The new version of Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS (PDC) now allows users to run fully-featured Windows desktop versions of video conferencing (opens in new tab) apps such as Zoom (opens in new tab), Cisco WebEx (opens in new tab) and GoToMeeting (opens in new tab).
Thanks to support for camera and microphone redirection, PDC users can now enjoy key features in apps that aren’t available in web-based versions, such as drawing tools, whiteboard, and always-on control panel in Go to Meeting, in addition to remote-control features in Zoom and Cisco WebEx.
Chromebooks (opens in new tab) have enjoyed a resurgence in the pandemic with the prevalence of remote-first work environments. However, although newer Chromebook models sport powerful hardware, industry experts have reasoned that they’ll need to run full-fledged desktop operating systems for wide-scale adoption in the enterprise.
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“As they become more prevalent in the broader market, Chromebooks will increasingly need to offer the functionality and capabilities embedded in full-featured Windows applications, an ability most simply offered by application and desktop virtualisation,” said Shannon Kalvar, IDC Research Manager.
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In addition to support for camera and microphone redirection, the new version of PDC also adds support for AMD (opens in new tab) Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 processors, and can also now run on a dozen new Chromebook and Chromebox devices from Acer (opens in new tab), Asus (opens in new tab), Dell (opens in new tab), HP (opens in new tab), and Lenovo (opens in new tab).
Furthermore, the new release also offers enterprise and education organizations support for 21 Chrome Enterprise devices, which can now be used to run full-featured Windows apps (opens in new tab) via PDC.
“With Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS, we make it simple for enterprises and education organizations to securely run fully featured Windows applications on powerful new Chrome Enterprise devices,” said Christa Quarles, CEO of Corel, which owns Parallels.
PDC is available now from £49.99.
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