Parallels is one of the most popular virtualization options for Mac users wishing to run Windows, and the latest version, Parallels 13, makes it ridiculously easy to get up and running. Step 2: Download Windows. If you are running Parallels Desktop for Mac 13 you can easily download Windows 10 via Parallels Desktop at the first Parallels Desktop start. Click on Parallels icon in Mac menu bar > New. > Get Windows 10 from Microsoft > Download Windows 10. If you are running an earlier version of Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Pros: Parallels work great as you can work as if you were on a Windows from your mac. In order to launch Windows you don't even need to restart your machine, you just need to run Parallels and it will open on as any other application does. You can maximise the window so that you can switch from your mac to Windows with just a swipe. It will feel as if you were running Windows at all its effects. You can fine-tune how you want to distribute your machine's resources while running Parallels, so that you can give more or less to one or the other depending on your needs.

Outlook flag for recipients. Another option is to have Windows in integration mode, that means that you won't see Windows as a separate application running on your mac but integrated on it so that you can run Windows applications from your mac directly while running Parallels like this. Cons: The integration mode is good but sometimes it can be a bit confusing if you're not used to it.

In my opinion, I prefer the separate mode and switch from one screen to the other. If you need Windows to run applications that need a lot of resources it can really slow your mac down as once you run Parallels, the defined resources will be fully dedicated to it and therefore not available to your mac. Pros: Parallels desktop allows creating as many virtual computers as you need (disk space permitting;-) ). If you need to run a piece of serious SW available only for Windows or Linux, just create the respective virtual computer.

With Windows and Coherence, you even have the Windows applications seamlessly available from the familiar Mac desktop. I use to run it the Lotus Approach, legacy, yet still unbeaten powerful database GUI and report/form creator for dummies. Alternatively, if you just want to test something without putting your Mac at risk, create an isolated throwaway virtual machine, test your new fancy SW, and if anything happens (or you just don't like it anymore), discard the virtual machine.

Cons: Parallels could be a bit sluggish if there is not enough physical memory and processing power available, this makes virtualization of computationally demanding tasks a bit difficult. But in most case you won't notice your Gnumeric is not running in MacOS but in virtual Ubuntu.

Overall: It enables me running my favorite Approach on my Mac and whenever I need to test something as if from a different computer, I just open one ready virtual machine, log in, and it's done. Pros: Working on a mac on a daily basis is great but it's true that some applications are not available for this OS and you need to turn to a Windows machine. You can do that very easily with Parallels. You create a virtual image where you can install Windows, or any other OS for that matter, as you would on any machine. Once installed, you just need to launch Parallels and run your virtual machine.

The ease of use is amazing! If you maximise the application window is like if you were running on a machine with Windows natively installed.

One pro is that you can have several machines available if needed with different configurations, or with different OS and launch the one you need. Also, you can decide how much power, in terms of RAM and disk, you want to dedicate to that VM. Cons: The main con, I'd say is that if you need a lot of resources to run the applications on the virtual machine, then your mac performance can definitely be affected. Since this is all configurable, you will need to see what balance works best for your needs. Pros: This software never ceases to impress me. It's almost unbelievable just how powerful this software really is, and I couldn't be happier with it.