Parallels today announced that both Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac and Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) fully support OS X El Capitan. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac (build 11.0.2) supports El Capitan as both a host and guest, as well as Windows 10 and dozens of other operating systems as a guest, and now offers the best of both worlds, enabling users to leverage the latest features and functionality from the newest operating system of their choice.
In Coherence mode, Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac enables users to run the new OS X El Capitan Split View feature – the ability to display two different apps on one screen for optimal multitasking. In addition, Microsoft’s intelligent personal assistant Cortana® can be used on a Mac with both OS X and Windows 10 apps. This is the first time that Parallels Desktop has ever made both Windows and Mac features available across both OS platforms.
“With Windows 10 and OS X El Capitan launching within months of each other, we are seeing more innovation in software than ever before,” said Jack Zubarev, Parallels President, in a statement. “In that same vein, we have launched our most powerful software to date with the latest versions of Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac and Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM with full support for OS X El Capitan. We are pleased to enable a choice of OS X or Windows on a single device, as well as enjoy a seamless experience of integrating Windows and OS X key features.”
With full support for OS X El Capitan, Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac offers additional advantages for saving time and enhancing performance improvements over Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac for an even faster work experience, including1:
• Windows 8 and Windows 10 launch and shut-down is up to 50 percent faster
• File operations inside of Windows are improved by up to 20 percent
• Virtual machine suspend is up to 20 percent faster
• Travel Mode can increase battery life up to 25 percent
• Improved network performance
• Product Features
Whether an IT administrator, business user, software developer, power user, or someone that likes to use Windows software on a Mac, Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac has special editions that are optimal for a variety of users. The Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition is a new version of the software specifically designed for developers, designers and power users, giving them the powerful tools they need for maximum productivity. Building on the Pro Edition features, Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition (www.parallels.com/business) offers IT admins the most efficient means to enable their employees with Macs to run Windows applications.
• Always on Cortana enables customers to use Microsoft’s virtual assistant with Mac applications, even when Windows 10 is not the forefront application
• Travel Mode extends the battery life by up to 25 percent by temporarily shutting off select resources that drain power
• 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 in the Mac Dock, for both Mac and Windows applications, 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 helps 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
• One-time opportunity to upgrade to Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition from Parallels Desktop 9 or 10 for $49.99 per year
• Improved Japanese keyboard — specific to the Japanese language edition only
Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition
All of the features of Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac, as well as the following new and key features:
• Integration with key developer tools, such as Docker, Visual Studio (plug-in), Chef and Jenkins
• Support for Vagrant and other developer tools
• Additional user profiles for developers, power users and testers for optimal configuration for their particular scenarios
• Advanced networking tools and configuration for virtual networks to test complex networking scenarios including the ability to simulate some network instabilities
• Cloud storage access through Box.net, Dropbox for Business and OneDrive Business, for sharing from Windows to Mac
• Headless mode for running virtual machines in the background without user interface
• Ability to create linked clones to conserve disk space and optimize installations
• Enhanced memory (64GB RAM) and processing power (16 vCPU) for improved performance
• Nested virtualization for Linux guests
• Modern.IE test environments in the Parallels New Virtual Machine Wizard provide access to free trials of browsers for testing
• 24×7 Premium Phone and Email Support
Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition
All of the features of Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition, as well as the following key additions:
• Integrates with central management consoles to enable IT admins to keep control of virtual machines
• Mass deployment capability
• Web-based Parallels License Management Portal
• A single activation key to eliminate manual management of individual license keys
• Business-level support, including prioritized 24/7 phone and email support options
• USB device policy enforcement for additional security
Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM
Parallels Mac Management enables companies and IT administrators that already have Microsoft SCCM in place to maximize investments they’ve already made and use SCCM as the single pane of glass to manage both PCs and Macs. In addition to full support of OS X El Capitan, its key features include:
Asset Inventory
• Scan your corporate network automatically to identify Mac computers, then auto-enroll them in SCCM
• Gather hardware and software inventory for your Mac computers
• Collect Mac warranty status (i.e., AppleCare)
• Leverage native Microsoft SCCM reports to view information about your Mac machines
OS X Image Deployment via Microsoft SCCM
• Seamless integration of Mac OS X image deployment into your SCCM workflow
• Build lightweight OS X images and customize OS X deployments with the support for SCCM Task Sequence Steps
Software and Patch Deployment
• Support for deployment of a wide range of software packages: .dmg, .pkg, .iso, .app, scripts, and stand-alone files
• Centrally manage and install software packages and patches
• Support for silent deployment and deployment with user interaction
Configuration Management
• Enforce compliance via our extended SCCM configuration items: Mac OS X configuration profiles and shell scripts
• Secure your corporate data by enforcing FileVault 2 full-disk encryption
Application Self-Service Portal for Mac Users
• Users can install approved applications themselves
• IT oversight of on-demand applications maintains corporate compliance
Manage Parallels Desktop for Mac Virtual Machines
• Mass deploy Windows virtual machines to Mac users
More info: Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac
Source: Parallels
Luckily I no longer need Parallels to VPN and remote desktop to work PCs. This was the only use I had for running XP on my rMBP.
Now I use a VPN mac software that is very reliable and use M$’s Mac remote desktop to connect to PCs at work. It’s brilliant and will even allow me to print to home printers plus copy and paste docs or content between machines at work and my own Mac.
So no I won’t be upgrading to Parallels 11 until I have a compelling need to run windows on my mac.
Lucky for me..my work uses Cisco IPSec with RSA key…that has worked natively on all versions of Mac OS 10.xx. I always found it funny that the PCs needed additional software while my Mac..supposedly a toy, was ready out of the box 🙂
What isn’t mentioned…10 was buggy..11 is not. If you are running 10, 11 is worth it. I use this at work and it is a mission critical setup..so I’m very sensitive to buggy software. I updated to El Capitan, then immediately updated parallels..and the process was smooth as silk.
Not worth it to me. I run PARALLELS 10 with Win XP for just one piece of stock market software and I am getting rid of that software this month. I won’t be paying Microsoft for Win 8 or Win 10 or Win x.
Parallels must be owned by Roxio. /s
Parallels Desktop rocks!
So tired of paying a $50 nearly annual fee to keep VMWare Fusion up-to-date. Is Parallels the same way?