Discover why our latest version is the best upgrade yet!

Stuck in the past? Time to upgrade. Faster performance, longer battery life and 50+ features and enhancements make Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac the best thing to happen to your Windows world.

Features	Descriptions	Parallels Desktop 4.0	Version 3.0	Version 2.5
SmartSelect™	Share software to open any Windows or Mac file-type with the software of your choice.			—
Modality View Mode	View Windows in a scaled view on your desktop for transparent viewing.		—	—
Apple Remote Disk Support	From Windows, access the shared CD/DVD drive on another Mac.		—	—
Clips Tool	Share several Windows or Mac screen captures to the Mac’s clipboard to paste into Apple Mail, iChat or Pages.		—	—
SmartMount	Access removable storage devices from both Windows and Mac at the same time.		—	—
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SmartConnect	Instantly connect USB devices to Windows or Mac based on your set preferences.		Unable to set preferences	Unable to set preferences
Speech Recognition	Control Parallels Desktop for Mac with 24 speech recognition commands — including Coherence and snapshots!		—	—
Shared Internet Apps	Choose your default Windows or Mac software for key Internet Apps.	Web, E-mail, News, FTP, RSS Feeds & Remote Sessions	Web, E-mail & FTP only	—
Edit VM settings while VM is running	Modify VM services, like Shared Internet Applications and PowerSaver modes ’on the fly’ or change hardware settings for the next reboot.		—	—
Native Mac VM Toolbar	Customize the Parallels Desktop for Mac Toolbar to suit your individual needs for the most-used functions.		—	—
Virtual Machine Directory	Manage the list of your VMs and run Windows applications from a single convenient place.		—	—
SmartInstall	Ensure you’re installing the latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac — right from the start.		—	—
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Features	Descriptions	Parallels Desktop 4.0	Version 3.0	Version 2.5
Adaptive Hypersor	Parallels Desktop for Mac automatically assigns resources based on how you use Windows and Mac OS X to optimize performance!		—	—
32- & 64-bit Guest Computing	Virtualize the most in-demand operating system on a Mac.		32-bit only	32-bit only
Multi-Core Processing in a VM	Run the most powerful Windows and Linux applications in a virtual environment.	Up to 4-way with 8-way experimental	Single CPU	Single CPU
Virtual Memory in a Guest VM	Virtualize thousands of your favorite memory-intensive Windows software on a Mac.	8 GB RAM	3 GB RAM	3 GB RAM
Intel® Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE4)	Get better performance from media applications.		—	—
Memory Overcommit	Run more virtual machines on the same Mac as you could before.		—	—
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DirectX Support	Run Windows-only 3D games and graphical software on your Mac.	DirectX 9 with Shaders Model 2.0	DirectX 8	—
OpenGL Support	Render scientific and education graphics with the only supported virtualization solution.	OpenGL 2.1	OpenGL 1.5	—
Video Memory in a VM	Enable crisp screen-resolutions for viewing Windows on a large desktop display.	256 MB	64 MB	32 MB
Supported Guest OSs	Virtualize the most in-demand OS technologies on a Mac.	45+	25+	25+
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Features	Descriptions	Parallels Desktop 4.0	Version 3.0	Version 2.5
Parallels Internet Security	Safeguard your Mac with the best internet and file security technologies for 12-months — powered by Kaspersky!	$79 Value — 12 months	6-months only	—
Acronis True Image 11 Home	Back up your entire VM to restore the entire disk contents in minutes.	$49 Value	—	—
Acronis Disk Director Suite 10	Disk Partitioning Software.	$49 Value	—	—
PowerSave Mode	Get up to 20% more battery life for your Mac while unplugged.		—	—
SmartGuard	Automated Snapshot Scheduling.		—	—
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Multiple Snapshots	Erase mistakes and recover from disaster with a few clicks of your mouse.			—
Mac OS X Leopard	Run Mac OS X Leopard as a guest in a Parallels Desktop VM.		—	—
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Support (experimental)	Run Mac OS X Snow Leopard as your host OS or as a guest in a Parallels Desktop VM.		—	—
Windows 7 as a Guest OS (experimental)	Run Windows 7 as a guest in a Parallels Desktop VM.		—	—
ACPI Power Management	Enable full-hardware power management for graceful shutdowns of your VMs.		—	—
Battery status in a VM	See your battery device in Windows — this is especially important when working in the Full Screen mode.		—	—
Safe Mode VM Session	Safely install trial software or Windows updates and ’accept’ or ’reject’ the changes at the end of the VM session.		—	—
Support for Multiple BC Partitions	Run BootCamp partitions from a hard disk or external drive!		—	—
Parallels Explorer	Access the files and folders in your Windows VM even when its not turned on!			—
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Additional Highlights

Features	Descriptions	Parallels Desktop 4.0	Version 3.0	Version 2.5
PXE Network Boot	Boot Parallels Desktop VM over a network with support for up to 16 adapters.		—	—
VM Templates	Create basic VMs for easy deployment of multiple virtual environments.		—	—
iPhone Remote Control App	Start up and shut down Windows, Linux or any other VM directly from your iPhone.		—	—
Software Developer Kit	Easily integrate and develop third-party solutions that work with Parallels Desktop 4.0.		—	—
CLI & API Support	Use command line interface or industry-supported scripting languages to manage your VMs.		—	—

Discover why our latest version is the best upgrade yet!

Stuck in the past? Time to upgrade. Faster performance, longer battery life and 50+ features and enhancements make Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac the best thing to happen to your Windows world.

What You’ll Need

Upgrading to Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac is the same as it is for a fresh installation. You will need:

• A Parallels Desktop 4.0 Upgrade activation key
• Enough disk space on your Mac or an external storage device to back up your existing virtual machine before you upgrade/convert your VM

Installation

• Download Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac from the Parallels Desktop Download Page.
  IMPORTANT: The version you download must be in the same language as the version you purchase or your activation key will not work.
• As with any software upgrade, be sure to back up your existing Parallels or non-Parallels virtual machine before you upgrade or convert to Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac.
• When you’re done creating your backup, open the downloaded Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac package and follow the prompts.

Your Activation Key

• You will still need to enter your new upgrade activation key, even if you have a permanent (non-trial) activation key for a previous version.
• If you plan to create a fresh installation of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac but you purchased a permanent activation key for a previous version of Parallels Desktop for Mac, you will be prompted to enter both keys — the permanent activation key for previous version and the upgrade activation key.
• Can’t find your activation key? Learn more about how to find your activation key.

Converting to Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac

Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac uses a new virtual hard disk format and will convert your virtual machine to the new format during the installation process. When prompted, you will need to create a backup of your current virtual machine to another location on your Mac or to an external hard drive.

Note: You can convert the virtual hard disk to the previous format using the Parallels Image Tool located in the Mac’s Applications → Parallels folder on your Mac.

Parallels Tools

Parallels Tools is a set of helpful add-ns that optimize and enhance Parallels Desktop’s user-friendly features to give you the smoothest, most seamless experience. Whether you’re upgrading your existing copy of Parallels Desktop or converting your non-Parallels Desktop virtual machine, Parallels Tools will be automatically installed the first time your virtual machine is started.