Installing Windows 11 on Apple Macs is now as simple as a single click

Parallels has announced a new version of its flagship virtual machine software for macOS, which makes it easier than ever to run Windows 11 on Apple Macs.

Parallels Desktop 18 brings with it a host of upgrades, chief among them the ability to launch into a Windows 11 virtual desktop with a single button press.

The new version also boasts twice the Windows app performance on Apple M1 Ultra-powered devices and compatibility with Apple’s ProMotion display technology.

Parallels Desktop 18

There are many reasons someone might want to run Windows 11 on macOS, no matter the strength of their allegiance to Apple.

Using a virtualization tool like Parallels, for example, allows Mac owners to juggle macOS- and Windows-exclusive applications simultaneously and run games that are incompatible with Apple devices.

Typically, virtualization places somewhat of a tax on performance, meaning users are unlikely to be able to run apps quite as smoothly as they would on a regular Windows system.

However, the latest version of Parallels Desktop is designed to deliver as close to native performance as possible, as well as adding support for various new features for personal and business users alike. 

These include the ability to share Xbox and Playstation controllers between the host device and Windows VM, new identity management facilities for IT admins and an option to configure network conditions for VMs running on Apple M1 Macs.

“We are proud of our engineering team that continues to be at the forefront of innovation to offer a remarkably more powerful and seamless Parallels Desktop for Mac experience to our users, that is integrated with the latest macOS Ventura, optimized for the latest Apple hardware, and offers valuable features to deliver even better productivity and performance,” said (opens in new tab) Prashant Ketkar, Chief Technology and Product Officer at Corel, which acquired Parallels back in 2018.

“This is as simple and easy to use as it gets, and our users can rely on Parallels Desktop for Mac to focus on the job at hand.”

Parallels Desktop 18 comes in three flavors – Standard, Pro and Business – each of which offers a slightly different feature set and virtual desktops with varying levels of performance. The three plans cost $99 or £89.99/year, $119.99 or £99.99/year and $149 or £119.99/year, respectively.