The Gen XY Lifestyle

Parallel Universe within your Mac

By  |  0 Comments

If you’ve always wanted a Mac but loathe to give up Windows-based PCs entirely, what would you do? Parallels, which has for years offered Mac users a means to run Windows virtually within OS X, has just released its latest version, and it offers quite a seamless experience.

The new Parallels Desktop 11 will be also compatible with the upcoming OS X release, El Capitan (experimental support prior to launch, full support to come), and works with Windows 10 as well. What’s more, Microsoft’s voice recognition virtual assistant Cortana, although not available in Singapore, will be supported in Parallels – yes, you can use Cortana on your Mac as though it is an OS X application.

Parallels promises up to 50 percent performance improvement, and up to 25 percent battery life on the go; launching and shutting down Windows is up to 50 percent faster, while file operations and suspend/sleep mode is up to 20 percent faster, amongst other things.

But what makes Parallels most compelling is its deep-set integration: Quick Look, one of OS X’s most useful features, is extended to Windows, and you can easily get a quick preview of Windows files; it also supports Force Touch features. Your most recently used files list can be viewed regardless of where they are stored: on the Mac, in a virtual machine, in the cloud or on a file server, and dragging files across systems are akin to that of transferring files across folders.

Windows Mac

Windows and OS X apps working side by side

While not everyone will need to run two operating systems on one computer, but there are circumstances where it is easier, say, to do something in Windows as opposed to OS X; or perhaps there are applications that you love that are exclusive to one system. The seamlessness in which you can use applications, view and transfer files as though it is just another window makes Parallels 11 a valuable tool.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac (S$108) is available now to both current and new Parallels Desktop for Mac users at www.parallels.com/desktop worldwide, and at local retailers including Challenger, EpiCentre, Harvey Norman, iStudio, NuBox and other Apple resellers in Singapore.

*Upgrades for existing Parallels Desktop 9 or 10 for Mac customers are S$68.00, with an introductory offer to upgrade to a Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition subscription for S$68.00 per year. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Pro Edition and Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Business Edition are available to new customers for S$134.00 per year. Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition includes a complimentary Parallels Access (www.parallels.com/access) subscription to remotely access their Mac from any device.

Comments

comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *