With macOS Catalina, Parallels Desktop for Mac users have even more powerful ways to run Windows, Linux and other OSes on Mac.
Sidecar
Beyond DirectX 11 support, Parallels Desktop 15 will also support macOS Catalina’s new Sidecar feature.This means you’ll be able to use Windows apps on an iPad when you’re using it as a. See KB Known issues with macOS 10.15 Catalina and Parallels Desktop for Mac and subscribe to stay tuned for more updates on official support for macOS Catalina. If you experience an issue with Parallels Desktop for Mac and macOS 10.15 Catalina that is not listed in our KB, please share your feedback with us by posting in this thread.
There are two new features brought to Parallels Desktop with Sidecar. First, you can now extend your Mac display on your iPad®. Second, there’s now Apple Pencil® support within Microsoft Windows applications. With our latest version of Parallels Desktop, users are now able to use their favorite Microsoft Windows applications on iPad.
Extending the Mac display on your iPad is incredible—it allows Parallels Desktop users to view their virtual machine in full screen on their iPad. Not only does this leave your native Mac screen available for whatever your needs may be, but it also feeds directly into the second benefit of Sidecar and Parallels Desktop.
Parallels Desktop users can now run a virtual machine as full screen on their iPad as an external display. This macOS integration allows designers, CAD experts and more to use their favorite stylist on their favorite Windows programs. With Sidecar and Parallels Desktop, users have full support with the Apple Pencil or your favorite stylist.
Note: Sidecar will work with any macOS application that supports stylists and turns your iPad into a professional creative tool, such as a Wacom tablet.
Personally, Sidecar is my favorite macOS feature announced in the last few years. Using Sidecar with Parallels Desktop? It’s simply magic.
Screenshot Preview to Windows
Drag and drop like never before! Apple® has entirely reworked the way screenshots are done in macOS Mojave and Catalina, and you may notice that you can’t use their previews in Windows applications.
Parallels Desktop now makes this possible—plus, it provides the ability to drag images right from Safari, Photos and your other favorite Mac applications.
Security
The security benefits of macOS Catalina can be broken up into three major components: hardware, system volumes and data.
Hardware
The Apple T2 Security Chip keeps your Mac secure by ensuring you’re running software that’s from a trusted developer and automatically encrypts your stored data. If you’re utilizing macOS Catalina, you’ll have a rich encryption on your host OS with the T2 chip. Plus, your virtual machine can also be encrypted to protect any unauthorized use. Learn how to encrypt your virtual machine.
Additionally, Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Edition has BitLocker encryption support, making your data even more protected.
System Volume
A dedicated system volume within macOS Catalina allows the volume to be read-only, so it’s separate from all other data on your Mac. Apple implemented this so that nothing can accidentally overwrite your system files.
Data
All Mac models with the Apple T2 security chip support an iOS feature, Activation Lock. This is beyond helpful if your Mac is ever lost or stolen—with Activation Lock, you can easily erase and reactivate.
Screen Time
macOS Catalina brings a popular iOS feature to the Mac: Screen Time. Screen Time monitors where a user spends their time when using their iPhone. Now, macOS Catalina makes it easy for Mac users to monitor their usage with individual applications.
While Parallels Desktop is in Coherence view mode, Screen Time will individually monitor Windows programs, too.
64-bit Applications
macOS Catalina is the first version macOS to exclusively support 64-bit applications. This means any 32-bit applications will no longer be supported if your Mac is on macOS Catalina. With Parallels Desktop, users can run an older macOS as a virtual machine to support the 32-bit applications you need. In order to continue using your favorite 32-bit applications on macOS Catalina, please read our blog post: 32-bit vs. 64-bit and why it matters.
Our engineering, sales, social, support and marketing teams closely monitor what our users need from Parallels Desktop. If you’re looking for known issues with macOS Catalina and Parallels Desktop, feel free to read the testing that engineering has already completed.
If you’re looking to try the latest version of Parallels Desktop, download a free 14-day trial and get started now. Let us know what you think, or if you have any feedback to help us make the experience better. You can reach us on Facebook or Twitter, 24/7.
We’re proud to announce that today we released the first update of Parallels Desktop® 15 for Mac. Now Parallels Desktop 15 Update 1 fully supports macOS® Catalina 10.15 as both a host and guest operating system (OS).
To download the latest version, go to the Parallels Desktop menu > Check for Updates, or download the installation image directly.
Wealways want to offer our customers the “best of both worlds” when it comes to Windows10 and Mac®. With Parallels Desktop 15.1, our users can now benefit from:
- UsingSidecar with iPad® and Apple Pencil® with Windows 10
- EnjoyingDirectX 11 with Metal®-enhanced performance
- Benefitingfrom Sign in with Apple
- Andmore in macOS Catalina!
Plus, our users can easily create a macOS Mojave virtual machine (VM) before upgrading to macOS Catalina to continue running old 32-bit Mac apps.
“macOS Catalina brings significant new benefits for Mac users,” said Nick Dobrovolskiy, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Support at Parallels. “Parallels Desktop 15 Update 1 adds useful new macOS Catalina features to Windows 10 applications. It enables customers to experience CAD/CAM and PC-game performance improvements. Users can also use Finder® to share files, previews or Safari® images via Outlook or Mail for Windows. Parallels Desktop makes it easy to run every macOS and Windows application you need on one computer so you’re always ready to engage with opportunities to work and collaborate with anyone—whether they use a Mac or PC.”
Use Your iPad and Sidecar toWork with Windows Applications
ParallelsDesktop 15 delivers extended Sidecar support for iPad, including use of ApplePencil pressure, tilt, double-tap and native iOS touch gestures with Windows programssuch as CorelDRAW®, Corel® Painter® andMicrosoft SketchPad. Easily enable Windows 10 Tablet Mode, launch Windows Ink Workspaceor open On-screen Keyboard using special Touch Bar options enabled by ApplePencil 2 double-tap exclusively for Windows on iPad via Sidecar.
ParallelsDesktop 15 users can also run both macOS Catalina and Windows 10 togetherseamlessly in Coherence Mode. Or move your Windows 10 VM over to your iPad and workwith each OS via separate devices, as shown in Video 1:
32-Bit Applications – StillAvailable with Parallels Desktop 15
macOS Catalina is the first macOS to exclusively support 64-bit applications, which means that 32-bit macOS applications will not run on macOS Catalina. Fortunately, the Parallels Desktop Installation Assistant makes it easy for macOS Mojave users to create a macOS Mojave VM before upgrading to macOS Catalina, so they can still run 32-bit Mac and Windows applications on their current Mac.
Seamless Mac and WindowsIntegration
Parallels Desktop 15 further blurs thelines between Mac and Windows with a variety of enhanced integration features,providing the best of both worlds on one computer so users can experience newlevels of productivity.
Now Parallels Desktop 15 users candrag and drop images directly from macOS screenshot previews, Safari and Photosto Windows applications to create documents quickly and conveniently, as shownin Video 2:
DirectX 11 Support Brings MoreWindows Programs and PC Games to Mac
Supportingthe Apple move to Metal API, Parallels made significant investments to ensureexcellent DirectX 11 performance with Metal in macOS Mojave—and especially on macOSCatalina (10.15)—in addition to DirectX 10 and 9. (User experience will dependon the hardware, especially the CPU and graphics card utilized on the Maccomputer.) Parallels Desktop 15 users can now run many Windows computer-aided design (CAD)and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs, aswell as PC games which did not run on prior versions, including the followingtitles:
Bluetooth Low Energy Support
Bluetooth Low Energy support in ParallelsDesktop 15 enables Logitech Craft, IRISPen and some IoT devices (such as smarthome appliances and smart bands) to be used in a VM on a Mac. Supported platformsinclude Windows 10 and 8.1, Android and Linux with kernel 3.13 and newer.Shared Bluetooth driver support is for version 4.0.
Let us know if you have any questionsor feedback about the latest update of Parallels Desktop 15 in the comments.
Parallels 12 Catalina Version
If you haven’t used Parallels Desktop before, download a free 14-day trial.