Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac’s 3D support includes DirectX 9.0, DirectX Pixel Shader 2.0 and OpenGL 2.0 as well as 256 MB video memory. It also adds support for 8 GB RAM in a virtual machine and 8-way SMP.

Pros: Parallels work great as you can work as if you were on a Windows from your mac. In order to launch Windows you don't even need to restart your machine, you just need to run Parallels and it will open on as any other application does. You can maximise the window so that you can switch from your mac to Windows with just a swipe. It will feel as if you were running Windows at all its effects.

You can fine-tune how you want to distribute your machine's resources while running Parallels, so that you can give more or less to one or the other depending on your needs. Another option is to have Windows in integration mode, that means that you won't see Windows as a separate application running on your mac but integrated on it so that you can run Windows applications from your mac directly while running Parallels like this.

Cons: The integration mode is good but sometimes it can be a bit confusing if you're not used to it. In my opinion, I prefer the separate mode and switch from one screen to the other. If you need Windows to run applications that need a lot of resources it can really slow your mac down as once you run Parallels, the defined resources will be fully dedicated to it and therefore not available to your mac. Pros: Parallels desktop allows creating as many virtual computers as you need (disk space permitting;-) ). If you need to run a piece of serious SW available only for Windows or Linux, just create the respective virtual computer.

Whether you currently use QuickBooks for Mac or you’re looking for an accounting software for your Mac, you should be aware that QuickBooks for Mac is being discontinued. The most recent version of QuickBooks for Mac is 2016, which Intuit will support through May 31, 2019. Quickbooks for mac 2019. Based on U.S. QuickBooks Online customer transaction data categorized from Jan-Apr 2016. QuickBooks Self-Employed customers are not included. QuickBooks Online works on your PC, Mac, tablets, and phones.

With Windows and Coherence, you even have the Windows applications seamlessly available from the familiar Mac desktop. I use to run it the Lotus Approach, legacy, yet still unbeaten powerful database GUI and report/form creator for dummies. Alternatively, if you just want to test something without putting your Mac at risk, create an isolated throwaway virtual machine, test your new fancy SW, and if anything happens (or you just don't like it anymore), discard the virtual machine.

Cons: Parallels could be a bit sluggish if there is not enough physical memory and processing power available, this makes virtualization of computationally demanding tasks a bit difficult. But in most case you won't notice your Gnumeric is not running in MacOS but in virtual Ubuntu. Overall: It enables me running my favorite Approach on my Mac and whenever I need to test something as if from a different computer, I just open one ready virtual machine, log in, and it's done. Pros: Working on a mac on a daily basis is great but it's true that some applications are not available for this OS and you need to turn to a Windows machine. You can do that very easily with Parallels.