Software virtualization solution provider Parallels has today announced the availability of Parallels Desktop 16 for macOS. The update mainly brings performance improvements and support for macOS 11 Big Sur, in addition to other enhancements to storage management and battery usage. The company says that it has invested heavily to bring support for Apple’s latest OS that includes revamping kernel extensions.
The firm boasts that Desktop version 16 is “THE fastest version ever released”, adding that the start-up speeds are two times faster than previous versions and that resuming and quitting Windows has also become 20% faster. Graphics performance has also been improved, with DirectX 11-based apps seeing up to 20% performance gains. The new release improves OpenGL support for both Windows and Linux, bringing better support for more Windows applications and games that leverage the APIs. Additionally, it adds that the new version “includes the world’s first support for applications with 3D capabilities running in a macOS Big Sur VM”.
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In addition to bringing performance benefits, Parallels Desktop 16 improves battery life by up to 15% when using Windows in ‘Travel Mode’. The tool also brings a new storage management feature that can let users “reclaim” available disk space when they shut down Windows, improving storage availability.
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The new release brings further integration with macOS that lets users share printers, enable “safe removal check” to avoid accidentally deleting macOS files when working in Windows, and improved trackpad gesture support. There are other enhancements to Linux VMs that improve performance, support for Metal graphics acceleration in macOS Big Sur VMs, and more. The firm adds that it is working with Apple to bring virtualization capabilities to Macs running on Apple Silicon.
Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition and Business Edition users will also receive new features that bring improved virtual machine deployment, the ability to name custom networks, support for 128GB of virtual RAM and 32 virtual CPUs, Microsoft Visual Studio Plugin, and more.
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