So why am I saying you might want to wait? macOS Catalina is definitely beta software, and since Parallels Desktop mimics a Mac in software, it is integrated very tightly with the operating system. But for those of us who just have one Mac and don’t want to necessarily dedicate a spare disk drive to experimentation, Parallels Desktop is a very good way to test the new versions. Usually, macOS beta versions run quite well - although slower than you’d expect - on a Mac set aside for running the beta software or off of a boot drive set up with the new OS. For bloggers, it’s a chance to test out the new capabilities of the OS, while it’s critical for Mac developers to test their software on the new version. In this article, I’ll show you how to set up macOS 10.15 Catalina in Parallels Desktop, but first I’ll tell you why you might want to wait… Why Wait?Įvery time Apple comes out with a new version of macOS, the first thing bloggers and developers try to do is get the beta versions up and running. This is usually a good way to try out a new operating system without the need to create a new boot drive or use a second test Mac, and I’ve done it with previous macOS versions.

A vacation and some oral surgery delayed my experimentation, but I decided to give the new OS a try in a Parallels Desktop virtual machine. Like many developers and tech writers, I wanted to start working with macOS 10.15 Catalina as soon as I could.