Today, Parallels launched Parallels Desktop 11 for the Mac. Windows users on Apple hardware were given a taste of Windows 10 during the Windows Insider Preview with an update to Parallels 10. However, there were reports that the year old VMware wouldn’t be seeing another upgrade to enable full Windows 10 RTM usage. Instead, it looks like Parallels was working on a completely new solution in Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac.
The new editions of Parallels Desktop for Mac benefit from speed improvements of up to 50 percent, Travel Mode which extends battery life up to 25 percent while on the go, support for Windows 10 along with OS X® El Capitan readiness and a host of other features for both Windows and Mac users.
Alongside the speed and battery improvements, Mac users will continue to leverage Windows specific features, and in Windows 10 there are some pretty useful ones available. Ironically, Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana will be enabled for Mac users before Apple’s Siri lands on the device. Other features available to Mac users using Parallels Desktop 11 include:
- Quick Look for Windows extends this cool Mac convenience to Windows documents and files
- New Force Touch gesture support enables a quick preview of files with Quick Look or the ability to look up the definition of an unknown word
- Improved Mac Window Controls include a new Coherence mode button
- Most recently used files list now can be viewed on the Mac regardless of where those files are stored: on the Mac, in a virtual machine, in the cloud or on a file server
- New easy printing with all Mac, printer options support, saves time with an intuitive solution for OS X users
- “New Item” support for creation of new files in Windows apps including Microsoft Outlook®, Excel® and Word
- Now users can easily cancel time-consuming virtual machine actions
- Mac location services are now available to Windows applications
- Automatic synchronization of the volume setting of a virtual machine with that of the Mac
- Enhanced file associations with smart notification messaging help change file association in OS X
- Improvements in the setup and use of a virtual machine to directly access a Boot Camp® Windows partition—without rebooting
Similar to Windows, there are several pricing options, each based on available feature sets. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac, Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Pro Edition and Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Business Edition are available now for both current and new Parallels Desktop for Mac users at www.parallels.com/desktop and at local retail stores worldwide.
