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Parallels Desktop for Mac
Student Edition
Students save 50% on this special academic version of Parallels Desktop
- Run thousands of Windows programs side-by-side on your Mac without rebooting
- Save money and avoid buying a second computer to run PC programs
- Easily convert your existing PC to a virtual machine, or install a new
- Includes Parallels® Toolbox: 40+ one-click productivity tools to help with take quick screenshots, minimize distractions, or download video and audio from the web
- Includes premium 24/7 support via phone and email for 30 days
Are you a student who owns a Mac computer but needs to run a Microsoft Windows program?
As a student, you may be up to your ears in financial costs associated with finishing school. You can reduce your hardware costs and avoid purchasing a PC with Parallels Desktop® for Mac. No need to buy an additional computer to pass a class.
By utilizing Parallels Desktop, millions of users go beyond the limitations of hardware to achieve their goals. Save precious money and time by running Windows on your Mac without rebooting.
Try NowIn this video, you'll find the playback speed has increased. The video shows a typical experience on a Mac powered by the Intel processor. Information on the M1 experience may be found in this article.
Reviews
“This product is excellent. Being able to have Mac and Windows run simultaneously is great; you get the best of both worlds!”
- David H.,
Aerospace Systems Student
“Parallels Desktop is stable and agile. Running MacOS and Windows at the same time instead of using Boot Camp is seamless.”
- Kristian K.,
Economics Student
“Parallels works very well. I love having the shared drive with MacOS and the ability to use Coherence Mode which makes running Windows apps for my programming classes so simple.”
- Christopher P.,
Computer Science Student
Frequently Asked Questions
Currently enrolled students who would like to run Windows on Mac.
Verify your educational email to receive 50% off your purchase. You’ll receive an automated email with your product key, and you can get started within minutes.
Currently, the standard version of Parallels Desktop for Mac is the only product version that is qualified for a 50% off education discount. Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition and Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition do not qualify for an education discount.
No, Microsoft Windows is not included with your purchase of Parallels Desktop. You can purchase Microsoft Windows directly from Parallels or in the product itself.
Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 are the most popular OSes run within Parallels Desktop. Additionally, Linux, Google Chrome OS™, and other OSes are also supported. You can find a full list of guest operating systems that are supported on our Resources page.
Parallels has millions of users worldwide that run hundreds of Windows programs on Mac without rebooting. Popular Windows programs include Microsoft Office, 2D and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) programs, Microsoft Visual Studio, and Steam. Don’t see the program you need to run above? Download a free 14-day trial and test it out before you buy.
Parallels® Desktop 18 for Mac System Requirements
Supported Mac Configurations
| Minimum Run most applications such as Microsoft Office, accounting software, trading software, SAP, Matlab, and more. |
Best Performance For graphics-intensive applications, high loads, and running multiple, virtual machines. |
|
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Apple M2, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips, Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor | Apple M2, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips, Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9 or Xeon processor |
| Memory | 4 GB of RAM | 16 GB of RAM or more |
| Storage | 600 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows OS) |
SSD drive |
| Graphics | Apple M2, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips Intel, AMD Radeon, or NVIDIA graphics cards |
Apple M2, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips AMD Radeon Pro graphics card |
| Operating System | macOS Ventura 13.0 macOS Monterey 12.4 or newer macOS Big Sur 11.6.7 or newer macOS Catalina 10.15.7 or newer macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer |
macOS Ventura 13.0 macOS Monterey 12.4 or newer macOS Big Sur 11.6.7 or newer |
| Internet connection is required for product activation, updates, and select features. | ||
Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with Apple M1 chip):
Only ARM versions of operating systems are supported.
- Windows 11 (recommended)
- Ubuntu Linux 22.04, 21.10, 21.04, 20.10, 20.04
- Fedora Workstation 36, 35, 34, 33-1.2
- Debian GNU/Linux 11, 10
- Kali Linux 2022.2, 2022.1, 2021.3
- macOS Monterey 12 (in-app download)
- macOS Ventura 13
Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with Intel processors):
Only x86 versions of operating systems are supported.
- Windows 11 (recommended)
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 8
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019
Note: Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. You can download the Parallels Desktop trial and install an operating system of your choice. If it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.
Parallels Tools for Linux require X Window System version 1.15-1.20 and Linux Kernel version 2.6.29-5.18 RC1.
Moving Your PC?
You can move your files from Windows PC using Apple Migration Assistant.
To move your Windows apps, you can use the Parallels Transporter feature.
Note: Parallels Transporter is not available for Mac with Apple M1 chips.
PC system requirements to move your PC to your Intel Mac (using Parallels Transporter Agent):
- 700 MHz (or higher) x86 or x64 processor (Intel or AMD)
- 256 MB of RAM
- 50 MB of available hard disk space for installation of Parallels Transporter Agent
- Ethernet or WiFi network adapter for migrating over network
- External USB drive for migrating via external disk
- Supported Windows: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 *
- * To migrate Windows Vista or older, Transporter Agent from Parallels Desktop 13 should be used.
System Requirements
Hardware
- A Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor
- Minimum 4 GB of memory, 8 GB is recommended
- 600 MB of disk space on the boot volume (Macintosh HD) for Parallels Desktop application installation
- Additional disk space for virtual machines (varies on operating system and applications installed, e.g. at least 16GB is required for Windows 10)
- SSD drive is recommended for better performance
- Internet connection for product activation and select features
Software
- macOS Mojave 10.14
- macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 or later
- macOS Sierra 10.12.6 or later
- OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 or later
Guest Operating Systems
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 8
- Windows Server 2012 R2
Note: Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. They are not on the list because we didn't test them in our lab yet or we found some critical issues. You can download Parallels Desktop Trial here and install an operating system of your choice and if it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.
Moving Your PC?
PC system requirements to move your PC to your Mac (using Parallels Transporter Agent):
- 700 MHz (or higher) x86 or x64 processor (Intel or AMD)
- 256 MB of RAM
- 50 MB of available hard disk space for installation of Parallels Transporter Agent
- Ethernet or WiFi network adapter for migrating over network
- External USB drive for migrating via external disk
- Supported Windows: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or later), Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit only), Windows Server 2008, or Windows 2000 Professional (32-bit only).