Sierra, Mavericks and Windows - What is possible?

My MacBook Pro has two partitions - one running MacOS Sierra 10.12.5 and the second running Mavericks 10.9.5 (for purposes of keeping commercially licensed software that is now only available as monthly/annually-paid subscriptions). I do not have any virtual systems.

I would like to install Parallels, and potentially Windows via Bootcamp, and achieve a 3-partition system which all three of these scenarios are possible:

1. Startup disk is Sierra (partition 1) and through Parallels I can run Mavericks (partition 2) and/or Windows (partition 3) as needed
2. Startup disk is Mavericks (partition 2), running legacy apps natively
3. Startup disk is a Bootcamp-based Windows drive (partition 3)

While a dual-Sierra/Mavericks system is my only requirement, the option to have Windows as well is a big plus. Before making any build changes that potentially "break" my current setup by running a trial, can anyone help to answer a couple of questions? At this point, I am not looking for technical setup instructions - just "yes" or "no" to the possibilities so that I can eliminate either Parallels or Fusion from consideration (assuming their capabilities differ regarding my specific needs) before altering the drive(s).

• Can I use Parallels to run my existing Mavericks drive within Sierra or will I have to reinstall the OS and legacy applications through Parallels?
• Assuming a setup in which Mavericks can be run through Parallels in Sierra, can I run Mavericks natively by rebooting to it as my Startup Disk if/when needed? Whether I can use my existing drive or would have to reinstall through Parallels, I would still like the option to run natively, as I suspect heavy tasks may be cumbersome and/or problematic to run virtually.
• If I add a Bootcamp-built Windows partition, can it also be run through Parallels in Sierra (or do I have to choose one or the other)?

Thanks in advance for reading through all of this. I appreciate any insight.
- Stacie

 

Hi StacieB1,
1. You cannot use Parallels Desktop which is installed on Sierra to access Mavericks like Bootcamp Windows.
2. If you wish to use Mavericks with Parallels Desktop then you have to create a new Mac OS virtual machine.
3. You can access Bootcamp Windows via Parallels Desktop virtual machine from Sierra or create a Windows virtual machine directly on Sierra.

 

You can get a Mavericks virtual machine to instal, but most of the apps and games will not work as parallels 13 does not connect to the video card correctly. I have tried and even worked with support and they could not get it to work either. They sent me to the next tier of support and they really have no idea what is happening either. I received a rather obtuse letter about 3d and none of the games are 3d and Then said the issue war resolved here is the letter.
As a matter of fact 3D acceleration is not present in macOS/OS X guests operating systems, therefore there might be any kind of graphical artifacts or inability to run applications that require 3D acceleration.

Apple does not provide an API for creating a driver with 3D acceleration support. Without the required API there is no possibility to implement such functionality in its best.

To check that it's indeed related to the lack of 3D acceleration support restart the Mac into safe mode by pressing and holding the Shift key once you start the restart sequence - more in the following Apple article https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

In safe mode kindly run the games that you started in VM. The result should be similar to the one you are experiencing in Guest MacOS.

Now I shall mark your request as 'Resolved'. In case the issue is not resolved or the behavior of the apps is different from described above, feel free to reply to this e-mail in order to reopen the ticket.

Best regards,
--
Vasily Tatarchenko
Customer Support Engineer
||Parallels

SO i assume they have no idea either and people like us that want to use an older operating system just need to by an older mac.