Parallels 11 susbscription clarifications

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by ggascoigne, Aug 20, 2015.

  1. JAMiller

    JAMiller Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    I am hoping Parallels is listening here. This is a late reply but I came across this thread when considering whether to update to PD11. My biggest qualm as stated above is that if I choose not to subscribe any longer--for any reason--the software stops working at the end of the subscription. This is NOT stated on the version comparisons page, but it should be. This comes across as deceptive marketing. Like others, I would gladly pay for a subscription if I were allowed to keep the last version of the software for my subscription, but I will not be pushed into a corner and have my software held for ransom.

    Looking at Virtual Box now. Please come back to your senses.
     
    ScottG7 and Nemensi like this.
  2. fahlman

    fahlman Junior Member

    Messages:
    14
    Parallels Desktop 11 will be the last version of Parallels I purchase unless the Pro licensing terms are adjusted. I do not like being forced to pay a yearly subscription or lose access the version I have already purchased. I will be making the switch to VMware Fusion.
     
  3. PaulChristopher@Parallels

    PaulChristopher@Parallels Product Expert Staff Member

    Messages:
    3,158
    Hi, Parallels is a software company that focuses our resources on creating virtualization software to support both the Mac and Windows communities. This development comes with costs and it is not feasible to be adjustable the price.
     
  4. BrendanK1

    BrendanK1 Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I'm trying out VMWARE fusion 8 after staying with parallels since the beginning!! Your licensing model will kill your business and the arrogance I see posted in these forums from official responders indicates you guys don't care!!!! To my horror I went to install Parallels 11 on my new Macbook Pro (My macbook was stolen with full P10 license on it) and it tells me I have to de-activate it from my desktop!!!! I need both to be working. If VMWARE works properly, you've lost another customer for what it's worth.
     
  5. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

    Messages:
    3,242
    The activations are handled by Parallels servers, if your Mac was stolen with an active license just report that to Parallels support so they can deactivate the license on the stolen Mac and you can use it on another Mac.
     
  6. JonathanN3

    JonathanN3 Junior Member

    Messages:
    10
    "... it is not feasible to be adjustable [sic] the price."

    Let me impress upon you how much you have overlooked in the user community by making this reply at this time. There are two issues here. The first issue is PRICE. The software is expensive, and the subscription model is ALSO a price increase. This might be necessary, understandable, and warranted. All of those things might be fine.

    The second issue here is the FORCED SUBSCRIPTION MODEL. This is a METHOD of getting users to pay more for something they aren't already meeting a sustainable profit goal on (which is a problem of poor management, lack of foresight, and bad previous business models, however the user community might have benefited from them in the past). It is NOT required to charge users ad infinitum for a software package that they want to use as long as it is useful. It is also not hard to come up with a number of scenarios in which this very thing would be ideal. Let me storyboard one for you, since all of you seem to be unimaginative:

    Billy buys a Mac. It's the best Mac. He loves it. He decks it out with the best model processor (soldered-in), RAM (soldered-in), and a pretty killer SSD (the last bastion of upgradeable technology in our mobile computers these days). Now he needs to use Windows and Linux to do what he does well. He needs a VM platform, and Parallels is thankfully meeting that need REALLY WELL (I'm paying you a compliment here, so take note of it). He isn't concerned with price right now, but he's a recent college graduate starting his own IT business. He wants to invest in something he can carry forward with him, but he knows that he may not be able to make ends meet in the coming year if he doesn't strategize well for this year. He is talented and ingenuitive, but he needs technology that will last him for a number of years WITHOUT ADDITIONAL COST so that he can continue to function if he isn't strictly profitable by the end of the year. Billy might choose not to upgrade his OS because upgrading it might force him to upgrade Parallels. His subscription can lapse, and he won't get updates, but it is PERFECTLY REASONABLE for a PRO user to assume that he will not lose functionality of the software he purchased on X date after his upgrade potential and support contract expires. Sometimes these things are not ideal, and some people CHOOSE to use OLD versions of operating systems (look at Windows 7 or Windows XP in certain educational and proprietary industrial equipment models) because they don't have a NEED for the current version. They have a NEED for something that will be STABLE, PREDICTABLE, and FUNCTIONAL.

    Let's rewrite part of the scenario here. How about we catch up with Billy 5 years later. Apple has come along with machines that do 600,000x the processing of his original machine, and that's really cool, but he can't afford an upgrade right now. He still has the old machine, and it's really still useful to his business model. He works in an industry where he will likely be using the same tools for 5-10 years to come, despite "latest and greatest" advancements in technology around him. (This happens a lot more than any of us wants to admit.) Remember those two crucial soldered-in components? That machine on the workbench CAN'T EVEN RUN the version of OSX that will be released by Apple in a week's time, and yet if he is on a subscription model, Parallels will be forcing him to pay for the upgrade anyway, just so he can continue to run the OLD version of Parallels on the OLD OS. Eventually that old version of Parallels may even stop authenticating with the token server. At that time, he will be forced to buy a new machine because Parallels stopped him from using a tool that was STABLE, PREDICTABLE, and FUNCTIONAL.

    How about if that subscription expires, but Billy can keep using whatever version he stopped with? When Billy can buy new hardware, he'll need new Parallels for his new OS. If you provide continued functionality to the subscription model, you haven't really lost business. You just kept a guy's head above water so that he could return that investment to you in the future. You made him successful and a zealot for your product.

    If your updates are superfluous enough that they aren't interesting every annuum, then you should stop releasing them annually. That means you should probably charge more in aggregate every two years or so. We get that. You make the mistake of assuming that we will always install every update given to us. That is rarely, in my experience, the case with developers. We scrutinize updates. We want to know how it will change the delicate balance we hold because we are already pushing the limits of the stuff we use. STABILITY MATTERS.

    I hope my point is clear. This isn't always about cost. It's about investment, return, and stability of that investment. Some of us make decisions now that we know will have to be stable for 10-20 years in the future. Some of us do that on a regular basis, and we are really damn good at it. We put pieces together that aren't designed to last a long time, and we make them do cartwheels on their 25th anniversary because we know how to leverage stuff efficiently. These are your developers. These are your "Pro" users. These ingenuitive people want to carry your banner and recommend to their larger firms that you are the best ally they can have for what you do.

    YOU NEED THEM.

    Don't be an ass. Don't alienate the users that feed you. Ask for more money, fine. WE GET THAT. WE DON'T LIKE THAT REALITY, BUT WE UNDERSTAND IT! But be flexible about your subscription expiration terms, or be killed on the battlefield of capitalism. It's your call, but we are actually rooting for you to make the right choice. The alternatives suck for all of us.

    If you want to respond to this, I welcome your response. Be direct. Don't dance around the issue. Make a real statement, don't give platitudes or deflections like we've seen above.
     
  7. bousan

    bousan Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    PD12 released and nth changed.. Very sad.
    I'm still on PD10 (after PD11 refunded, when noticed lack of "standard" functionality like VM management by prlctl) but I'm getting feeling even that time is running out.
    According to http://kb.parallels.com/eu/123971 after getting osx Sierra I'll loose another functionality like file sharing.. (seriously?) And I don't like idea of "hard" subscription where all VM environment will stop working with EOS.
    It was rly great piece of software, but your decisions force people to switch to 3rd parties solutions.
    And now I have to too.
     
  8. Dinesh@Parallels

    Dinesh@Parallels Guest

    Messages:
    333
    Hello @bousan
    Software development and innovation comes with costs and it is not feasible to keep including new features in older versions.
     
  9. Nemensi

    Nemensi Member

    Messages:
    73
    You are absolutely right. But it is not a good attitude to remove features in newer versions silently.
     
  10. bousan

    bousan Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    Indeed. But at some point you will loose income from lack of users. Just be aware of that right.
    Other companies don't sleep, they started to give almost half price discount on their licences if I provide Parallels licence number. Why? Because even they know that your new strategy is a kind of weakness.
    While it's not your, Dinesh, decision, there is no point to argue here.
    Just have a nice day :)
    And I hope Parallels will wake up soon. Very soon.
     
  11. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

    Messages:
    3,242
    Parallels 12 has the option for either a yearly subscription or a 1 time permanent license, only the pro version is subscription only.
     
  12. EugeneM2

    EugeneM2 Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I was shocked to see this thread, I have been using Parallels from the beginning.
    I was about to buy hot for a new laptop and discovered I could only rent it.
    I am changing over to Fusion
    PITA
     
  13. Hemnath@Parallels

    Hemnath@Parallels Parallels Support

    Messages:
    1,127
    Hello @EugeneM2. You don't have to necessarily "rent" Parallels Desktop. We also sell permanent licenses.
     
  14. Nemensi

    Nemensi Member

    Messages:
    73
    Where can I purchase a permanent Pro license?
     
  15. Swati@Parallels

    Swati@Parallels

    Messages:
    360
    Parallels Desktop Pro license is available only in subcription. You may purchase Parallels Desktop 12 Home and Studen use (1-Time purchase)
     
  16. Nemensi

    Nemensi Member

    Messages:
    73
    So I have to "rent" Parallels Desktop if I need more than 4 CPU / 8 GB per VM.
     
  17. VahurS

    VahurS Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    So, Win 10 Creators update is not supported on Parallels 10. If there will be no permanent license option for P13 Pro or the license is not changed so that I can keep the version I upgraded to, working, after subscription lapses, I'm out. I cannot upgrade to time-bombed version - I might need a VM several years after I last worked on it. Please take a look at jetbrains subscription model. If you have been paying for a year, you keep the last major version which was available at that time, year ago.
     
  18. Ajith1

    Ajith1 Parallels Support

    Messages:
    2,719
    Hello VahurS.
    Each software manufacturer has their own subscription model. Jetbrains has an option of monthly subscription but Parallels Desktop Pro doesn't but with a Pro subscription we provide Parallels Access and Parallels Toolbox subscription but they don't provide additional tools like that with their subscription model.
     
  19. VahurS

    VahurS Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    I'm merely suggesting you could have "perpetual fallback license" for Pro product similar to Jetbrains, this seems fair. The point is: I want to be certain the app does not stop working even if the subscription expires.
    Btw, they provide everything with their "all products" subscription. I had a link to their perpetual fallback license page in previous post, but it seems to be deleted. It's easy to find though. Or... you could sell Pro with permanent license too, like non Pro version.
     
    Nemensi likes this.
  20. BruceB5

    BruceB5 Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Please specify how to get a refund on the upgrade to Parallels 13 for Mac Upgrade. Silently changing the terms of purchase (no longer supports >8GB VM size) is why I want a refund. I do not choose to purchase the Pro version under a subscription model: bad deal for customers. Please provide a download link to revert back to my existing Parallels 11 license. BTW, VMWare is offering 50% off side-grade from Parallels which I'm also evaluating. You are turning away business with your pivot to a subscription model.
     

Share This Page