• Mac Address
• Parallels Desktop Pro For Mac Number Of Cores Linux

Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac supports Apple’s latest hardware additions, specifically the TouchBar on the company’s latest MacBook Pro models as well as up to 32 virtual CPU cores and up to 128 GB of vRAM per virtual machine on the powerful iMac Pro hardware when it becomes available b. If you would like to move Parallels Desktop from one computer to another, you do not need to buy a new key, simply uninstall the software from the Mac it is currently installed on before installing on a new one. Easily convert your existing Windows Boot Camp partition to a new Parallels Desktop virtual machine. Not just for Windows Run a wide array of operating systems including macOS, Windows 10, 8.1, and 7, Linux, Google Chrome, and more.

Parallels Desktop allows me to assign 1-8 cores to the Windows VM that I'm running. How would changing that number affect the Host OS performance? Currently I have 2 cores assigned to the VM, but it is unclear how Parallels manages them. Parallels Desktop 8 For Mac License Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac License. Parallels Desktop for Mac is the most tested, trusted and talked-about solution for running Windows applications on your Mac. A Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor (Core Solo and Core Duo processors are no longer supported) 4 GB of memory (8 GB recommended). 850 MB of disk space on the boot volume for Parallels Desktop installation. Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac License Parallels Desktop for Mac is the most tested, trusted and talked-about solution for running Windows applications on your Mac. With Parallels Desktop for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side without rebooting.

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• Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac

When I last reviewed virtualization software in 2008, I found Parallels Desktop 4 for Mac effective, but saddled with a bit of bugginess and lacking some DirectX support. Parallels 5 Desktop for Mac (I tested build 9308) solves both problems, while adding features and improving performance.

Mac Address

Among the most notable of those new features: a much-faster virtualization engine; automatic compression of Windows’ hard disks; a new virtual machine manager; and a new lockdown mode, which requires a password to exit full screen mode, make changes to the virtual machine state, or manage snapshots (perfect for system administrators who don’t want end-users mucking up their machines).

Installation, setup

I tested Parallels Desktop 5 by using it to install Windows XP Pro, Windows 7 Ultimate (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions), and Ubuntu Linux 9.10 on my Mac Pro (2.66GHz quad core with 8GB of RAM, running OS X 10.6.2).

Installing both Windows and Linux is easy in Parallels; it has assistants that automate the process for both. It also installs Parallels Tools, which handles the task of mouse integration between the guest OS and Mac OS, as well as allowing easy guest desktop resizing by resizing the guest OS window.

There are a couple aspects of installing guest OSes that could be improved. First, every time you create a new virtual machine, Parallels creates an alias to that virtual machine on your OS X Desktop. There’s no way to avoid this, so if you find the aliases useless (as I do), you have to manually remove them each time you create a virtual machine.

More troubling is that, when creating a new Windows virtual machine, the default settings are for full integration of the Mac OS and the Windows guest—the default even sets the Windows’ user folder to the Mac’s Users folder. As someone who has personally experienced Windows malware infections, total integration is not something I recommend for most virtual machine users, and yet it’s the default behavior in Parallels.

Parallels also defaults to booting Windows virtual machines in the fully-integrated Coherence mode, where the Windows desktop vanishes, and Windows’ windows are intermingled with those of OS X. For someone expecting a standard Windows interface after installation, this can be disconcerting.

The basics

Like Fusion 3, Parallels 5 now supports Windows Aero in Windows 7, and also includes OpenGL 2.1 acceleration in both XP Pro and Windows 7 (Fusion only supports OpenGL 2.1 in Windows XP Pro). In addition, OpenGL acceleration is included in Linux guests, enabling full visual effects (such as windows that deform when dragged) in Linux systems such as Ubuntu 9.10. More usefully, you’ll also be able to run Linux programs that require OpenGL acceleration. Parallels is alone in its support for OpenGL 2.1 in Linux and Windows 7. I found the Aero effects worked very smoothly in Windows 7 on my Mac Pro.

As with its competitors, Parallels handles typical office productivity applications with ease, in both Windows and Linux. Microsoft Office (Windows) and OpenOffice (Linux) both ran well, and had no troubles with the mixture of spreadsheets and documents I tried opening and editing in both. Web browsers and e-mail clients also performed well; if this is the extent of your virtual machine needs, Parallels 5 will easily meet your requirements.

Parallels 5 was also the fastest of the three programs I tested in the vast majority of the benchmark tests I ran—including the all-important real-world tests. Whether it was copying files to or from the Mac, or expanding zip archives, Parallels easily outpaced its competition. As one example, copying 2.5GB worth of files from the Mac to a Windows 7 machine via a shared folder took just over a minute in Parallels. That same task took nearly two minutes in VirtualBox, and about a minute and a half in Fusion.

Suspending, waking, booting, and shutting down were all quickest in Parallels, too. There’s a small caveat there, at least with suspending. When I tried sleeping the machine while a 3D game was running, it worked, but the game didn’t work after waking from sleep. In Fusion, the same experiment worked just fine—so one tradeoff of the faster sleep time in Parallels is, at least in my testing, an inability to sleep and then resume a 3D game. As a user, you’ll have to decide whether the faster suspend times in general are worth this tradeoff when trying to suspend an in-progress 3D game. (This may not be an issue with all games, but it was in the two I tested with.)

Like Fusion 3, Parallels 5 offers improved multi-monitor support, treating two displays as separate monitors in Windows, and as one large gargantuan display in Linux. Adding a third screen to the mix worked perfectly in Windows. In Linux, however, the third screen was seen by the system (the horizontal resolution reflected its existence), but it was all white, and I couldn’t see anything that I dragged onto that screen.

To make working in full-screen mode easier, Parallels 5 lets you specify behaviors for mousing into the four screen corners—you can switch to one of the other available view modes, or show the Parallels menu bar. Once you’ve set a behavior for a corner, moving the mouse into that corner will “peel down” and reveal a bit of your OS X desktop. Unfortunately, there’s no visual indication of what happens if you then click the mouse, so you’ll need to remember which corner you’ve assigned to which task.

New looks for Windows

Parallels 5 features a new view mode, Crystal, along with a new Mac-like theme for use within Windows. Crystal view mode takes Coherence mode one step further. You won’t find the Start menu or task bar anywhere in Crystal mode—in fact, you won’t even see the Parallels Desktop icon in your Dock. Instead, a menu bar icon lets you change view modes, see the Windows Start menu, or work with attached devices. You’ll also find your task bar icons (optionally) in the menu bar, and Windows Applications folder in your OS X Dock. Any open windows will be integrated with your OS X windows, as in Coherence mode.

Crystal mode works reasonably well, though you can’t Command-Tilde to toggle between multiple windows of the same Windows’ application, nor can you use Snow Leopard’s Dock Exposé mode with Windows’ windows. Both of these features work as expected in Fusion. I also found that dragging windows around in Crystal mode, when using an Aero theme in Windows 7, was quite laggy on my Mac Pro. I had much better results after I disabled Aero in Crystal mode (you can control this in the virtual machine’s Settings).

I experienced some strangeness when I had Windows Media Player window open in Crystal mode, and then used Exposé’s All Windows mode. In addition to the opened windows, I also saw three “ghost” windows for Windows Media Player, and some visual distortion was visible in the Excel window.

Selecting any one of these “ghost” windows would simply switch to Windows Media Player, so it wasn’t a critical issue, but it definitely looks odd when using Exposé.

The second new look for Windows in Parallels is MacLook, which is actually an OS X-like theme for Windows (XP, Vista, and 7). You apply MacLook via the View menu, and Parallels then works for a minute or two to install the theme. The objective is to make Windows less visually shocking for someone switching between the Mac OS and the Windows OS.

While that’s the idea, I think MacLook fails fairly badly in achieving the goal.

Aug 02, 2017  Got rid of Access Windows folder from Mac and Win 10 CPU usage 2% (yes two percent) at idle and MacOS Sierra CPU usage at 9.4%. That is a staggering difference. There really is a MAJOR defect in parallels 12 with the access windows folder from mac option. Parallels for mac cpu usage. Dec 10, 2009  I just installed Parallels 5 the other day and it seems to have an abnormally high CPU usage, especially with a process called 'prl_vm_app.' It gets to the point where the computer runs very slow and very hot (according to iStat, CPU temp is reading 185 degrees F!).

Because not every element in Windows is themable, what MacLook winds up giving you is a series of different-looking windows within Windows—some look something like OS X windows, others look like native Windows windows, and still others look like some strange Frankenstinian mixture of the two.

Some windows are square, others are rounded; none seem to have shadows and some are missing edge borders; some have the red/yellow/green buttons from OS X at the top right, some at the top left, and others lack them completely.

I can’t imagine that anyone who likes and uses the OS X interface regularly will find MacLook to be an improvement over the stock Windows theme—at least there’s some consistency there, and the windows all mostly look the same.

When I unchecked the MacLook entry in the View menu, which should disable MacLook, I had some issues in Windows 7—the uninstall process didn’t quite complete, leaving an even odder mix of window appearances. I was able to resolve that issue by using the Personalization section of Windows preferences to pick a stock Aero theme.

Graphics and gaming

Parallels Desktop 5 has a very good engine for gaming. I had excellent results with older games, and very good results even with more-recent releases. The demo version of Call of Duty 4, which I was unable to run with decent frame rates in Fusion, ran acceptably (albeit at minimum levels of detail) after some tweaking in Parallels.

With OpenGL acceleration in all main versions of Windows (and Linux), Parallels can handle programs that the other two virtualization apps just aren’t capable of running at present. In addition, Parallels’ OpenGl implementation, as measured in the Cinebench benchmarking test, was the fastest of the three programs in any version of Windows. (All game tests were done in Windows 7, to stress the virtual machine as much as possible.)

Parallels also does an admirable job with DirectX games in Windows. For example, I was able to play the MotoGP 08 demo with good frame rates in a 1024x768 window, though the audio did stutter a bit.

More impressively, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, a program that just a few years ago required a high-end PC to run at all, ran admirably well in Parallels. The audio was mostly stutter free, and the frame rate in a 1024x768-sized window was more than acceptable in the missions I tested.

That’s not to say I was getting anywhere near the frame rate I’d get if I were to reboot my Mac and run Flight Sim X natively via Boot Camp. However, for someone who doesn’t need every bit of speed in their games, the loss in frame rate may be worth the convenience of not having to reboot.

Most older games run very well, so much so that there’s no reason to reboot via Boot Camp to play “vintage” titles. Note that some older games may need to run on older versions of Windows; Windows 7 won’t run all your older games.

Given what was possible in gaming and graphics with the first version of Parallels a few years back—basically nothing—it’s amazing how much progress has been made in a very short period of time.

Multimedia performance

To test Parallels’ media handling, I watched a 1080p Windows HD media file in full screen mode in each version of Windows. I was watching for visual glitches, listening for any disruption in audio playback, and tracking CPU usage to see how each virtual machine handled the task.

In short, all three of the Windows OSes handled the HD video file without any major issues. The one-CPU Windows 7 box had a bit more variation in frame rate than did the two-CPU machines, but it was very hard to spot unless watching the video back-to-back (which I did, many times).

Other features and observations

This version of Parallels cleans up the installation on a Mac—in prior versions, Parallels’ virtual network drivers were visible in the Network System Preferences panel. In Parallels Desktop 5, those drivers no longer appear, preventing possible user confusion.

Also new in Parallels 5 is support for Apple’ multi-touch gestures (swipe, rotate, pinch) using an Apple Magic Mouse or the trackpad in a multi-touch capable Apple laptop (you can also use an Apple Remote for some basic control, if you wish). Parallels Tools takes care of the communication between the mouse/track pad and the guest OS, so there are no special requirements on the Windows side—gestures simply work in Windows XP and newer.

I tested this using XP Pro on my MacBook Pro, and it worked as described. I was able to use pinch to zoom in/out on images in Microsoft’s Picture Viewer, and to change the size of the text on an Internet Explorer page. Rotation gestures also worked as expected on the images. If you’re a laptop or Magic Mouse user, this is a nice addition to your Windows virtual machines.

As you can probably tell from the features described in this review, Parallels is a feature-rich program. Sometimes, though, feature overload can lead to a complex user interface, and there are spots in Parallels where that’s the case.

Take the virtual machine Configuration panel, for instance, which contains 15 separate sections. Or the Preferences panel, which includes 11 separate tabs, some of which contain a large number of items that can be configured. While these sections and tabs are relatively well laid out, the sheer number of choices can cause confusion.

For example, you might think that defining how Mac and Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts coexist would be found in the virtual machine Configuration panel…but that’s not the case. Instead, you define the shortcuts in the Preferences panel, where you can set up definitions for Windows, Linux, OS X, and generic guests.

• Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac

  Pros

  • Multi-touch support
  • Very fast in all facets of use
  • Very good DirectX and OpenGL support
  • Cleaner installation than prior releases
  • Feature rich

  Cons

  • Sleep mode may prevent resuming 3D games
  • MacLook theme for Windows isn't all that good
  • Features add complexity
  • Defaults to fully-integrated OS X/Windows mode

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Optimizing Parallels Desktop for Mac for the best performance of a guest OS may seem to be largely a matter of customizing the performance of the guest OS itself, such as turning off visual effects in various Windows OSes. But before you start fine-tuning your Windows or other guest OS, you should first give the Parallels guest OS configuration options a tune-up. Only then can you get the best results from a guest OS.

Parallels Desktop Pro For Mac Number Of Cores Linux

In this guide, we're going to benchmark how well Windows 7 performs as a guest OS using Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac. We chose Windows 7 for a few reasons. It's the most current Windows OS available; it's available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, which makes it usable on just about all Intel Macs; and, perhaps most importantly, we just installed Windows 7 (64-bit) on Parallels to perform benchmark comparisons between Parallels, VMWare's Fusion, and Oracle's Virtual Box. With Windows 7 installed, along with our two favorite cross-platform benchmarking tools (Geekbench and CINEBENCH), we're ready to find out which settings have the most effect on guest OS performance.

Performance Tuning Parallels

We're going to test the following Parallels guest OS configuration options with our benchmark tools:

• Performance Caching Options (Faster Virtual Machine or Faster Mac)
• Adaptive Hypervisor Enabled or Disabled
• Tune Windows for Speed Enabled or Disabled
• Video RAM size
• 3D Acceleration
• Guest OS RAM Size
• Number of CPU/Cores

Of the above parameters, we expect RAM size and number of CPUs to play a prominent role in guest OS performance, and Video Ram Size and 3D Acceleration to play a smaller role. We don't think the remaining options will provide a significant boost to performance, but we've been wrong before, and it's not unusual to be surprised at what performance tests reveal.

Optimize Parallels Desktop - Parallels Guest OS Optimization

Optimize Parallels Desktop - How We Test

We will use Geekbench 2.1.10 and CINEBENCH R11.5 to measure the performance of Windows 7 as we alter the guest OS configuration options.

The Benchmark Tests

Geekbench tests the processor's integer and floating-point performance, tests memory using a simple read/write performance test, and performs a stream test that measures sustained memory bandwidth. The results of the set of tests are combined to produce a single Geekbench score. We will also break out the four basic test sets (Integer Performance, Floating-Point Performance, Memory Performance, and Stream Performance), so we can see the strengths and weaknesses of each virtual environment.

CINEBENCH performs a real-world test of a computer's CPU, and its graphics card's ability to render images. The first test uses the CPU to render a photorealistic image, using CPU-intensive computations to render reflections, ambient occultation, area lighting and shading, and more. We perform the tests using a single CPU or core, and then repeat the test using multiple CPUs or cores. The result produces a reference performance grade for the computer using a single processor, a grade for all CPUs and cores, and an indication of how well multiple cores or CPUs are utilized.

The second CINEBENCH test evaluates the performance of the computer's graphics card using OpenGL to render a 3D scene while a camera moves within the scene. This test determines how fast the graphics card can perform while still accurately rendering the scene.

Testing Methodology

With seven different Guest OS configuration parameters to test, and with some parameters having multiple options, we could end up performing benchmark tests well into next year. To cut down on the number of tests to perform, and still generate meaningful results, we're going to start by testing amount of RAM and number of CPUs/Cores, since we think these variables will have the biggest impact. We will then use the worst RAM/CPU configuration and the best RAM/CPU configuration when we test the remaining performance options.

We will perform all testing after a fresh startup of both the host system and the virtual environment. Both the host and the virtual environment will have all anti-malware and antivirus applications disabled. All virtual environments will be run within a standard OS X window. In the case of the virtual environments, no user applications will be running other than the benchmarks. On the host system, with the exception of the virtual environment, no user applications will be running other than a text editor to take notes before and after testing, but never during the actual test process.

Optimize Parallels Desktop - 512 MB RAM vs. Multiple CPUs/Cores

We'll start this benchmark by assigning 512 MB of RAM to the Windows 7 guest OS. This is the minimum amount of RAM recommended by Parallels to run Windows 7 (64-bit). We thought it was a good idea to start our memory performance testing at below optimum levels, to determine how performance does or doesn't improve as memory is increased.

After setting the 512 MB RAM allotment, we ran each of our benchmarks using 1 CPU/Core. After the benchmarks were complete, we repeated the test using 2 and then 4 CPUs/Cores.

512 MB Memory Results

What we found was pretty much what we expected. Windows 7 was able to perform well, even though memory was below the recommended levels. In the Geekbench Overall, Integer, and Floating Point tests, we saw performance improve nicely as we threw additional CPUs/Cores at the tests. We saw the best scores when we made 4 CPUs/Cores available to Windows 7. The memory portion of Geekbench showed little change as CPUs/Cores were added, which is what we expected. However, the Geekbench Stream test, which measures memory bandwidth, showed a noticeable decline as we added CPUs/Cores to the mix. We saw the best Stream result with just a single CPU/core.

Our assumption is that the additional overhead of the virtual environment to use additional CPUs/Cores is what ate into the stream bandwidth performance. Even so, the improvement in the Integer and Floating Point tests with multiple CPUs/Cores is probably well worth the slight drop in Stream performance for most users.

Our CINEBENCH results also showed just about what we expected. Rendering, which uses the CPU to draw a complex image, improved as more CPUs/Cores were added to the mix. The OpenGL test uses the graphics card, so there were no noticeable changes as we added CPUs/Cores.

Optimize Parallels Desktop - 1 GB RAM vs. Multiple CPUs/Cores

We'll start this benchmark by assigning 1 GB of RAM to the Windows 7 guest OS. This is the recommended memory allocation for Windows 7 (64-bit), at least according to Parallels. We thought it was a good idea to test with this memory level, because it's likely to be the option for many users.

After setting the 1 GB RAM allotment, we ran each of our benchmarks using 1 CPU/Core. After the benchmarks were complete, we repeated the test using 2 and then 4 CPUs/Cores.

1 GB Memory Results

What we found was pretty much what we expected; Windows 7 was able to perform well, even though memory was below the recommend level. In the Geekbench Overall, Integer, and Floating Point tests, we saw performance improve nicely as we threw additional CPUs/Cores at the tests. We saw the best scores when we made 4 CPUs/Cores available to Windows 7. The memory portion of Geekbench showed little change as we added CPUs/Cores, which is what we expected. However, the Geekbench Stream test, which measures memory bandwidth, showed a noticeable decline as we added CPUs/Cores to the mix. We saw the best Stream result with just a single CPU/core.

Our assumption is that the additional overhead of the virtual environment to use additional CPUs/Cores is what ate into the stream bandwidth performance. Even so, the improvement in the Integer and Floating Point tests with multiple CPUs/Cores is probably well worth the slight drop in Stream performance for most users.

Our CINEBENCH results also showed just about what we expected. Rendering, which uses the CPU to draw a complex image, improved as more CPUs/Cores were added to the mix. The OpenGL test uses the graphics card, so there were no noticeable changes as we added CPUs/Cores.

One thing we noticed right away was that while overall performance numbers in each test were better than the 512 MB configuration, the change was marginal, hardly what we expected. Of course, the benchmark tests themselves aren't very memory-bound to begin with. We expect that real-world applications that do use memory heavily would see a boost from the added RAM.

Optimize Parallels Desktop - 2 GB RAM vs. Multiple CPUs/Cores

We'll start this benchmark by assigning 2 GB of RAM to the Windows 7 guest OS. This is likely to be the upper end of RAM allocation for most individuals who run Windows 7 (64-bit) under Parallels. We anticipate a bit better performance than the 512 MB and 1 GB tests we ran earlier.

After setting the 2 GB RAM allotment, we ran each of our benchmarks using 1 CPU/Core. After the benchmarks were complete, we repeated the tests using 2 and then 4 CPUs/Cores.

2 GB Memory Results

What we found wasn't quite what we expected. Windows 7 performed well, but we didn't expect to see such a small performance increase based on just the amount of RAM. In the Geekbench Overall, Integer, and Floating Point tests we saw performance improve nicely as we threw additional CPUs/Cores at the tests. We saw the best scores when we made 4 CPUs/Cores available to Windows 7. The memory portion of Geekbench showed little change as we added CPUs/Cores, which is what we expected. However, the Geekbench Stream test, which measures memory bandwidth, showed a noticeable decline as we added CPUs/Cores to the mix. We saw the best Stream result with just a single CPU/core.

Our assumption is that the additional overhead of the virtual environment to use additional CPUs/Cores is what ate into the stream bandwidth performance. Even so, the improvement in the Integer and Floating Point tests with multiple CPUs/Cores is probably well worth the slight drop in Stream performance for most users.

Our CINEBENCH results also showed just about what we expected. Rendering, which uses the CPU to draw a complex image, improved as more CPUs/Cores were added to the mix. The OpenGL test uses the graphics card, so there were no noticeable changes as we added CPUs/Cores.

One thing we noticed right away was that while overall performance numbers in each test were better than the 512 MB configuration, the change was marginal, hardly what we expected. Of course, the benchmark tests themselves aren't very memory-bound to begin with. We expect that real-world applications that do use memory heavily would see a boost from the added RAM.

Parallels Memory and CPU Allocation - What We Discovered

After testing Parallels with memory allocations of 512 RAM, 1 GB RAM, and 2 GB RAM, along with testing with multiple CPU/Core configurations, we came to some definite conclusions.

RAM Allocation

For the purposes of benchmark testing, the amount of RAM had little influence on overall performance. Yes, allocating more RAM did generally improve benchmark scores, but not at a substantial enough rate to warrant depriving the host OS (OS X) of RAM that it could put to better use.

Remember, though, that while we didn't see big improvements, we only tested the guest OS using benchmark tools. The actual Windows applications that you use may indeed be able to perform better with more RAM available to them. However, it's also clear that if you use your guest OS to run Outlook, Internet Explorer, or other general applications, you probably won't see any improvement by throwing more RAM at them.

CPUs/Cores

The biggest performance increase came from making additional CPUs/Cores available to the Parallels guest OS. Doubling the number of CPUs/Cores didn't produce a doubling in performance. The best performance increase came in the Integer test, with a 50% to 60% increase when we doubled the number of available CPU/Cores. We saw a 47% to 58% improvement in the Floating Point test when we doubled the CPUs/Cores.

However, because the Overall score includes memory performance, which saw little change, or in the case of Stream test, a decline as CPUs/Cores were increased, the Overall percentage improvement only ranged from 26% to 40%.

The Results

We were looking for two RAM/CPU configurations to use for the rest of our tests, the worst performing and best performing. Remember that when we say 'worst,' we're only referring to performance in the Geekbench benchmark test. The worst performance in this test is actually decent real-world performance, usable for most basic Windows applications, such as email and web browsing.

• Worst: 512 MB RAM and 1 CPU
• Best: 1 GB RAM and 4 CPUs

Parallels Video Performance - Video RAM Size

In this video performance test of Parallels, we're going to use two baseline configurations. The first will be 512 MB of RAM and a single CPU allocated to the Windows 7 guest OS. The second configuration will be 1 GB of RAM and 4 CPUs allocated to the Windows 7 guest OS. For each configuration, we'll change the amount of video memory assigned to the guest OS, to see how it effects performance.

We will use CINEBENCH R11.5 to benchmark graphics performance. CINEBENCH R11.5 runs two tests. The first is OpenGL, which measures the ability of the graphics system to accurately render an animated video. The test requires that each frame be rendered accurately, and measures the overall frame rate achieved. The OpenGL test also requires that the graphics system support hardware-based 3D acceleration. So, we'll always perform the tests with hardware acceleration enabled in Parallels.

The second test involves rendering a static image. This test uses the CPU to render a photorealistic image, using CPU-intensive computations to render reflections, ambient occultation, area lighting and shading, and more.

Expectations

We expect to see some difference in the OpenGL test as we change video RAM size, provided there is enough RAM to allow hardware acceleration to operate. Likewise, we expect the rendering test to be affected mostly by the number of CPUs available to render the photorealistic image, with little effect from the amount of video RAM.

With those assumptions in place, let's see how Parallels 6 Desktop for Mac benchmarks.

Parallels Video Performance Results

We saw little effect on the OpenGL test from changing the number of CPUs/Cores available to the guest OS. We did, however, see a slight falloff (3.2 %) in performance when we lowered the amount of video RAM from 256 MB to 128 MB.

The rendering test responded as expected to the number of CPUs/Cores available; the more the merrier. But we also saw a slight performance dip (1.7 %) when we dropped video RAM from 256 MB to 128 MB. We didn't really expect the video RAM size to have the effect it did. Even though the change was small, it was repeatable and measurable.

Parallels Video Performance Conclusion

Although the actual performance changes between video RAM sizes were marginally different, they were nevertheless measurable. And since there doesn't seem to be an outstanding reason to set video memory below the currently supported maximum size of 256 MB, it seems safe to say that the default 256 MB video RAM setting with 3D hardware acceleration enabled is indeed the best setting to use for any guest OS.

Optimize Parallels Desktop - Best Configuration for Guest OS Performance

With the benchmarks out of the way, we can turn to tuning Parallels 6 Desktop for Mac for the best performance for the guest OS.

Memory Allocation

What we found was that memory allocation had less effect on the performance of the guest OS then we first thought. What this indicates is that Parallels' built-in caching system, which is designed to aid in the base performance of the guest OS, works very well, at least for guest OSes that Parallels knows about. If you choose an unknown guest OS type, then Parallels caching may not work as well.

Therefore, when setting memory allocation for the guest OS, the key to determining the size to use is the applications you will run in the guest OS. You won't see much improvement in basic non-memory-intensive applications, such as email, browsing, and word processing, by lavishing memory on them.

Where you will see benefits from upping the memory allocation is with applications that do use a lot of RAM, such as graphics, games, complex spreadsheets, and multimedia editing.

Our recommended memory allocation then is 1 GB for most guest OSes and the basic applications they will run. Increase that amount for games and graphics, or if you're seeing subpar performance.

CPU/Cores Allocation

By far, this setting has the most effect on guest OS performance. However, as with memory allocation, if the applications you use don't need a lot of performance, you're wasting CPUs/Cores that your Mac could use if you increase the CPU/Core assignment unnecessarily. For basic applications such as email and web browsing, 1 CPU is fine. You'll see improvements in games, graphics, and multimedia with multiple cores. For these types of applications, you should assign at least 2 CPU/Cores, and more, if possible.

Video RAM Settings

This actually turned out to be pretty simple. For any Windows-based guest OS, use the maximum video RAM (256 MB), enable 3D Acceleration, and enable Vertical Synchronization.

Optimization Settings

Set the Performance setting to 'Faster virtual machine.' This will allocate physical memory from your Mac to be dedicated to the guest OS. This can improve guest OS performance, but can also reduce the performance of your Mac if you have limited memory available.

Turning the Enable Adaptive Hypervisor feature on allows the CPUs/Cores on your Mac to be assigned to whichever application is currently in focus. This means that as long as the guest OS is the foremost application, it will have a higher priority over any Mac applications you are running at the same time.

The Tune Windows for Speed option will automatically disable some Windows features that tend to slow down performance. These are mostly visual GUI elements, such as slow fading of windows and other effects.

Set Power to 'Better performance.' This will allow the guest OS to run at full speed, regardless of how that will affect the battery in a portable Mac.

Optimize Parallels Desktop - Best Configuration for Mac Performance

Tuning Parallels' guest OS configuration options for best Mac performance assumes that you have guest OS applications that you wish to leave running at all times, and that you want them to have minimal impact on your use of your Mac. An example would be running Outlook in the guest OS, so you can frequently check your corporate email. You want your Mac applications to continue to run, without any big performance hit from running the virtual machine.

Memory Allocation

Set the guest OS to the minimum memory required for the OS plus the applications you wish to run. For basic Windows applications, such as email and browsers, 512 MB should be sufficient. This will leave more RAM for your Mac applications.

CPUs/Cores Allocation

Because guest OS performance isn't the goal here, setting the guest OS to have access to a single CPU/Core should be adequate to ensure that the guest OS can operate well, and that your Mac isn't unduly burdened.

Video RAM Allocation

Video RAM and its related setting actually have little impact on your Mac's performance. We suggest leaving it at the default setting for the guest OS.

Optimization Settings

Set the Performance setting to 'Faster Mac OS.' This will give preference to allocating physical memory to your Mac instead of dedicating it to the guest OS, and improve your Mac's performance. The downside is that the guest OS could be short on available memory, and perform slowly until your Mac makes memory available to it.

Turn the Enable Adaptive Hypervisor feature on to allow the CPUs/Cores on your Mac to be assigned to whichever application is currently in focus. This means that as long as the guest OS is in the background, it will have a lower priority than any Mac application you're running at the same time. When you switch focus to the guest OS, you will see an increase in performance while you're working with it. Parallels for mac youtube.

The Tune Windows for Speed feature will automatically disable some Windows features that tend to slow down performance. These are mostly visual GUI elements, such as slow fading of windows and other effects. Overall, the Tune Windows for Speed settings won't have much effect on your Mac's performance, but should give the guest OS a nice boost when you're actively working with it.

Set Power to 'Longer Battery Life' to reduce the performance of the guest OS and extend the battery in a portable Mac. If you're not using a portable Mac, this setting won't really make much difference.