by Guest Blog Author, Alex Sursiakov, Program Manager at Parallels
Share files and folders, copy and paste images and text & drag and drop files between Mac and Windows applications. Easy Set-Up Parallels Desktop automatically detects what you need to get started so you are up and going within minutes! Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac is the fastest, easiest and most powerful application for running Windows on Mac — without rebooting. Get up and running in minutes and customize to your needs. Easily switch between Mac and Windows applications. Apple has officially released its next iteration of macOS, macOS Mojave, and in this video we're going to go over some of the great new Mac features that Par.
On June 4 at the WWDC 2018 keynote, Apple® announced major updates to all of its software platforms. One of them is macOS® Mojave, the new version of the operating system for your Mac®.
macOS Mojave will be available to Mac users this fall. But what if you want to look at it earlier?
Immediately after the keynote, the Developer Beta of macOS Mojave became available to members of the Apple Developer program. We expect that by the end of June, it will also be available as a public beta. This will enable many more people to download and install it.
If you’d like to try macOS Mojave, there are several ways:
- You can upgrade the macOS on your Mac. However, Mojave is a beta of an operating system, so this is not a recommended approach.
- You can install it on a separate partition on your Mac. This is a rather geeky approach and requires lots of steps, including repartitioning your drive, booting from the recovery partition, and rebooting several times.
- You can install macOS Mojave on a spare Mac—but how many of us have a spare Mac lying around?
- You can use Parallels Desktop® for Mac and run macOS Mojave in a window alongside other Mac applications. This is a very safe way to try out a beta OS. I’ve done it for years, and I highly recommend it.
Thousands of people use Parallels Desktop to run some version of macOS: Lion, El Capitan, Sierra, or High Sierra. They do it for a number of reasons: to test applications on different macOS versions as developers; to tune it in a sandbox as system admins; to run legacy PowerPC applications using OS X® Snow Leopard; or just to try a new macOS version out of curiosity.
Here’s how you can try Mojave in Parallels Desktop for Mac:
1. Get Parallels Desktop, if you don’t already have it.
- Download Parallels Desktop. You’ll be given a free 14-day trial.
- Install Parallels Desktop—it’s a pretty straightforward process.
Clean other storage android free. If you already have Parallels Desktop on your Mac, make sure it’s version 13.3.2. Earlier versions won’t work with macOS Mojave.
2. Skip the offer to download Windows and you’ll get to the Installation Assistant. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1_The Installation Assistant window in Parallels Desktop
Scroll through the “Free System” row until you see the “Install macOS” item. (It will name the macOS version you currently have on your Mac. Don’t worry about that.) Select it and click Continue. Parallels Desktop will create a software version of a Mac computer (also called a virtual machine or VM) and automatically boot it from the recovery partition of your Mac.
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3. Proceed through the macOS setup: select “Reinstall macOS.” (Don’t worry here either: this will not affect the macOS installed on your Mac.)
macOS will be installed on the virtual disk of the VM that was just created. This is just a file in the Parallels folder in your Documents folder.
4. Now you have a version of macOS running inside a window. Click the yellow triangle in the title bar and install Parallels Tools. Parallels Tools will enhance usability of your virtual computer. You’ll be able to drag and drop files, copy and paste text between systems, and resize windows to change resolution.
5. Now you can upgrade your virtual computer to macOS Mojave. In your new VM, go to the Beta Program page on the Apple site. Sign in and follow the instructions.
6. You will download and run the Beta Access Utility in the virtual computer. Your system will look like Figure 2.
Figure 2_Downloading the Install OS X Mojave application inside your virtual machine
The Install OS X Mojave application will download and launch. Note that this will be about a 5 GB download. Run this application, and soon you’ll have macOS Mojave running in your VM on your Mac.
(Note: As macOS Mojave is not available yet, I’m not 100% sure that steps 5 and 6 are completely accurate. But they are probably very, very close.)
When you have macOS Mojave, it’s time to try its new features: Dark Mode, Dynamic Desktop, new applications and the updated App Store, and more. (See Figure 3.)
Figure 3_Running macOS Mojave in a virtual machine with Parallels Desktop for Mac
Keep in mind that this is a beta version of an operating system, so it might have some issues.
You can help Apple by submitting feedback using Feedback Assistant application. (See Figure 4.)
Figure 4_Use the Feedback Assistant to tell Apple about your experience using macOS Mojave
One interesting thing about macOS Mojave is that it’s likely to be the last macOS to run 32bit applications. This might make it a popular macOS to run in a virtual machine, similar to how Snow Leopard is used to run PowerPC applications via Rosetta.
Parallels Desktop is famous for running Windows applications on Mac. It makes millions of people more productive by running Windows and macOS software side by side on Mac computers. You can also use Parallels Desktop to run many different versions of Linux.
Parallels is excited about the news from Apple and is working hard to get the most out of macOS Mojave in upcoming Parallels Desktop updates.
Important: Known Issues or Limitations
macOS Mojave is a beta release of an operating system. Here are the issues or limitations that we know about today:
- You must use Parallels Desktop 13.3.2 to be able to use macOS Mojave with Parallels Tools. This is a free update to Parallels Desktop 13 for all users.
- Parallels Desktop Lite 1.3.0 and previous versions of Parallels Desktop might experience black screen issues with Mojave guest after the Parallels Tools installation. The macOS Mojave virtual machine will be unusable.
- Known issues of running macOS Mojave in a virtual machine:
- 3D acceleration is not available, so some applications may not work correctly and some graphics artefacts may appear.
- The Parallels Shared Folders icon on the VM desktop may be missing.
- When macOS goes to sleep, the virtual machine gets paused. When you return from pause, there is no mouse cursor. To get the cursor back, just resize the VM window.
- The macOS VM can be switched to Coherence view mode. In Coherence, some application windows may not want to go on top at their selection.
Let us know in the comments about any other issues you experience with the macOS Mojave virtual machine, and let Apple know about your experience with macOS Mojave using its built-in Feedback Assistant (see Figure 4).
How to Get Windows 10 on a macOS Mojave
There are two main methods to install Windows OS on a Macbook: Boot Camp or virtualization software. Installing Windows via Boot Camp will allow you to have both operating systems, macOS and Windows, side by side on your Mac. Virtualization software, on the other hand, will let you have a virtual Windows setup that you can open inside an app. Most popular apps for that are Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion and VirtualBox. This article describes advantages and disadvantages of Boot Camp and virtual machines, so that you can decide which method to choose to install Windows if you have macOS Mojave.
Option 1: Download Windows 10 on a macOS Mojave With BootCamp
Boot Camp comes with your Macbook for free, and it allows you to install Windows alongside macOS, so you can choose which of them to boot on startup. Mac’s Boot Camp Assistant will help you install Windows, partition the startup drive and install necessary drivers.
If you install Windows via Boot Camp, Windows will have all of your Macbook’s resources and can run programs with the maximum possible performance. That’s why dual-booting is ideal for running resource-intensive programs like video-editing software or high-end games.
On the other hand, only one operating system will be able to run at the same time, so you will have to reboot between them depending on which apps you need to run at the moment. Another possible drawback is fact that Windows and macOS use different file systems, and you will not be able to open Mac files on Windows or vice versa unless you install specific third-party drives for it. That is not a problem when using virtual machines.
Option 2: Run Windows 10 on a Macbook Without BootCamp, Using a Virtual Machine
Virtual machines allow you to install and open Windows 10 in a window on your Mac desktop. Windows will “think” it’s running on a real computer, when it is running inside an app. With virtual machines you run both macOS and Windows at the same time, which is handy if you want to open a single Windows program alongside your Mac applications. However, when you run a virtual machine, your computer’s resources are split between the two operating systems, so everything may run slower than usual.
Install Windows 10 on a Mac Mojave With Parallels Desktop
Parallels Desktop is very intuitive and easy-to-use for regular computer users. The app will configure everything for you, even download Windows 10 or utilize the one you already downloaded via Boot Camp. You can open Windows in a separate window (including a full screen mode), or you can turn on Coherence mode. In Coherence mode the virtual machine will run in the background, while Windows programs can run alongside your Mac apps. You can even put Windows programs on your macOS desktop or pin them to Dock. Parallels Desktop allows you to copy and paste or drag and drop between Windows and macOS without any problems.
Parallels Desktop prices start at $79.99, however there is a free trial period available.
Get Windows 10 on a Mac Mojave With VMware Fusion
VMware Fusion is another popular virtualization software for Macbooks. It is close to Parallels in terms of functionality and pricing, but VMware’s Fusion supports a larger number of operating systems than Parallels. On the other hand, Parallels is easier for beginners, and runs a little smoother. Otherwise, these two programs are approximately on the same level.
VMware Fusion offers a free trial period to its users, same as Parallels, so you may try both for free and decide which one you like better, before committing.
Parallels Desktop For Mojave
Install Windows 10 a Mac Via VirtualBox
Parallels Desktop Mac Mojave
If you don’t plan to spend extra money on virtualization software, there’s always VirtualBox by Oracle. VirtualBox is a pretty decent free alternative to paid software if not slower, less polished and missing some handy functions. If you need to run some resource intensive Windows programs, VirtualBox might not be the best choice for you. VirtualBox also requires more technical knowledge than, for example, Parallels, as users need to tune some settings themselves when installing it. However, if you are a power user already or don’t mind doing a little more work, and you are not going to run latest Windows games or video-editing software, VirtualBox is a good (and free!) alternative.