Not only Windows on Mac – Free systems in Parallels Desktop

You all know that you can run Windows on your Mac with Parallels Desktop. Today, we want to show you that there is so much more to Parallels Desktop than running Windows on Mac. A large number of existing OSes can be installed in a virtual machine on the Mac with Parallels Desktop. Mac is the perfect platform as all OSes can be virtualized there; under the terms of Apple’s license agreement, Mac OS X can only run on Apple computers.

Free Systems

Parallels Desktop already integrates several free systems, and with Parallels Desktop 12, we have updated and added even more. With the Parallels Wizard (see Figure 1), you can easily find, download, and install the different OSes in a VM. This blog lists the different free systems and discusses the advantages of virtualization.

Mac OS X and macOS

Apart from Windows on Mac, there is a strong need to run different OS X versions in a VM on the Mac. This is especially useful for developers to test software and its compatibility in the specific OS X version. Another reason why VMs with an older version of OS X are frequently used by our customers is that third-party software is not always compatible with the latest OS X version, and new MacBook devices don’t support all OS X versions. In the Parallels Wizard, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan is available, but all other OS X versions as well as the beta of macOS Sierra Updates can be integrated. An older OS X is pretty easy to find in your Mac App Store as long as you have purchased it. Some older versions (10.6, 10.7, 10.8) can also be bought in the Apple Online Store.

Windows 10 development environment

Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition users can also use the Windows 10 development environment that is integrated in the Parallels Wizard. This button downloads a large VM from Microsoft with lots of developer tools pre-installed. These installs include:

Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation, Version 1511 (60-day trial)
Visual Studio 2015 Community Update 2
Windows developer SDK and tools (Build 10586)
Windows IoT Core SDK and Raspberry Pi 2 (Build 10586.0.151029-1700)
Windows IoT Core project templates (Version 1.0)
Microsoft Azure SDK for .NET (Build 2.9)
Windows Bridge for iOS (Build 0.1.160304)
Windows UWP samples (Build 3.0.0)
Windows Bridge for iOS samples

Modern.IE Test Environments

Modern.IE Test Environments are 90-day pre-configured test Windows VMs specially created for software developers and testers. The different test environments range from IE 6 on Windows XP to Microsoft Edge on Windows 10. To install the IE environment, please click here for further instructions.

Betas

A great way to use VMs is to install beta versions of software. As soon as a software manufacturer releases the first beta, you can install it in a VM without damaging your system and delete it in just a few clicks afterward. For example, right now you can install the beta of new macOS Sierra Updates and test what improvements and new features there will be.

Linux Distributions and Other OSes

There are many OSes that are completely free of charge. With just one click, they can be downloaded and a new VM will be created. The following systems are ready to be downloaded in the Parallels Wizard; of course, you can run a large number of additional OSes in a VM on the Mac.

Chromium OS
Ubuntu
Android
Fedora Linux
CentOS Linux
Debian GNU/Linux

If you have any questions regarding free systems in Parallels Desktop, let us know in a comment.

What is your experience with using different OSes in a VM? We would love to hear what you think about it in a comment or on Facebook or Twitter!

Try Parallels Desktop for free for 14 days!

21 comments on “Not only Windows on Mac – Free systems in Parallels Desktop”

Michael B. Schnitzer
October 4, 2019 at 7:20 am

Hi Beatrice. Thank you for this article. It seems to provide answers to some questions that I have, but I wanted to check with you just to be sure. I currently have a 2013 Mac Pro running MacOS 10.12.6 (Sierra), but I’m planning to buy a fully-loaded Mac Mini in a couple of months, which, by that time, will likely ship with MacOS 10.15 (Catalina). I have several 32-bit applications that I still need and which obviously won’t run in 64-bit-only Catalina, so what I wanted to know is whether I can use Parallels Desktop to install Sierra in a Virtual Machine that will run on the Mac Mini. The reason that I’m uncertain about whether or not this setup will work is because of an article on the MacWorld UK website which states: “Macs cannot boot into an OS X version older than the one they shipped with when new, EVEN IF IT’S ON A VIRTUAL MACHINE. If you want to run older versions of OS X on your Mac, you need to get an older Mac that can run them.” Is that true or is it inaccurate? I would greatly appreciate your clarifying the matter for me. Thank you.
Beatrice Vogel
October 7, 2019 at 1:26 am

Hey Michael, Thanks for reaching out. You are right macOS Catalina is the first version macOS to exclusively support 64-bit applications. This means any 32-bit applications will no longer be supported if your Mac is on macOS Catalina. With Parallels Desktop, you can run an older macOS as a virtual machine to support the 32-bit applications you need. In order to use your favorite 32-bit applications on macOS Catalina, please read our blog post: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/32-bit-vs-64-bit/. Thanks a lot 🙂
Marc Kohen
October 8, 2019 at 8:34 pm

Hello Beatrice Vogel.

Great info. https://www.parallels.com/blogs/free-systems/#comment-26682

Additional question. I am running Parallels 13 on my iMac…. with Windoze 10 installed on an external drive. Works perfectly. Am I able to create a virtual machine running Mac OS Mojave on the same external drive that houses my Winroze 10 VM? I need the Mojave, because I have legacy 32-bit Mac apps that will not run when I install Catalina. Thank you very much. Marc
Marc Kohen
October 8, 2019 at 8:34 pm

Hello Beatrice Vogel.

Great info. https://www.parallels.com/blogs/free-systems/#comment-26682

Additional question. I am running Parallels 13 on my iMac…. with Windoze 10 installed on an external drive. Works perfectly. Am I able to create a virtual machine running Mac OS Mojave on the same external drive that houses my Winroze 10 VM? I need the Mojave, because I have legacy 32-bit Mac apps that will not run when I install Catalina. Thank you very much. Marc
Beatrice Vogel
October 9, 2019 at 1:47 am

Hey Marc, Thanks for reaching out. Sure that is absolutely no problem. You can install as many VMs on an external drive as you like. And yes with macOS Catalina dropping support for 32-bit, you may find yourself without your favorite applications. Now, macOS will warn users prior to upgrading to macOS Catalina and showcase the incompatibility. In order to continue using your favorite 32-bit applications on macOS Catalina, the software developers will need to update the software to support 64-bit. If the software developer chooses not to do this, users can utilize a eg. macOS Mojave virtual machine with Parallels Desktop to run their favorite applications on their Mac. Let us know if you have any further questions. Thanks
Beatrice Vogel
October 9, 2019 at 1:48 am

Hey Marc, Thanks for reaching out. Sure that is absolutely no problem. You can install as many VMs on an external drive as you like. And yes with macOS Catalina dropping support for 32-bit, you may find yourself without your favorite applications. Now, macOS will warn users prior to upgrading to macOS Catalina and showcase the incompatibility. In order to continue using your favorite 32-bit applications on macOS Catalina, the software developers will need to update the software to support 64-bit. If the software developer chooses not to do this, users can utilize a eg. macOS Mojave virtual machine with Parallels Desktop to run their favorite applications on their Mac. Let us know if you have any further questions. Thanks
Marc
October 10, 2019 at 5:10 pm

Thank you very much.
Peter
October 24, 2019 at 9:00 am

Hello Beatrice.
Just downloaded this afternoon the trial version.
Unfortunately I can find nowhere any info., if OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard can be run on Parallels.
So far, the installation-assistent-window says, that “the OS can not be recognized” … Tried with a dmg-Imagefile (drag-and-drop as well as choosing it manually) because I do not have the OS physically as a DVD.
Any help and solutions?
Regards, Peter
Marc Cohen
October 24, 2019 at 7:14 pm

Hello Beatrice.

I am following the instructions here…..

https://www.parallels.com/blogs/older-versions-mac-os-x-with-macos-sierra/

But not having any success.

I placed the 6 GB file

Install macOS Mojave.app

On my Catalina desktop on my iMac 5K computer….

I installed Parallels 13, entered registration code… all fine….

Followed the procedures and prompts….

Everything fine…..

macOS Mojave VM scree appears and I am looking at the macOS Utilities….

Install macOS….

Nada…

I have tried two valid operational working USB bootable Mojave macOS sticks… both were used to successful install Mac on my MacBook and iMacs…. When I still used Mojave…

Neither will work when I tried to create this VM for Mojave on my Catalina iMac now.

This copy of the Install Mojave application is damaged and can’t be used to install macOS.

Despite the fact that I have used both successful to clean install both my Macs….

I also copied the file

Install macOS Mojave.app
(not the bootable USB version made with InstallCreator app) too my Catalina desktop….

And tried to use that with Parallels 13…

Parallels 13 created a 6GB file on my desktop

macOS image file.hdd

But the VM creation procedure did not work with that either.

Any ideas how to fix this?

I also have a Time Machine backup from the last time I did a clean installation of Mojave on my iMac… so I tried to restore that to your Parallels 13 Mojave VM….

But received error message that it is no go…..

You cannot restore this backup because this Mac’s firmware does not support booting from APFS….

Which seems bizarre… because that Time Machine was made on this same iMac 5K.

Thank you very much. Marc

PS I have screen captures of the entire installation procedure, if that helps….
Beatrice Vogel
October 25, 2019 at 3:15 am

Hey Peter, No worries. You can definitely run Snow Leopard in a VM with Parallels Desktop. Here are the system requirements: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-15-for-mac-system-requirements/ and here is a page where you can download the different macOS including OS X 10.6: https://krypted.com/mac-os-x/download-older-versions-of-macos-and-mac-os-x/. Let us know if you have any further questions. Thanks
Beatrice Vogel
October 25, 2019 at 3:17 am

Hey Marc, Thanks for your message. The best would be to reach out to our support team – they are happy to help you with this. Please reach out to them on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks
Peter
October 25, 2019 at 5:00 am

Hi Beatrice.
Thanks for confirmation and quick reply.
I downloaded OS X 10.6 with which version I tried, from themacgo.com (https://themacgo.com/mac-os-x-snow-leopard-10-6-dmg-mac-free-download-offline/). Unfortunately the link you sent me does not lead any further, just to an old apple website. But I suppose, OS X 10.6 is all over the same, no matter from where you download it.
However: I tried again today with the already downloaded version by dragging the .dmg file into the assistent (image-file) and this time, to my suprise, it was accepted.
But after this in further steps of the process: Display “Only OS X Server Leopard or OS X Server Snow Leopard can be installed”!!!
So, what do I do now? OS X 10.6 could be installed, but it does not work! So I had to remove it.
I therefore installed OS X 10.6 Server as requested, but during the configuration-procedure, a serial number is requires, which I do not have, because we do not have a server.
Conclusion: OS X 10.6 for ordinary users can be installed but does not work! Server Version might work, but requires a serial number!
To be honest, it is getting annoying.
Regards, Peter
Peter
October 25, 2019 at 5:04 am

Hi Beatrice.
CAN NOT POST REPLY !!!!
Says duplicate!
Peter
Marc
October 26, 2019 at 7:54 pm

Hello Beatrice, Thanks for your message. I found the answer online. It was not a glitch with Parallels… it was with MacOS. This explains it. Frustrating if one encounters it for the first time. One of your support people might want to add it to your online FAQ for other people trying to install mulitple versions of Mac OS with Parallels. I got Mojave going with Parallels 15 on my new installation of Catalina on my iMac 5K. Question. I purchased Parallels 11 outright… then upgraded to Parallels 13. If I upgrade to Parallels 15 (outright pyurchase, not the annula fee enterprise business version)… will I be able to run the older Parallels 13 version on my old Macbook AND run Parallels 15 in my mewer iMac 5K, simultaneously? Thank you very much.
Peter
October 29, 2019 at 2:24 am

Hello?
Still awaiting reply since 25.10.2019.
Regards, Peter
Beatrice Vogel
October 29, 2019 at 8:12 am

Hey Marc, thanks for your message. The best would be you reach out to our support team on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks
Peter
October 29, 2019 at 4:08 pm

Still awaiting reply ……
Obviously, Parallels Desktop does not work with OS X 10.6.8 Client!
Peter
October 30, 2019 at 11:57 am

Wrong answer to my inquiry as of 25.10.2019.
And, then, after 2nd question, correcting reply from Parallels, just since 5 days silence!
This leaves definitely a satisfying experience in terms of support and reaction “in time” …
Beatrice Vogel
October 31, 2019 at 7:58 am

Hey Peter, Sorry for the late response. Our support team is happy to help you with this. Please reach out to them on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks
procracksoftware
July 20, 2020 at 7:52 am

Thank you for helping people get the information they need. Great stuff as usual. Keep up the great work!
Beatrice Vogel
July 21, 2020 at 6:18 am

Thanks 🙂