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Virtual Windows PCs on Macs. By Bill Lake. Support on any 32 or 64-bit Intel-powered iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook, MacBook Pro & Mac Pro Tower. 70 MB of available hard drive space for Parallels. How to install Windows on your Mac for free. There are trial versions of Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion which won't make you pay a fee for a two weeks or one month, respectively, so you're welcome to try those out if you prefer. Click on the Version menu and select Windows 8.1 (64 bit).

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

With Parallels Desktop, you can switch between Mac and Windows without ever needing to reboot your computer. If you have already installed Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp, you can set Parallels Desktop to run Windows from the Boot Camp Partition or import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into. Jun 25, 2010  Once you purchase and install Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, you can install either Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit. The choice is up to you. The choice is up to you. Carey Frisch. Version 4.0 is the first version of Parallels Desktop that supports both 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems. Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac’s 3D support includes DirectX 9.0, DirectX Pixel Shader 2.0 and OpenGL 2.0 [23] as well as 256 MB video memory.

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.

Here are 2 workable solutions for you to download, install or update drivers for Windows 10 64 bit or 32 bit on MacBook Pro (Retina), MacBook Air, MacBook, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro and more. Top 1 Solution. I am using a mac, with Parallels to access Windows 7 in a virtual machine. On the Windows 7 side, I have tried to install IIS Express 8.0 but get the following error: The 32 bit-version of iis 8.0 express cannot be installed on a 64-bit edition of microsoft windows.

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

Parallel Space 64 Bit Support

• 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.

Parallels For Mac 64 Or 32-bit

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.

Parallels 64 Bit

Mac 32 Or 64 Bit

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.

Parallels For Mac 32 Or 64 Bit

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).