Email from Parallels re v3 upgrade

[kimb]

Just received an email from Parallels offering me a discounted upgrade for something I bought just a few months ago and have not been able to use. The marketing blurb lead me to believe that it worked with Bootcamp and Vista which it didn't. I waited patiently to get a fix for this error but no.... I now have to pay more to get it to work.

It's not even available yet either, so $40 for vapourware? Alarm bells are ringing.

As Parallels didn't work I've since been using the VMWare Fusion Beta for a while now and it works really well for what I need, Bootcamp and Vista.

This, I think is a prime example of over-marketing and under-valuation of Parallel's existing customer loyalty.

There is a possibility that maybe the forthcoming Leopard does virtual OS's, that would be a shame for both Parallels and VMWare I think and maybe a last ditch attempt on Parallels part to get more cash out of us numpties before Leopard appears.

Parallels did not reply to any of my emails about my issues re Vista and Bootcamp.

Why doesn't their web site *seem* to have a link to this forum so you have to search google to find it. There might be one but I can't see it.

All disconcerting stuff.

As Parallels seem to have no customer loyalty I will wait for either Apple's Leopard to do virtualisation or buy the final VMWare product depending on the outcome.

 

[bombastinator]

I suspect it will still be worth while depending on how the directX emulation works out. From what I have been able to tell emulationg directX is a gigantic pain in the keister and is something that Apple will be uninterested in doing in the first place simly because it competes with their stuff.

The directX is likely going to be a killer app. One of the main reasons to run boot camp in vm is so you can also dual boot and use directX stuff. If it is not needed the vista thing may not be as important.

that is not to say it still wouldn't be real real nice. I am not moved by your statement that they did not reply, as simply not returning a message is a really common thing.

Does anyone know if there is a full feature list of 3.0 anywhere? I saw highlights in the mailing but not the full montey. If it is or is not in there should be confirmed there.

That said if they are not releasing the full list asking the customer to preorder sight unseen may be a bit much. for those that are only interested in the features they have announced though it could be worthwhile.

Myself I'm interested in finding out what kind of speed hit the directx takes. That will only come out after some magazine or web site does product testing though.

 

[akac]

Also be aware - VMWare (which I'm using now) does *not* support BootCamp with Vista. Sure they don't stop it from working, but in all their release text for the current beta plus on the threads at the VMWare site they tell you that its unsupported and some things may and will not work properly. For a beta product, that's OK.

Parallels meanwhile is a released product and is properly stopping you from using it that way.

 

[wesley]

I think the misleading marketing blurb thing WAS indeed a mistake. However, I've personally seen that Parallels has been able to deliver most of the points they've advertized, if somewhat buggy to other people, so calling the upgrade announcement 'vaporware' is a bit harsh. Given the timing of the upcoming WWDC, and with competition from VMware, I don't think we'll have to wait that long to see the version 3.0 in person.

So... for those who have faith, pre-order. If not, wait until the thing's out. The difference is ten bucks if you're already thinking of upgrading.

The direct link to the Forum disappeared quite a while ago (see that I'm one of the early members and I've seen this happen first-hand), and Parallels did post an explanation for it around that time. Search around and you'll find it. Whether you want to accept that or not is up to you, of course. My understanding is that the paid customers get the link to the Forum in the e-mail these days and that's not too bad, although yes, I would've liked it if the link stayed.

Meanwhile, Leopard having virtualization tech? I highly doubt it. This has been a rampant speculation back when Leopard got a first peek and The Steve told the world about there being a 'secret' feature still not revealed, but even in the reports about the latest beta nothing particular related to virtualization was found. We'll get a clear answer about this at WWDC in less than two weeks anyway.

 

[sidssp]

I got that email too. This is a disgrace. The last version was released only 3 months ago. I have seen so many replied messages from Parallels support team saying that the reported bugs and will be fixed in the next build. Well the next build never come and now they want to charge again.

 

[itsdapead]

Just received an email from Parallels offering me a discounted upgrade for something I bought just a few months ago and have not been able to use. The marketing blurb lead me to believe that it worked with Bootcamp and Vista which it didn't. I waited patiently to get a fix for this error but no.... I now have to pay more to get it to work.

1. Software and hardware gets upgraded - that means that some people buy at the end of a product cycle. Deal with it. The upgrade - even without the pre-order discount - is 50 bucks. Get some perspective - a full copy of Vista Ultimate (AFAIK the only legit option if you want to use it on existing hardware in a VM) will cost $400.

2. If you really have been unable to get any use out of parallels due to advertised features not being present ask for your money back or a free update. If you don't get a constructive response to that then you may have a genuine beef. However, I suspect that you have wrongly inferred that "vista support" + "bootcamp support" = "vista on bootcamp support". From the V2 blurb: "Boot your 32-bit Windows XP Boot Camp partition directly in Parallels Desktop for Mac". That's pretty explicit.

3. According to this page, http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/upgrade - anybody who bought after 1st May will get a free upgrade.

4. The V1 to V2 upgrade was free, but Parallels have always been quite explicit that V3 would be a paid upgrade.

Having said that, while I don't think Parallels set out to deceive, I do think they make a rod for their own back sometimes by hawking cool new features without thinking of the complexities. They're dealing with everyday Mac users who need to run Windows now, not the hackers, developers and sysadmins who buy PC-based virtualization products.

Bootcamp support opens a huge can of worms (not least, how can you offer to support it in a released version when Bootcamp itself is still in beta?) - it sounds like a great feature but I'd really recommend sticking to virtual hard drives for use with Parallels and keeping a separate windows installation for games etc. under bootcamp. (If Parallels V3 can run Supreme Commander then I'm ditching BootCamp - I'm not holding my breath)

Also, the upgrade page is confusingly presented - at first glance it sounds like the upgrade will go op $40 to $80 unless you pre-order by June 6th! In fact, if you read more carefully, it only goes up by $10, and $80 is the full price.

 

[sandau]

I've been using Parallels since the first beta and have gladly paid the meager price for 'the very best OS X' application around.

Needless to say, when the email for v3 showed up, I bought it asap. Sure, there have been some rocky places with some of the betas and releases, but this is by far the best bit of software around. I'd pay much more than the small price they offer for pre-orders. Worth every cent and much more.

oddly enough, i still feel that Parallels/SWSoft is a company fronted by Apple and when Leopard comes around it'll be merged in with everything we've used to fix the bugs along the way.

but that's my own goofy conspiracy theory...

 

[ATXP]

I bought Parallels 2.5 this February. Do I have to pay again for the Parallels 3.0 upgrade?

That's like four months ago!!!

Email Parallels and still no reply.

 

[VTMac]

Just read the release. The answer is right there. YES. You WILL have to pay again. And guess what. That's perfectly fine and makes perfect sense. Guess what happens if you buy Tiger 4 months before Leopard. You get to PAY to upgrade to Leopard. Guess what happens if buy XP 4 months before Vista is released. You get to PAY to upgrade.

Jeez people. Get over it.

 

[roadkill_97006]

It'd be a lot easier to get over if there was ONE more patch release to fix what they promised to fix with 3188. I agree with the others, this smells a bit like yesterdays fish. Why the extremely short upgrade window? Either they're about to go belly up and are trying to raise cash prior to being evicted, or there is something else driving the push. The only time constraint I'm aware of is WWDC (and possibly some sort of announcement they got wind of that forced them to put this half-baked marketing blitz together). Maybe VMWARE is about to eat their lunch or maybe Apple is about to render them moot. Time will tell, and I find it interesting that time and hard information are the two things we are not being given to help with the decision.

Whatever you say, they haven't exactly covered themselves with glory in the support arena. I personally believe they owe us a patch release before they flop in a bunch of new bugs (and features).

 

[AlanH]

Time will tell, and I find it interesting that time and hard information are the two things we are not being given to help with the decision.

You have all the time in the world, and the worst case cost of taking your time is $10. If you are suspicious now, just wait. Either you are happy when the upgrade is released, and you upgrade for an extra $10, or your suspicions are confirmed and save yourself $50.

I have to say that a $10 early-bird discount isn't enough small change to make me want to pre-purchase an unspecified feature set now..

 

[dhjdhj]

Agreed ---- I was on the beta very very early (before first version was released) and participated a lot. I found the process excellent. Since then, I've been a happy user and have rarely needed to come back to these forums.

Having said that, I have absolutely no sense of what will be the benefit for me of upgrading (whether early or not) unless I can really run some games that I've just not bothered with since switching to the Mac.

For example, there's a phenomenal train simulator put out by a company in Australia or New Zealand (www.auran.com, I think) that only works on Windows. I just stopped using it when I switched to the Mac. Although I have very little time for games (sigh), I'd upgrade in a second if I thought I could run that train simulator under Parallels.

I have to say that a $10 early-bird discount isn't enough small change to make me want to pre-purchase an unspecified feature set now..