About This Guide

This guide is aimed at a wide range of users who want to use Parallels Desktop to create, configure, and run Parallels virtual machines on Mac computers.

Abbreviations Used in the Text

The following abbreviations are used in the guide:

• OS is used instead of operating system in long sentences where using it will not change the meaning of the sentence.
• VM is used instead of virtual machine in long sentences where using it will not change the meaning of the sentence.

Definitions

Primary operating system (primary OS): In this guide, this term is used to refer to the operating system that controls the I/O devices of the computer and that is loaded when the physical computer is turned on, that is, Mac OS X.

Guest operating system (guest OS): The term is used to refer to an operating system that is installed in a virtual machine.

Help Usage Tips

Use the icons in the upper part of the help window to:

• go to the online documentation page
• watch the online video tutorial
• contact the Parallels support team

To print a help page, click on the Print icon . If this doesn't work, right-click the Print icon and choose Print Frame .