Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS now supports lower-end processors
As much as you might stan Google’s Chrome OS, at the end of the day, there are just some Windows apps that get the job done better. If you do find yourself switching back and forth between Chrome OS and Windows computers, Parallels has some good news for you.
The company has announced that its Parallels Desktop software is now compatible with lower-end processors like Intel’s Core i3 series and the AMD Ryzen 3 lineup. This is quite a big deal because prior to this, Parallels could only be used by enterprise users who ran Chromebooks that had at least an Intel Core i5 processor with 16Gb of RAM and 128GB of storage.
By lowering the requirements, it will make running Parallels Desktop a lot more accessible to users who might have older or lower-end Chromebooks. Parallels has published a list of other system requirements that you might also need, as well as listing Chromebooks that will support its software.
Also, the announcement revealed a partnership with HP where select HP Chrome OS Enterprise devices will also be getting a 1-year free license of its software, so that will help save you some money as well as decide if maybe running Windows and Chrome OS side-by-side is something you might be interested in.
Keep in mind that while Parallels Desktop will let you run Windows on your Chromebook device, you will still need to purchase a copy of Windows 10 or Windows 11 separately from Microsoft.
Source: Parallels