Parallels 13, VMware Fusion 10 improve Windows on Mac experience

Mac users might hate to admit it but, sooner or later, they will need to use software that only runs on Windows. There are a couple of ways to solve that conundrum, like dual booting macOS and Windows or running individual apps through WINE or CrossOver. But if your Mac or MacBook is powerful enough, you can also run a full blown Windows 10 installation on top of macOS. And with the new Parallels Desktop 13 and VMware Fusion 10 releases, you are promised an experience that is as good as running Windows 10 as if it were a native Mac app.

You are running Windows inside a window, after all, but that doesn't always mean it will behave properly, much less behave like a Mac app. This is especially true when it comes to the new MacBooks with fancy new Touch Bars. But thanks to Parallels Desktop 13, you can do so. It boasts of being the first to bring Touch Bar support to Windows, by proxy, of course. It claims to also be the first to bring the new Windows People Bar to the Mac, a feature that even most Windows users don't have yet.

While Parallels Desktop can definitely handle multiple virtual machines and can even minimize them to an always visible picture-in-picture window, when it comes to virtualization, VMware has arguably been there first. With this new Fusion 10 and Fusion 10 Pro release, it wants to show that it means serious business, especially for businesses that demand near-native Windows 10 performance on Macs.

Much of VMware Fusion 10's feature set is geared towards the management of multiple virtual machines (VMs), which can be conveniently done via tabs in a single window if desired. But running multiple operating systems on top of an operating system require a lot more resources than simply running apps. That is why, to help boos its performance on macOS, VMware has added support for Apple's Metal graphics technology, making it even possible to run some graphics intensive games.

Parallels Desktop 13 retails for around $79.99 while the base VMware Fusion 10 goes for nearly the same price mark at $79. Neither, of course, include the Windows 10 license needed to actually, and legally, run Windows 10 on macOS.