As a program manager for Parallels® Remote Application Server, I had the chance to use Parallels Client since the early alpha builds. It was like being a parent and watching your baby grow and mature. And, oh boy, the baby has grown big and strong! All the tricks that Parallels Client on iOS and Android can do—such as mobile OS gestures, native text selection, different mouse modes, and Quick Keypads—significantly improve the experience of using desktop Windows applications on a mobile device.
Mac Ipad Pro
I’m an Apple® guy, although before I was a ThinkPad, Windows Mobile, and later a Windows Phone guy. So when the iPad Pro® 10.5″ was released, I got one the first week it went on sale.
Some people will still be happy using Boot Camp to switch between the macOS and Windows (for now). But Parallels Desktop 16 is the best virtualisation option if you prefer to run Mac and Windows.
My primary computer is a MacBook Pro® 13’’; it is powerful enough, and at the same time lightweight and compact. It is always with me on my business trips and vacations. But since buying the iPad Pro 10.5″, I had a thought that when I go on my next vacation, I want to try and travel light. The question was, what would I need in order to productively use Windows desktop applications, such as Outlook and Visio, on my iPad?
Parallels offers virtualization software that lets you install Windows on a Mac — and run Windows apps without rebooting your computer. The latest version is Parellels Desktop 6 for Mac, and it comes with a bonus feature: a free iOS app that lets you remotely control Parallels on your Mac from an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. Now that the iPad Pro has a processor that can compete with desktop CPUs, that pipe dream is almost a reality. YouTuber Jules Gerard managed to get Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 running on his new 2020.
Parallels Client and iPad
To take a vacation or business trip that is not weighed down by your laptop and charger, you need the following:
- iPad – In my case, it is an iPad Pro 10.5″, but it can be any iPad.
- Smart Keyboard for iPad Pro
- Swiftpoint GT Mouse – That is one of the unique capabilities of Parallels Client: support for external Bluetooth Swiftpoint GT mouse. Read more about integration with Swiftpoint GT.
- Parallels Client (iOS)
Here is how my setup looks:
I use it to access a Parallels RAS deployment that is running on my home server. The Parallels Client support for external mouse and keyboard allows me to work as productively as if I were using a regular desktop computer. And when I don’t need the external mouse and keyboard, in an instant I can simply switch to using the Parallels Client (iOS) touch interface and gestures. So it’s a double win!
Now think about all those Parallels RAS end users in healthcare, education, and other industries that could take advantage of such a lightweight, flexible setup. The possibilities are endless!
Interested in learning more about the unbeatable mobile experience offered by Parallels RAS? Try a free 30-day download today.
Feedback
If you would like to suggest a feature for Parallels RAS and Parallels Client, please post your ideas in the Feature Suggestions forum.
References
Ipad Pro Free Apps
Parallels Client: working with applications – kb.parallels.com/en/124032
Using Parallels Client – kb.parallels.com/en/123586
Using mobile Parallels Client – kb.parallels.com/en/123939
If you’re like most of the iPad community, you mostly use your iPad for consumption: watching movies, listening to music, playing games, and browsing the web. You engage less often in productive activities on the iPad, mostly because it lacks a physical keyboard. (We’re assuming here that you did not spring for an accessory keyboard for the iPad Pro or other iPads.) As a result, you still schlep a laptop with you on the road even though you also carry the iPad.
Parallels, a company best known for letting you run virtualized versions of Microsoft Windows on Macintosh computers, may eliminate the need to carry the extra machine. Its Parallels Access iPad app ties into a subscription service that lets you tap into your home or office PC remotely, whether it’s a Windows PC or a Mac.
What sets Parallels Access apart from other apps that provide remote access to computers is that you can get to use all the programs that reside on your PC or Mac, including the proprietary software that your company may employ. Moreover, you can interact with those applications on the tablet as if each were designed for the iPad, and even use a browser running Adobe Flash on the iPad.
You start any PC or Mac desktop application on the iPad from a familiar looking launcher screen with icons for the apps you use most often. You can add or remove icons to this launcher screen.
Parallels, as the company puts it, “applifies” PC/Mac programs so that the software is modified on the tablet to display iPad-style buttons for actions such as copy, paste, and select. And touch gestures on the iPad substitute for mouse moves on your computer. For example, tapping is like clicking with a mouse; two-finger tapping is equivalent to a right-click. Hold your finger against the display in an Excel spreadsheet, say, and an iPad magnifying glass appears.
You can use your voice to dictate text remotely onto the home or office computer. And you can listen to music on the iPad that resides on your faraway computer, too — no, the folks back home or in the office will not hear what you’re hearing; the app is set up so as not to disturb them.
Parallels Access can’t completely make up for the lack of a physical keyboard on the iPad. But the on-screen Mac or Windows keyboards that appear in the app display any dedicated special keys unique to Mac or Windows keyboards.
The Parallels Access app is free to download, as is the agent program you must install on each Mac or PC that you choose to access. A single-user Parallels Access subscription is $19.99 per year for an unlimited number of devices (iPads and iPhones running iOS 7 and higher, Android tablets and phones running Android 4 and higher, Kindle Fire, and any device with an HTML5 web browser) and up to five computers (PCs running Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10, and Macs running Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, or Sierra).