Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac Review

One of the areas where we always want to see improvements in any new version of a virtualization app is performance. From version to version, we want to see improvements in both processor performance and graphics performance.

I took a quick look both processor and graphics performance, using Geekbench and CINEBENCH to get an idea of the overall performance. I'm happy to say that Parallels Desktop 7, at least on this cursory look at performance, delivers improvements over Parallels Desktop 6.

That's no mean feat. Parallels Desktop 6 was already the fastest virtualization app that we have tested, so when Parallels said they were going to squeeze out additional performance, it was gratifying to see that they weren't just talking about a few points here or there, but an overall improvement across the board.

I limited my quick performance test to Parallels Desktop 7 running Windows 7 as the guest OS. It was configured with 2 CPUs and 2 GB of RAM.

Geekbench 2.2 results (Parallels 7/Parallels 6):

• Overall: 7005 / 6000


• Integer: 5320 / 5575


• Floating Point: 9381 / 6311


• Memory: 6372 / 6169


• Stream: 5862 / 5560

CineBench R11.5 (Parallels 7/Parallels 6):

• Rendering: 2.37 / 2.37


• OpenGL: 39.28 fps / 4.08 fps

As you can see, Parallels Desktop 7 showed an improvement in just about every category, which led me to try a few PC games. In all cases, I found them quite playable, but I will need to do more testing, just to be sure. After all, you can't be too thorough.

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac is without a doubt the best release of Parallels I have seen. It provides plenty of new features and performance improvements to warrant upgrading, and although I haven't yet tested Parallels Desktop 7 head-to-head against other popular virtualization applications, it seems that Parallels will once again come out on top.

If you're looking for a virtualization app for your Mac, Parallels easily deserves consideration.

Now you'll have to excuse me; it's time to get back to testing the graphics with some of the PC games we've got hanging around.

Pros:

• Supports Apple's multi-touch gestures within the Windows OS.


• Works with Expose, Spaces, and Mission Control.


• Works with Lion's full screen capabilities.


• Offers improved graphics performance.


• Gives you the choice of running it in a windowed environment or integrated as part of your Mac desktop.


• Guest OSes are easy to set up with the built-in wizards.


• Improved battery life when running on portables.


• Can virtualize OS X Lion and Lion Server.


• Can run multiple guest OSes (Windows, Linux, OS X) simultaneously.

Cons

• Installation process removes earlier versions of Parallels Desktop.


• Guest OSes must be updated to work properly.


• Features are dependent on the host OS you are using (Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion).


• No support for DirectX 10.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.