Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Released With Windows 10 and Cortana Support

[MacRumors]

Parallels today announced the release of Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac with dual support for OS X El Capitan, Windows 10 and always-on access to Microsoft's intelligent personal assistant Cortana. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Business Edition and Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition were also released for business customers, developers, designers and power users.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac is virtualization software that enables users to use OS X El Capitan and Windows 10 side by side without rebooting, including full support for Windows and Mac apps. The software includes a setup assistant for switching from PC to Mac, one-click optimization settings, Linux and Google Chrome support, advanced security features and more.

The latest version of Parallels Desktop also features Quick Look for Windows documents, Travel Mode for temporarily shutting down resource-intensive services to extend battery life, location services in Windows apps and easy upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. Performance improvements include up to 50% faster boot and shut down times, up to 15% longer battery life and up to 20% faster tasks.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac is $79.99 with a free 14-day trial available, while customers with Parallels Desktop 9 or newer can upgrade for $49.99. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Business Edition and Pro Edition both retail for $99.99 per year with faster 64GB virtual RAM / 16 vCPUs for each virtual machine and extended premium 24/7 phone and email support.

Article Link: Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Released With Windows 10 and Cortana Support

 

[Steve121178]

I'll pass. VMware Fusion for me.

 

[MentalFloss]

I thought Parallels Desktop 10 already supports Windows 10 (without Cortana)?

 

[kaltsasa]

If they moved the linked clones functionality to their yearly pro subscription I'll jump ship to fusion. It's not clear in the KB if that is the case.

 

[pgiguere1]

Feels weird that we can now get a reactionary Siri competitor released 3 years later on our Mac before we can get the real thing...

If Apple thinks Siri isn't useful enough for desktop use, teach it new tricks so that it is. It doesn't have to be voice-only either, using Siri with text is fine just for the natural language bit. The new Spotlight in El Capitan is improved in that direction, but it could be so much more.

 

[Paradoxally]

Definitely the best virtualization software if you want performance.

 

[Crosscreek]

I'll wait to upgrade when they offer a sale. Win10 still works in El Capitan...just don't have coherence and always on Cortina.

 

[KPOM]

I thought Parallels Desktop 10 already supports Windows 10 (without Cortana)?

It does, but Parallels' business model is only to support versions for 2 years, and to encourage annual updates by limiting full support to the latest version.

 

[MuckSavage70]

Sweet, the yearly Parallels fee.

 

[Yaboze]

Thieves. The full price is OK, but upgrades need to be cheaper.

 

[Steeley]

Has anybody seen what the start menu looks like in coherence mode on this? It's not shown on any Parallels media that I can find and it's a mess in Parallels 10 so I'm hoping they're not withholding images of it for a reason.

 

[philipk]

Thieves. The full price is OK, but upgrades need to be cheaper.

I always love people who want something for nothing. People who don't value the work of others. $49 to update a program as powerful as Parallels is chump change. If it is too much for you, you don't need Parallels. People are entitled to be paid for their labors.

 

[stellaclose]

I always love people who want something for nothing. People who don't value the work of others. $49 to update a program as powerful as Parallels is chump change. If it is too much for you, you don't need Parallels. People are entitled to be paid for their labors.

Thank you Parallels Marketing Manager.

 

[ericschmerick]

I guess at some point these guys are going to actually have to innovate on their own, now that Windows 10 is the "last version of Windows" to be released. All I can really remember since ~Parallels 5 is being compelled to upgrade for compatibility with the latest MS OS, not because there were any real features that I needed.

 

[b-dogg]

I guess at some point these guys are going to actually have to innovate on their own, now that Windows 10 is the "last version of Windows" to be released. All I can really remember since ~Parallels 5 is being compelled to upgrade for compatibility with the latest MS OS, not because there were any real features that I needed.

They just keep breaking parallels every time Apple update their OS. So, as long as Apple are giving us free updates, we'll have to keep paying the $50 parallels tax to use our windows only programs.

Happens every year - and yep, I'm sick of it too!

 

[MrGimper]

I upgraded from PD 10 to PD 11 pro (the subscription, for £35 a year). With PD 10 I could activate my key on 2 macs even though I only bought for a single machine. Violated the EULA, but it let me do it so I did. I cannot activate my 2nd instance with PD 11, so it look like that little loophole has been sorted.

 

[Capt Crunch]

Wait... if I have a subscription I still have to pay for an upgrade to 11? What is the point of the annual subscription if I don't get free upgrades?

 

[n-evo]

Every release is so marginally better it's hardly worth the full price.

 

[clukas]

They just keep breaking parallels every time Apple update their OS. So, as long as Apple are giving us free updates, we'll have to keep paying the $50 parallels tax to use our windows only programs.

Happens every year - and yep, I'm sick of it too!

Thats why Ive stopped upgrading. Bootcamp does everything I need, if I was desperate to use Windows within OS X then there are some good free alternatives which will do the job.

 

[b-dogg]

Thats why Ive stopped upgrading. Bootcamp does everything I need, if I was desperate to use Windows within OS X then there are some good free alternatives which will do the job.

How do you find bootcamp? You need to be quite tech-savy to use it?

The reason I ask is that I need to deal with a parallels in my unpaid admin job (tech son duties!) for family who went Mac and need a handful of Win only programs. I'd fear that dual booting would freak them out. Parallels does make things really easy - like dragging and dropping between both OS's and also the ability to copy a virtual machine and move it to a new system without having to rebuild windows from scratch.

I'm getting really sick of telling them to update to the latest OSX version, then getting the phonecall that "parallels has stopped working".

 

[arkmannj]

Slightly off topic, but for those Fusion fans out there (including myself)
you can get the 2015 tech preview for free (time limited to December I think)
https://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/fusion/vmware-fusion-technology-preview-2015

If you are a Student/Teacher/Faculty (or if you have an organization that might otherwise qualify) often you can get a free copy of VMWare's software through OnTheHub (https://e5.onthehub.com).

If I didn't get it free I might try Parallels, but hard to beat the price of $0.00 for me and VMWare has been pretty good for my uses.

 

[kaz911]

I upgraded from PD 10 to PD 11 pro (the subscription, for £35 a year). With PD 10 I could activate my key on 2 macs even though I only bought for a single machine. Violated the EULA, but it let me do it so I did. I cannot activate my 2nd instance with PD 11, so it look like that little loophole has been sorted.

I think the GBP 35 you paid is only for the first year. There after they will take about double up - so about GBP 70 automatically. And they tempt you with the 1/2 price offer and hope you forget about it and then kick yourself in the backside when they "auto debit" your card with the full price next year - and probably without warning if I'm to predict future behavior based on past behavior.

I to think Parallels has become a parasite company - paying > 50% every year for "upgrades" is crazy. Especially since you can probably pick it up for the same price in a bundle at some point.

 

[bingeciren]

I upgraded from PD 10 to PD 11 pro (the subscription, for £35 a year). With PD 10 I could activate my key on 2 macs even though I only bought for a single machine. Violated the EULA, but it let me do it so I did. I cannot activate my 2nd instance with PD 11, so it look like that little loophole has been sorted.

I'll stick with PD 10 as long as I can in that case.

 

[Steeley]

Has anybody seen what the start menu looks like in coherence mode on this? It's not shown on any Parallels media that I can find and it's a mess in Parallels 10 so I'm hoping they're not withholding images of it for a reason.

I installed it with a 2 week trial to see for myself:

 

[Ryanclbryant]

Have been using Parallels 10 with Win10 for awhile now; works just fine... Probably going to skip Parallels 11 and upgrade to 12 if all we can expect is Cortana and slightly better battery life.

The start menu pops in coherence, but looks awful... That might be the only other draw to upgrading now.