'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
The best Windows and Mac utility toolkit gets even better
There are a few apps and utilities that I use almost daily, and one of those is Parallels Toolbox. It doesn't matter whether I'm on my Mac or on a PC, this suite, which consists of dozens of time-saving tools (the number varied depending on whether you're running it on Windows 10 or MacOS), has become one of my go-to tools for boosting productivity and getting stuff done.
Whether it's resizing images, capturing videos, making screenshots, or cleaning my drive or junk, Parallels Toolbox has the right tool for the job.
And today sees the toolkit getting an upgrade to Parallels Toolbox 5.0.
Must read: Don't make this common, fatal iPhone or Android mistake
Parallels Toolbox 5.0 for Windows and Mac, in pictures
Several new features have been added. Coming to both Windows and Mac are the following:
- Barcode Reader: Create your own barcodes
- Barcode Generator: Use the camera to read a broad variety of barcodes
- Recognize Text: Convert text in images to text you can edit
New tools specific to the Mac platform are:
- Focus on Window: Dim all the other windows to reduce distraction
- Transform Text: Change the case of any text
There's a new feature for Windows users too:
- Measure Color: A color eyedropper that allows you to read any color on your display
Parallels Toolbox 5.0 for Windows and Mac are available today as standalone products. Each annual license includes free updates of new and enhanced tools as they become available over the year, and costs $19.99 per year.