Parallels Desktop 20 has been released for macOS. The virtualisation software introduces a number of buffs for Linux VMs running on macOS.
The headline change in Parallels Desktop 20 is support for macOS Sequoia, both as host OS and as a guest — important given that Sequoia is due to be released in the next few weeks.
But Parallels Desktop 20 has a lot of improvements for Linux guests too.
First up, it now officially supports Ubuntu 24.04 LTS VMs, Fedora 39/40, and a handful of other recent Linux distributions releases. The icons for Ubuntu VMs now use the new Ubuntu logo (as do those for Fedora), which is cool.
Because updates to Parallels don’t come out fast enough to keep pace with new Linux kernel releases, there are often stability and compatibility snafus with VMs running newer kernels.
This is something the Parallels team is aware of, and with this update they say they’ve taken the first step to solve it – without needing to push out constant updates.
“[Our] team discovered that nearly 50% of the reported issues were related to the Shared Folder driver operating within the kernel space. Tackling this required adopting the high-level FUSE API, which should significantly reduce installation issues caused by kernel API changes in the near future.”
Related to this, reading/writing to volumes shared from macOS in Linux guests is said to be up to 4x faster than before too — a nice win.
Other Linux host changes in Parallels 20:
- Support for newer Linux distributions, including Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- Updated VM distro icons for Ubuntu, Fedora, and others
- Parallel Tools now uses native UI on Windows, macOS, Linux
- Resolves an issue that prevented Ubuntu 24.04 installation on Intel Macs
- Fixes keyboard and mouse issues during manual Ubuntu VM installs
- Support for IPP printing from Linux virtual machines
Parallels Desktop 20 also makes an important change to Windows 11 VMs running on Apple Silicon: Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is made to default to WSL 1 and not the (much better) WSL 2. This is to ‘mitigate compatibility issues’.
Meanwhile, Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac Pro now offers a Parallels AI package. This is a custom Linux-based VM purpose-built for developers, students, and hobbyists looking to learn and explore machine learning, LLMs, computing vision, etc.
It’s also possible to control virtual machines using natural language via Microsoft Copilot, integrated into the software’s Visual Studio Code extension. And GitHub actions can be used to automate the deployment of virtual machines from a GitHub repo.
Get Parallels Desktop for Mac
Mac users interested in kicking the tyres on Parallels Desktop for Mac (or the Pro edition – and an Enterprise version is coming later this year) can learn more on the official website. Parallels isn’t free, much less open source, but there’s a 14-day free trial to check it out.
Parallels also encourage engineers, developers, and DevOps types who use their app and its various integrations to join the official Discord channel to share feedback, ideas, and learn from other users.
Virtualisation is important, even on macOS
I know plenty of developers who like macOS for its stability, and use software like Parallels to try different Linux distros, spins, and setups without the hassle involved in running Linux natively on Apple devices — “don’t buy a Mac!” isn’t the answer for those who need/want/get given a Mac.
Besides, not everyone uses Linux as their main OS, just for work, hobby, study, etc. If their primary device is a MacBook, Mac mini, or iMac, being able to run Linux in a virtual machine is useful, and Parallels is the best virtualisation software for macOS.
So while it is strange to be writing about a Mac app update on an Ubuntu blog, it has a place.