As well as better gaming performance, the improvements made to Parallels Desktop 15 mean that the software can open Microsoft Office apps up to 80 percent faster, and it also supports a wider range of non-gaming applications including Autodesk 3ds Max 2020. The last time we checked in with Parallels was back in 2016, when we noted that version 12 of the software couldn’t handle enough games well enough for us to recommend it to gamers. No virtualization software is going to be able to match the performance of running a game natively, but it’s still nice to see the feature given some attention.

The new functionality comes as part of version 15 of the software, which MacRumors notes will also add support for Catalina’s upcoming Sidecar feature, as well as improved drag and drop and Apple Pencil support. It enables you to run classic games on a wide range of computers and consoles through. Instead of simulating internal Windows logic like a virtual machine or emulator, Wine translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls on-the-fly, eliminating the performance and memory penalties of other methods and allowing you to cleanly integrate Windows applications into your desktop.

Parallels Desktop, the virtualization software that allows you to run Windows on a Mac alongside macOS, now offers DirectX 11 support using Apple Metal, meaning it can render 3D graphics up to 15 percent faster. RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players.

Windows emulator for mac games