These tools add extra virtual drivers that make your virtual Mac run better, and Parallels Tools actually works with macOS Mojave as of this writing. Click Actions > Install Parallels Tools in the menu bar of your host machine, and the installer will launch inside your virtual machine. Parallels Desktop for Mac is one of the most popular tools for running Windows on Apple’s Mac hardware and operating system. This year’s release brings the software to version 13 and promises. Parallels Desktop for Mac is a hardware virtualization solution for Mac computers with Intel processors. Developed by Parallels Inc., a privately held software company with offices in 15 countries, Parallels Desktop for Mac (referred to simply as Parallels from here on) allows Mac users to.
MacBooks are quite popular within the commercial open source community. I cover a lot of open source events and all I see are MacBooks running macOS. I myself carry a MacBook to such events.
Why?
The short answer is that it just works.
The longer answer is that macOS is UNIX so you get access to all utilities, commands and tools that you get on your desktop Linux box, including running cronjobs, rsyncing files and writing USBs with the ‘dd’ command from macOS's native Terminal app.
However, there are occasions when you do need to run Linux desktop. For example, a developer may want to check an application's platform compatibility. An IT admin may want to run a specific Linux application that’s not available on macOS. A tech writer may want to review a Linux distribution.
A virtual machine is ideal in such cases.
I use the Parallels Desktop app, which offers great integration between the host macOS and guest machines. But it costs over $70 per year.
Now there is a ‘free-as-in-beer’ solution available in the App Store called Parallels Desktop Lite that you can run any Linux distribution on (though if you want to use Windows on it, you have to pay $60).
Parallels Desktop Lite offers five Linux distributions from the app itself. You can download Chrome OS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian and CentOS from within the app and install it. The only major distro missing from the list is openSUSE.
You are not limited to the five distributions; just like the standard version of Parallels you can install any Linux distribution on it. The only issue that you may come across is support for the Parallels’ Tools, which may result in lack of support for Retina display.
So far, the only difference that I noticed between the standard version and Lite is the lack of Coherence mode that allows me to run Linux and Windows applications inside of macOS.
Key features
These are some of the core features that I use on Parallels, and there are many more that you can explore depending on your requirements:
Performance: Parallels does a good job of allocating resources to the virtual machines. I even play games like Call of Duty in Parallels.
Hardware access: The most important feature of Parallels is that it offers complete access to system hardware, including any external hardware that’s plugged into the system and detected by macOS. You can use the ‘dd’ command from the guest Linux operating system to create a bootable USB stick of Linux.
Shared storage: Parallels allows sharing space for storage services. You can simply share Dropbox and iCloud folders between Linux and macOS to keep your files synced.
Drag & drop: You can easily drag and drop files between macOS and Linux distributions.
Copy & paste: It offers seamless integration between macOS and Linux, which means you can copy & paste text from between textEdit and Gedit or between Pages and LibreOffice.
It’s not just the Linux desktop, you can also run Linux servers on Parallels to create a development environment. I use Ubuntu and Debian servers on my MacBook to test WordPress and NextCloud installation before deploying them on my live servers running on Linode.
If you happen to be an IT admin running macOS, now you won’t miss your Linux desktop, you can run it inside of macOS, for free.
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Parallels is easily the best virtualization software on the Mac, and earlier this year, they quietly added a new app called Parallels Desktop Lite to the Mac App Store—and unlike its cousin, it’s free to download. The catch: if you want to use Windows virtual machines, you’re going to have to pay for a $60 a year for a subscription.
But the program itself is completely free otherwise, meaning if you want to create Linux, Chromium OS, or even macOS virtual machines, you don’t need to pay a dime.
Should I Use Parallels Lite, or the “Full” Version of Parallels?
So how it Parallels Desktop Lite different than Parallels Desktop? Parallels outlines all of the differences here, if you’re curious—there are a few limitations related to Mac App Store sandboxing. Other than that, the main difference is that Lite is free for anything except Windows virtual machines. If you want to run a Windows virtual machine, you’ll need to pony up $60 annually.
How does that compare to Parallels Desktop for Mac, the “full” version of this software? Well that product currently costs $70, and is yours as long as you can keep it running. Parallels versions typically stop running every couple of macOS releases, after which you’ll need to either stick to an older host operating system or pony up $50 for an upgrade license. Assuming you need to upgrade every two years, which is roughly consistent with our experience, the two pricing plans are about that same.
How To Run Parallels On Windows
But that’s only if you want to run Windows. If your interest in virtual machines lies entirely on the Linux and macOS side of things, Lite is without question the better deal, because you can’t beat free.
Getting Started With Parallels Desktop Lite
Start up Parallels Lite for the first time and you’ll see the Parallels Wizard, which makes setting up or adding virtual machines simple.
There are three main options here. The most prominent points you to download Windows 10 from Microsoft, which will cost you around $120 for Windows itself on top of the Parallels subscription. To the right, you’ll find the option to browse your computer for any installation images on your computer. Below these two prominent options, you’ll see quick tools for downloading several other operating systems, including:
Let’s get started with setting up a couple of these installers, then move on to setting up macOS in a virtual machine.
Installing Linux or Chromium OS in Parallels Desktop Lite
Click any of the operating systems at the bottom of the wizard and you’ll see more information about them.
How To Run Parallels On Mac For Free Terminal Program
Click the “Download” button and Parallels will begin the downloading process.
How long this takes will depend on the speed of your internet connection, but for me downloading Chromium OS only took a few minutes. When it’s done, you can log into your Google account and start using Chromium OS right away.
It seems like Chromium OS doesn’t sync over settings from a Chromebook, which is disappointing, but it’s still nice to have access to this system for the occasional test.
I repeated the process for Ubuntu, just for good measure. It was just as simple, and I was using the operating system in no time.
The version of Ubuntu offered is 16.04, which is the most recent Long Term Support version of that Linux distribution. I tried manually installing the more recent 17.04, but had trouble getting Parallels Tools up and running. Your mileage may vary, but in my humble opinion life is a lot easier if you stick to the built-in wizard installers.
![]() Install macOS in Parallels Desktop Lite
If you want a Mac inside your Mac, you’ll first need to head to the Mac App Store. Search for the macOS version you want to install, then click the “Download” button.
A caveat: the Mac App Store will not download a version of the OS older than what you’re currently running. This means that you cannot create a virtual machine for older versions of macOS unless you have some other means of finding the installers. You can, however, easily download newer versions of macOS in order to test them without installing, which is nice.
Once the installer is downloaded, it will open.
Go ahead and close this with Command+Q—we don’t want to re-install our operating system. Head back to the Parallels Wizard, which you can find by clicking the Parallels button in the menu bar, then clicking “New.”
Click “Install Windows or another OS from a DVD or image file” and you should see macOS Sierra as an option (if not, click “locate manually” to give Parallels permission to see the rest of your file system.)
Click “Continue” and you’ll be asked about storage space.
Click “Continue” after checking that you have enough room, then give your virtual machine a name and choose a location.
Click “Continue” and eventually the installer will launch.
Parallels
Exciting! Continue through the steps as prompted—you’ll install macOS on your newly created virtual hard drive, and the machine will re-boot a couple of times. You can leave this running in the background and work on something else. Eventually you’ll be prompted to choose a language and create an account, after which you’ll have full access to macOS in a virtual machine.
You can now use macOS in your virtual machine! There’s just one thing left to do: install Parallels Tools, so that the virtual machine’s resolution will change when you re-size the window, among other integrations. To get started, click the “!” icon at top-right, then click “Install Parallels Tools.”
This will connect a virtual disk with the installer to your virtual macOS machine.
Run the installer, then re-start your virtual Mac, and you’re all set up!
How To Run Parallels On Mac
This is a lot easier than installing macOS Sierra in VirtualBox, isn’t it? And the price is the same. Enjoy!
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