Parallels 11: Rollback Feature missing - Why?

I have just updated my P10 to P11 running W8.1 and now find that the - very useful feature indeed - Rollback function has disappeared from the Startup and Shutdown Settings menu.
Was this intentional? What should I use in its place? The SmartGuard feature really is no adequate replacement since it does not allow the same flexibility in rolling back after each reboot.

I test programs a lot and need to pretty much reset my Win each time I reboot.

Can you please tell me what happened to the Rollback, thanks.

 

Hi @OliverK2 please check this KB for more information about the Rollback mode.

 

Hi Maria, that KB article only refers to the rollback mode function in Parallels 10 and below. I am using (as of this morning) Parallels 11 and there is no such menu item anymore.
See screenshot attached from the current "Actions" menu and from the KB article you are referring to.
It seems the Rollback Mode has disappeared in Parallels 11 and I am at a loss why this would be the case as it is one of the most useful functions.

 

Upgraded to Parallels 11 this morning and I still have Rollback Mode showing.

 

@OliverK2, sorry for the misunderstanding, In the Parallels Desktop 11 we have moved the Roll back mode to the Parallels Desktop Pro edition.
Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition is designed for developers, designers, testers and power users.

 

@Maria@Parallels, thanks for clarifying this. I will thus upgrade to the Pro Edition.

One thing, it would have been extremely helpful to have this information made available as an FAQ or List of Features PRIOR to making my purchase decision. This would have saved me from inadvertently purchasing the PD11 for Mac AND now the PD11 Pro for Mac. As it stands, I now payed twice for essentially the same product. Perhaps there is someone in the back office that may be able to agree to a refund of the initial purchase. I'd be happy to talk to someone about this. Please pass on my remarks.

Thanks, Oliver

 

Sorry for that Oliver. I fully understand your concern, we will post official information and new Parallels Desktop Guide with this and other information soon.
Sorry once again and thanks a lot for your time.

 

It should also be noted that apparently regular Parallels 11 can no longer make a linked clone. You will need to upgrade to the Pro version to get this functionality.

 

AND there is now an 8GB vRAM / 4 vCPU limit.
Not happy as I purchased the software and then found out that I lost multiple features. Didn't even know about the rollback removal until this point.

 

And the Vagrant provider is also now gone to to the rental-only Pro version ... very irritating.

 

I haven't noticed this. Upgraded from PD10 to PD11 and I can still select up to 8 processors / 32GB for existing and new virtual machines?

That said - covertly removing features previously available is a bit shady in my humble opinion.

 

Hello OliverK2!
Just did like You and upgraded to version 11 and also instantly missed the long used roll back feature. Also the new limit to 8 GB vRam / vCPU as mentioned by ChrisT3, let me feel as to be cheated by Parallels. Thank's to German Distance Selling Act, I could and did cancel the purchase.
Bye-Bye Parallels!

 

@Maria@Parallels : There is already a very clear feature matrix at http://www.parallels.com/upgradepd11/. These changes should *absolutely* be listed on there, and should have been there before this went on sale. Besides the fact that you're inconveniencing people who have been with you for several major versions, you are probably missing out on would-be Pro subscribers who don't realize what they are missing and getting the other version instead.

Obviously an oversight, but it should be fixed immediately. I was about to upgrade to the regular version myself, and I would have been pretty ticked off to realize you added arbitrary caps without telling me. And seriously, it's like two things (right? it isn't more than that, is it?): "Expanded VM features (more CPUs and memory)" and "Enhanced VM management (rollback)".

 

Actually it's a lot of things - everything that Parallels assumes might be touched by "developers" or "powerr users" at some point. Even trivial things like the Vagrant provider have been moved to Pro.

The standard version is now only for "home" users who basically want Parallels for a bit of light Windows mixed in with their OS X diet.

 

I was a little bit surprised to hear the rollback feature is missing in P11 Standard.

I welcome the introduction of a Pro Edition with more features but I disagree with the decision to reduce features in P11 Std when compared to P10. As it is there isn't much of a compelling case to upgrade from P10 to P11 Std., you gain some features but you lose others, might not be worth it. Personally, for my usage, and I don't care about Cortana, I would probably stay in P10 if I had to choose between P10 and P11 Std.

 

I was looking forward to Parallels 11 but will have to pass on the upgrade. Too many features have been removed - the two big ones for me being the memory limit and the option to "rollback". I don't think either or these functions are Pro features (certainly having more than 8GB is a pretty standard and basic option). More than 8GB is very useful for image editing especially where more than one window is open as well as, obviously, for games. Rollback is useful for creating a casual and occasional use Windows home use environment that doesn't need system restore points and the file system mess that develops over time with Windows. I actually recently bought more memory in order to run a Windows VM with more memory.

Such a shame and, I think, not very creative marketing on the part of Parallels. Sure, with Windows 10 being M$'s offering for the foreseeable future, I appreciate that Parallels employees need to earn money to enjoy a decent standard of living. Alienating customers by removing basic and added value features isn't the way to go. I would have no use at all for some of the Pro features (which seem to be genuine Pro features) but some of the removed features are certainly not Pro features by any conventional standard. The risk is that Parallels has given a lead to competitors because, for me and other people I know, it was the comparative feature list that attracted people to Parallels without giving competitor products a go. Competitors will likely respond by highlighting the basic features they offer when compared with Parallels. It's a moving feast and it would be a shame if Parallels were to squander its lead. Many Pro users I know in any case use Oracle's solution which is free, extremely powerful but requires a high degree of technical knowledge to access the more sophisticated features.

A home use subscription at a lower price than the Pro subscription and offering, perhaps, a choice of two out of a selection of four "intermediate" Pro features would have been good. Perhaps paying a bit extra as a one off cost for an intermediate level product was/is an option?

The current approach isn't good and it's actually questionable whether or not Parallels 11 is an upgrade at all (M$'s Cortana data leaking nonsense isn't going anywhere near a computer - virtual or real - that I own). It's possible to run a Windows 10 VM perfectly well in Parallels 9 with features that are no longer available as standard in Parallels 11. Odd.

 

Sure - but it's pretty unclear as to whether Parallels will support El Capitan on P10. If they don't, staying with P10 may not be feasible. As you can probably guess by my less-than-praising posts recently, I'm not feeling good about this prospect. Do you have any info on this?

 

The info is that each release has a 2 year support with updates and Parallels 10 still has one year left.

 

Going from the new user guide only, some other surprising omissions from the standard version apart from rollback mode, linked clones, nested VMs and RAM/CPU seem to be:

1. Port forwarding (p.154).
2. Arrange VM list, change icons & colors (p.107-108)
3. Management of VMs via CLI (p.192).
4. Starting VMs automatically on Mac start (p.36).
5. Headless VM start (p.36). Really?
6. Resolve DNS via Mac hosts file (p.147).

These seem to be be pretty basic functionality to me, hardly "power user" stuff

 

It seems that greed is taking over and forcing anyone that does anything really useful
with Parallels into the ball and chain subscription model (which is likely a large percentage
of users). I suppose the "Mark of the Beast" will be next to allow use of a real version
of Parallels!

This change in direction has made me very unhappy after being a long time user (since PD2 on Mac).

IF the powers that be at Parallels were smart, they would have released a true perpetual license
Pro version and a separate subscription service (more and more IT departments and businesses like the
subscription model).