Using Articulate Software on a Mac with Parallels Desktop
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Here are a few important tips and best practices for using Articulate software on a Mac with Parallels.
- For Macs with Apple M-series chips, check out the following articles for either Articulate 360 or Storyline 3
- Disable the Shared Profile
- Work Exclusively in the Windows Environment
- Set Links to Always Open in Windows
- Disable Retina Resolution for Windows
- Turn Coherence Mode Off
- Improve Your Virtual Machine Performance
Disable the Shared Profile
Disable the shared profile in Parallels, so all the default Windows folders reside in the Windows environment, not the native Mac environment. For more information on this topic, see this Parallels article.
After disabling the shared profile, uninstall and reinstall your Articulate software. (This step is only necessary if shared profiles were previously enabled.)
Work Exclusively in the Windows Environment
Save and publish Articulate projects in the Windows environment, not the Mac. For example: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\
Don't work from a network drive or an external USB drive. Doing so can result in file corruption or loss of resources due to latency.
Audio, video, and image resources must be located in the Windows environment, not the Mac. Copy and paste files you need for Articulate projects to the Windows environment prior to inserting them into your content.
When working with Microsoft Office (e.g., when importing PowerPoint slides into Storyline), Office apps must be installed in your Windows environment.
Set Links to Always Open in Windows
In Parallels, set links to always open in Windows (the default setting). Articulate 360 requires access to a browser in the virtual environment for authentication.
Disable Retina Resolution for Windows
If you're using a Mac with a Retina display, you may find that user interface elements in Articulate apps are small and difficult to read. To correct it, disable Retina resolution for your Windows virtual machine.
- Start Parallels Desktop, but don't start your Windows virtual machine.
- Go to Configuration > Hardware > Graphics.
- Set your Resolution to Scaled.
- Close the menu and start your virtual machine.
Want to see a demonstration? Watch the last video tutorial in this article.
Turn Coherence Mode Off
We don't recommend using Coherence mode. It can cause graphical anomalies or even make Windows apps freeze up. See this Parallels article for instructions.
Improve Your Virtual Machine Performance
This Parallels article provides tips on how to improve the performance of your virtual machine.