subscription.

Instead of going through the full list of changes, let’s focus on the biggest and best for students. Here are five reasons to broaden your Mac’s horizons with Parallels Desktop 14.

More Software

Two decades spent making Windows work on macOS has made Parallels master of cross-compatibility. With Parallels Desktop 14, they’re introducing compatibility with more software than ever.

Parallels Desktop 13 makes it easy to run macOS, Windows, or Linux virtual machines on your Mac, adding improved performance, picture-in-picture, and enabling support for cross-platform features. Parallels Desktop 7 For Mac not only integrates with many of the new features in Lion, such as Launchpad and full-screen apps, the folks at Parallels have also been tweaking the code to provide higher performance, both in the basic virtualization application and in graphics performance. Parallels Toolbox for Mac and Windows. 30+ tools in a lightweight, powerful, all-in-one application for Mac ® and PC. Easy to use and economical—a whole suite of tools for a fraction of the cost of individual apps, packaged in one simple interface.

Parallels Desktop 14 offers full support for Mojave, the latest version of macOS. You can even use Mojave’s Dark Mode interface while working in Windows. The new application can also run more software than any of its predecessors. With support for over 200,000 titles in total, you’ll have a hard time finding a Windows application that Parallels Desktop 14 can’t handle.

More Hardware

Parallels Desktop 14’s compatibility goes beyond software. It also opens up new ways to use hardware, peripheral devices, and other technologies.

Support for Microsoft Ink lets you use a digital pen to draw or write in Word, PowerPoint, Photoshop, and more. And if your Mac features a Touch Bar, that bar can be customized to enhance your experience on thousands of Windows applications. That’s right: this Mac-specific hardware feature now works with Windows software.

Lightning Fast

It’s great that Parallels Desktop 14 supports more programs than ever. What’s even better is that it runs them faster than ever, so you can do your work seamlessly without long launch and loading times.

The software launches four times faster than the previous version and requires less disk space, memory, and CPU usage to run. Windows and Windows applications load in less time and operate more smoothly thanks to improved graphic-memory allocation. Even demanding computer-assisted design and data-visualization software starts in a flash and runs like a dream with Parallels Desktop 14.

Smaller and Better

When it comes to software, bigger is not always better. Some virtualization programs hog over 100GB of hard-drive space. Parallels Desktop 14, however, is as lean as it is mean.

The application itself is substantially smaller than previous versions. But the real space savings come from smaller and more effective virtual machines. All told, upgrading to Parallels Desktop 14 from Parallels Desktop 13 could free up as much as 20 GB on your Mac.

If that’s not enough, the Parallels bundle boasts tools to help you free up even more room. The Clean Drive tool identifies useless and duplicate files for you to delete. And the improved Free Up Disk Space Wizard offers tips to free up even more gigs on your hard drive. With all these space-saving features, Parallels Desktop 14 can take a lot of weight off your Mac’s shoulders.

Desktop, Access, and Toolbox Together

A Parallels Desktop 14 subscription gets you much more than just Parallels Desktop. The software comes bundled with two other great titles from Parallels: Parallels Access and Parallels Toolbox.

With Access, you can remotely access your computer from any device with an Internet connection, so your files and applications are always at your fingertips. The Toolbox suite includes dozens of easy-to-use apps for performing day-to-day tasks with just a click or two. This includes taking screenshots, recording videos, uninstalling apps, entering the distraction-free “Presentation Mode,” and more. Of course, this is all in addition to Parallels Desktop itself – the top-rated software for running Windows on a Mac.

One low-cost subscription includes all three of these titles. It’s the perfect investment for anyone who wants to make their computer a Mac of all trades.

Get all the perks of Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac at 50% off through OnTheHub! A one-year subscription is just $39.99 USD for eligible students, faculty, and staff.

Sometimes, Mac users need to run Windows software. Maybe there’s a program you need for work that doesn’t offer a Mac version, or maybe you occasionally need to test websites in Internet Explorer. Whatever you need Windows for, Parallels is the best tool for the job.

Why Use Parallels Instead of Boot Camp or VirtualBox?

RELATED:How to Install Windows on a Mac With Boot Camp

Sure, you could set up your Mac to run Windows with Boot Camp, but that means restarting your computer every time you need to use Windows. Parallels runs Windows within macOS, using what’s called a Virtual Machine. This allows you to quickly switch between the Mac and Windows desktops. You can even combine the two desktops, if you want, and run Windows software right on your Mac desktop from your Mac’s dock.

Virtual machines are complicated, but Parallels makes it reasonably simple to set one up and use it. There are other virtual machine options available to Mac users, including the open source VirtualBox, but Parallels is different in that it’s designed exclusively with Mac users in mind. Parallels costs more (since VirtualBox is free and Parallels is not), but there are hundreds of little design touches that help make running Windows within macOS as painless as possible, and that make setting everything up quick and easy. it’s well worth the cost.

How Much Does Parallels Cost?

Browsing the Parallels website, it can be a little tricky to find out what the product actually costs. So here’s a quick breakdown:

• Purchasing the latest home version of Parallels Desktop costs $80 as of this writing. This lets you run Parallels on a single Mac.
• Upgrading from one version of Parallels to another generally costs $50, and will probably be necessary every couple of years if you keep installing the latest versions of macOS.
• A $70 annual subscription gives you access to all updates “for free,” according to the Parallels website.

RELATED:How to Make Linux and macOS Virtual Machines for Free with Parallels Lite

If you just want to try out Parallels and see if it works for you, you can: there’s a 14 day trial of the software, which you can access without providing a credit card number. There’s also Parallels Desktop Lite, which is free on the Mac App Store and lets you create both Linux and macOS virtual machines. Parallels Desktop Lite can only run Windows virtual machines if you pay for a subscription, however.

One more note: purchasing Parallels does not give you a Windows license, or a Windows product key. If you have a Windows installation CD or USB key handy with a valid license you can use that, otherwise you will need to purchase Windows 10 from Microsoft to create a Windows 10 virtual machine.

RELATED:You Don’t Need a Product Key to Install and Use Windows 10

We’ll point out that you don’t technically need a product key to install and use Windows 10—Microsoft basically gave up enforcing their license requirements with Windows 10, and you can download Windows 10 right from Microsoft at no cost (you’ll probably want it in the form of an ISO file). Legally speaking, however, you still need a product key to use Windows, even in a virtual machine.

How to Install Windows in Parallels

Got everything you need? Good. The new virtual machine wizard, which launches the first time you open Parallels, makes the process simple.

Assuming you already have a Windows CD or ISO, click the “Install Windows or another OS from a DVD or image file” button.

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The ISO or DVD should be found automatically; otherwise, click the “Locate Manually” button. Then click “Continue.”

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You’ll be asked whether you want an Express installation, which automates the installation process so that you don’t need to enter the product key or click “Next” during the installation process.

Choose this option if you want, otherwise plan on babysitting the installation a little bit.

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Next you’ll be asked what you plan on using this virtual machine for: work-related software or gaming.

If you select Games only, the virtual machine will be set to use a lot more resources, so only click that if you intend to do serious gaming in the virtual machine (which is probably not a great idea). Also make sure your Mac even has enough resources to dedicate—if you spread your computer’s resources too thin, your virtual machine will be very slow. You can change these settings later, but I recommend going with “Productivity” in almost all cases.

Finally, you’ll be asked for a few details: what the machine should be named, where it should be located, and whether you want a shortcut to the machine on your desktop.

You can also configure the settings before installation—don’t worry, you can tweak any of those later if you’d rather not dive in right now. Click “Continue.”

The Windows installer will run. If you selected the Express installation, you won’t need to do anything: just watch as Windows installs. If not, you’ll have to click “Next” a bunch of times and enter your product key, as is normal for installing Windows.

The installation process can take a while, if mechanical hard drives or a DVD is involved. If everything is running off an SSD, however, you’ll be up and running in a few minutes.

Eventually you’ll see the Windows desktop! We’re almost done.

How to Seamlessly Integrate Your Virtual Machine Into macOS

That’s all well and good, and you can start using Windows now—but if you really want to get the best of what Parallels has to offer, you have a few more steps ahead of you.

At the top-right of your virtual machine you’ll see a caution sign. This is letting you know that Parallels Tools needs to be installed. Installing this lets you move your mouse between macOS and Windows in one swift motion, and also makes it possible to access your Mac files from within Windows. To get started, click that caution sign, then click “Install Parallels Tools.”

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Doing this will mount a virtual CD in the Windows virtual machine. You’ll be asked what you want to do by Windows; select “Install Parallels Tools.”

The installer will take a few minutes, and eventually will require you to restart Windows. Do that and you’ll be up and running: your virtual machine will be integrated with macOS.

Once Parallels Tools is installed, Windows integrates very cleanly with macOS. There are all kinds of examples of this:

• Moving your mouse to your Windows virtual machine is seamless.
• Anything you copy to your Windows clipboard can be pasted in Mac apps, and vice-versa.
• The Documents, Downloads, and Desktop folders in Windows are symbolically linked to the same folders in macOS. Change a file in one place and it changes in the other.
• If you have Dropbox or iCloud running in macOS, those folders are available in Windows Explorer.
• If you have OneDrive set up in Windows, that is available to you in macOS.
• Individual Windows programs are shown in your Mac’s dock.

We could go on: the extent of the integrations is staggering. If any of them bother you for any reason, you can change them by shutting the virtual machine down, then clicking the Settings button for it.

Head to the “Sharing” tab to disable the folder sharing.

And head to the “Applications” tab to stop Windows applications from showing up in your Mac dock.

There are all kinds of other settings we could explore, but this article is only a starting point. Dive in and experiment.

More Than Just Windows

Parallels isn’t just for running Windows, either: you can use it to set up Linux, ChromeOS, and even macOS virtual machines.

We outlined how to create Linux and macOS Virtual machines in Parallels Desktop Lite, and the process is identical for the full version of Parallels Desktop, so check out that article if you’re interested.

RELATED:How to Free Up Disk Space in Parallels

If you intend to create a lot of virtual machines, you should also read about freeing up disk space in Parallels, because these machines will eat up a lot of hard drive space.

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