Hi folks
has anyone here had exerpience with running Parallels on a Mac? I have two specific questions, one is once you install Parallels could you boot the Mac into windows via Bootcamp? (its an intel MacBook Air).
Secondly, how do you use an external keyboard like a Logitech MX Keys with Parallels from within macOS? does the keyboard switch over to Windows layout while in Parallels?
I am new at this whole Parallels thing and want to help someone set it up properly.
thanks for any advice.
I do not believe you can boot into a Parallels VM. But please double check this in their documentation.
Keyboards will generally just continue working. Generally your three mac control keys (Control, Command, Option) will convert to (Control, Windows, Alt). They may not be in the correct order though.
I have never used Parallels but I do use VMware Fusion. You can only boot these into their own environments. I think you could convert these virtual machines at some stage but I’m not sure if that is supported anymore. Bootcamp is a different proposition as it is a partition on your drive rather than a virtual machine. Your keyboard should be sorted out during the setup.
I’ve been a Parallels user since 2006. - As a Mac user working in a windows business software environment. Keyboard shortcuts can be reconfigured from standard set (eg Mac command C = Ctrl C Windows) in Parallels preferences.
Parallels also has a coherence mode where applications pretend to be another Mac window. - I prefer not to use this so I have a Windows Desktop appearance with my PC applications inside it. - With 2 monitors, its like you have 2 machines (a Mac & a Windows box) running. Performance is fast on modern processors.
Parallels VM’s can be copied or duplicated, and snapshots can be used to roll back if you want to get back to a previous machine state.
You may get sluggish performance if you can’t allocate enough RAM to the VM though.
@JimWOz, have you ever used Bootcamp? Do you have an Apple Silicon Mac? Have you tried the ARM version of Parallels & Windows 11?
Richard,
No, never used bootcamp, ever. - I want the Mac and PC environments available simultaneously.
No, I have an Intel i9 16 inch MBP with 64GB RAM.
No, I think Parallels 18 is universal ARM and Intel though.
I use Win 11 on an HP EliteDesk 800 G6 (a 2020 model with 32G RAM) though, which I usually remote into. - Even though it sits there on the desk in front of my MBP with my big monitor on top of it.
My Parallels VM for work is a Win 10 machine.
Eventually I will have an Apple silicon machine I guess, and if I’m still working then and needing a PC I will try an ARM version of Win 11 or later then.
I also use an Ubuntu VM, and have legacy Win 7 as well as Lion and High Sierra VM’s available for occasional use under Parallels 18. I have Win XP and 2000 VM’s archived somewhere too. You never know when the need to go back in time might arise. … As the Doc might have said to Marty McFly as they admired his Delorean.
Thanks for the info…