I'm sorry Parallels but Fusion is leaving you behind in the dust

[David5000]

Well I'm fed up with the support forums being littered with unhelpful Parallels bashing posts which make it less likely that legitimate support requests will be found and addressed.

The "bashing" has largely been from users whose "legitimate support requests" have not been addressed, though not because they cannot be easily found, which is a non-issue in any event. They have not been addressed because of Parallels' lack of communications and customer-service skills.

In my opinion, most of the so-called bashers are in fact loyal Parallels customers who have been trying to steer the company in the right direction. They want the company to succeed in spite of itself. Otherwise they would have simply given up long ago.

David

 

[Stevamundo]

Many settings for Parallels Tools are stored in the registry. That most likely includes the window size that is supposed to be returned to when switching from full screen to windowed mode.

I've tried re-installing Parallels Tools, that didn't work either.

You're fed up with Parallels? Well I'm fed up with the support forums being littered with unhelpful Parallels bashing posts which make it less likely that legitimate support requests will be found and addressed. Perhaps there should be a forum for general virtualization discussion so all these posts can be moved there.

Oh gee whiz IF Parallels ever gets their heads out of their butts and fixes the three things that I mentioned in this thread, then people wouldn't criticize Parallels nearly as much don't you think?

BTW brkirch here's a clue for you, if a thread that is titled “I'm sorry Parallels, but Fusion is leaving you behind in the dust" that thread isn't going to praise Parallels probably.

 

[brkirch]

The "bashing" has largely been from users whose "legitimate support requests" have not been addressed, though not because they cannot be easily found, which is a non-issue in any event. They have not been addressed because of Parallels' lack of communications and customer-service skills.

I'd believe that if I hadn't experienced just how efficient the beta program that Parallels' has is. Problems are resolved in a timely fashion and beta testers seem to understand that complaining instead of giving details is not the way to get your problem resolved. The last release simply didn't have enough beta testers testing it IMO (probably because no email notification was given).

I've tried re-installing Parallels Tools, that didn't work either.

I said you have a corrupted Windows registry, not a Parallels Tools problem (an uninstall cannot fix registry corruption). You will need to either run a registry cleaner or do a clean install of Windows.

 

[mrfearless47]

see my separate thread for a rejoinder

 

[mrfearless47]

I agree with you only to the extent that I see Parallels customer service and support falling by the way as they bring out release after release. They need to slow down and work on propping up their support.

OTOH, Fusion just plain sucks. As I document in another thread, there is no native support for the Apple eject key and CD/DVD support is just an illusion. On a Mac Pro, the only solution for opening and closing the CD/DVD drive trays is to get a piece of freeware published about 4 years ago. According to a Fusion developer: "Apple eject key didn't make the cut for the Version 1". Next, try installing a networked printer, or even a printer plugged into a usb port on the Mac Pro. Impossible, or nearly so. Printer support is so bad, that they've basically stopped responding to questions about printers.

So, I'll see your Parallels problems and raise you two show-stopping Fusion RC1 bugs and non-features.

I suspect the printing issue *may* be resolved in Fusion before release 1 goes gold, but the apple eject key is just plain not in the plan, even in a future update.

I'll stick with Parallels, which through all its iterations from original to current, has never given me a single problem on 4 different machines.

I'd still like some native support for resizing an existing partition, not the somewhat kludgy way it needs to be done. But if all I need to do is pull in 3rd party support from products I already own (Partition Magic, Acronis True Image) from my Windows days, I can live with that.

 

[Stevamundo]

I said you have a corrupted Windows registry, not a Parallels Tools problem (an uninstall cannot fix registry corruption). You will need to either run a registry cleaner or do a clean install of Windows.

What's a registry cleaner?

 

[Stevamundo]

I agree with you only to the extent that I see Parallels customer service and support falling by the way as they bring out release after release. They need to slow down and work on propping up their support.

OTOH, Fusion just plain sucks. As I document in another thread, there is no native support for the Apple eject key and CD/DVD support is just an illusion. On a Mac Pro, the only solution for opening and closing the CD/DVD drive trays is to get a piece of freeware published about 4 years ago. According to a Fusion developer: "Apple eject key didn't make the cut for the Version 1". Next, try installing a networked printer, or even a printer plugged into a usb port on the Mac Pro. Impossible, or nearly so. Printer support is so bad, that they've basically stopped responding to questions about printers.

So, I'll see your Parallels problems and raise you two show-stopping Fusion RC1 bugs and non-features.

I suspect the printing issue *may* be resolved in Fusion before release 1 goes gold, but the apple eject key is just plain not in the plan, even in a future update.

I'll stick with Parallels, which through all its iterations from original to current, has never given me a single problem on 4 different machines.

I'd still like some native support for resizing an existing partition, not the somewhat kludgy way it needs to be done. But if all I need to do is pull in 3rd party support from products I already own (Partition Magic, Acronis True Image) from my Windows days, I can live with that.

Bonjour works in Fusion for printing in XP anyway.

Also can't you just highlight the CD icon in Windows and goto File and click eject?

 

[David5000]

I'd believe that if I hadn't experienced just how efficient the beta program that Parallels' has is. Problems are resolved in a timely fashion and beta testers seem to understand that complaining instead of giving details is not the way to get your problem resolved.

The fact that the beta program is efficient has nothing to do with how badly administered the support forums and support in general are. A beta program can function well with developers working with users.

A support program requires customer-service people working with customers. Developers/programmers are in general neither trained for nor do they have any aptitude for customer service, which requires its own set of interpersonal communications skills.

David

 

[jackybe67]

Steve do you know "google" ?

Find registry + cleaner

I think we should give parallels some time to solve most off the problems. Microsoft worked 5 years on VISTA and it still very BUGGY !!!!!!

 

[brkirch]

What's a registry cleaner?

Wikipedia article

Of course a clean Windows install would be the most sure-fire way of fixing registry problems. When I originally saw you reporting this problem I did not respond because I had assumed that someone with more Windows experience would have a better way of dealing with this problem, because there is no guarantee that a registry cleaner will fix this (although I have no experience with them myself) and a complete Windows reinstall is usually too much to ask.

 

[Stevamundo]

Wikipedia article

Of course a clean Windows install would be the most sure-fire way of fixing registry problems. When I originally saw you reporting this problem I did not respond because I had assumed that someone with more Windows experience would have a better way of dealing with this problem, because there is no guarantee that a registry cleaner will fix this (although I have no experience with them myself) and a complete Windows reinstall is usually too much to ask.

Well I tried a registry cleaner. That didn't work either.

 

[whytyger]

I agree with you only to the extent that I see Parallels customer service and support falling by the way as they bring out release after release. They need to slow down and work on propping up their support.

OTOH, Fusion just plain sucks. As I document in another thread, there is no native support for the Apple eject key and CD/DVD support is just an illusion. On a Mac Pro, the only solution for opening and closing the CD/DVD drive trays is to get a piece of freeware published about 4 years ago. According to a Fusion developer: "Apple eject key didn't make the cut for the Version 1". Next, try installing a networked printer, or even a printer plugged into a usb port on the Mac Pro. Impossible, or nearly so. Printer support is so bad, that they've basically stopped responding to questions about printers.
.

Horsepucky. What "fearless" isn't telling you is that he has *dual* CD/DVD drives. That configuration isn't supported by Fusion without a freeware work around. Doesn't sound like a serious problem to me, nor for the vast majority of users. The far more common single drive configuration is supported just fine, whether on a MacPro or any other system.

Network printers are problematical, or so we are led to gather; but USB printers, whether directly connected or via Bonjour, are no harder than Parallels. 'Course, "fearless" hasn't tried that.

Sounds like we have an unabashed Parallels fanboy here. I thought these were an endangered species. Wishful thinking.

Can't use the Apple eject button? That's just awful. If that's one's criterion for functionality, I agree, stay away from Fusion. If, on the other hand, you want speed, stability, accountability, and first rate tech support, even for a beta product, then it certainly deserves a hard look. And you won't have to wait long for the gold version either.

 

[flipdoubt]

One item that is a big Fusion turn-off for me is that they don't yet know what to do about Activation on a VM of a Bootcamp partition.

 

[davidhale]

Next, try installing a networked printer, or even a printer plugged into a usb port on the Mac Pro. Impossible, or nearly so. Printer support is so bad, that they've basically stopped responding to questions about printers.

Hey, that perfectly describes my experience with Parallels! I can't install a network printer and they don't respond to my support request ticket.

 

[maverick808]

I'd believe that if I hadn't experienced just how efficient the beta program that Parallels' has is. Problems are resolved in a timely fashion and beta testers seem to understand that complaining instead of giving details is not the way to get your problem resolved. The last release simply didn't have enough beta testers testing it IMO (probably because no email notification was given).

I have to disagree. I don't think the beta program was well run at all. If you remember in a previous release the beta testers got a build one day and the GA was released the next day. Parallels certainly aren't allowing enough time between beta and GA builds to collect users experiences, debug, repair, and retest. To me, the entire process always seems rushed with Parallels. We end up with many many builds all with tiny little changes. When this happens the dev team ends up spending more time implementing versions than properly addressing reported bugs.

Compare this to the Fusion team, who I think are running their beta better. They have had months between each beta release, and each release has shown vast improvements over the previous one, demonstrating that they have seriously analysed and acted on bug reports.

I'd rather have less frequent but more substantial and well-planned betas, rather than a rapid stream of swiftly implemented betas.

 

[whytyger]

It appears we are beating a dead horse, as "fearless" has apparently deleted his original posting. However, for the record:

Network printers are problematical, or so we are led to gather;

Actually, upon review of the Fusion boards, it appears that HP network printers aren't particularly problematical under Fusion. All that is required (if the network is otherwise working well) is to select bridged networking; then using the HP supplied utility, remove all existing drivers from the guest OS; then reinstall the drivers using the HP driver installation program. I suspect (but have not verified) that the same would be true of any other network printer Or, use Bonjour.

Maverick808 wrote:

"I'd rather have less frequent but more substantial and well-planned betas, rather than a rapid stream of swiftly implemented betas."

Amen.

 

[pcraddock]

I have to disagree

I have used both Parallels for over a year and Fusion for about 6 weeks. Here is my experience:
1. Neither product is perfect.
2. Both have problems with support if the question is hard.
3. Unity in Fusion is FAR from perfect in my experience. It has been a resource pig on my iMac (C2D 2.33 with 2GB RAM and 256MB Video). It sits between 40 and 70% CPU. I have asked for help on this (refer to #2 above). It also does not like it when the Windows taskbar is on the left side of the screen. Parallels is using 15-30% on the same machine with the same options.
4. Coherence, while not perfect, works much better for my needs. But please fix the GDI issue in 2.5!
5. I have not used Parallels 3 and have no need for DirectX, so I cannot comment there.
6. USB support is better in Fusion. It supports my headset inside the VM where Parallels has only output white noise using my IP softphone.
7. Performance and aesthetic issues were bad enough for me to remove Fusion. For all of the fawning I have read about it, Fusion seems like it is FAR from a finished product.
Just my 2 cents...

 

[whytyger]

I have used both Parallels for over a year and Fusion for about 6 weeks. Here is my experience:
1. Neither product is perfect.

True.

2. Both have problems with support if the question is hard.

Not my experience. I have never failed to receive a prompt reply that solves my problem. Recently, however, the Fusion team has been silent, but the reason seems self-evident--they are busy working on the GA version. However, experienced users are filling in quite admirably--and quickly.

3. Unity in Fusion is FAR from perfect in my experience. It has been a resource pig on my iMac (C2D 2.33 with 2GB RAM and 256MB Video). It sits between 40 and 70% CPU. I have asked for help on this (refer to #2 above). It also does not like it when the Windows taskbar is on the left side of the screen. Parallels is using 15-30% on the same machine with the same options.

I ran into this problem, and the project leader suggested a solution which worked admirably--simply create a new VM, pointing it at the existing virtual disks. It seems that VM's created in earlier versions of Fusion aren't well optimized for RC1. I cut my resource usage in half using this method. But be careful--if you are using snapshots, you'll need to point your new VM to your child disks, or risk losing all changes made since the snapshot. No one warned me about this (there should have been a nag screen), and it created a big mess--but one which other users successfully guided me through.

7. Performance and aesthetic issues were bad enough for me to remove Fusion. For all of the fawning I have read about it, Fusion seems like it is FAR from a finished product.
Just my 2 cents...

Fawning is hardly the proper (or even polite) term. Admiration would be more exact, an admiration in many cases based upon more than a few weeks' experience. And for your criticism to be meaningful, either here or for the Fusion team, you'll need to be far more precise about "performance and aesthetic issues." For most users, Fusion's performance, even as a beta, is superior to that of Parallels. And the aesthetics of Fusion, once the VM is running, are those of Windows, not of VMWare. Its operational interface is deliberately simple and straightforward.

As far as not being a finished product, you are technically correct. It's at the RC stage, not the GA stage. But GA is only a month away at most. Functionally, it's awfully darn good. Given the rash of kernel panics, corrupted bootcamp partitions and other assorted woes in the current GA release of Parallels (4560), it's at the BTDB stage (back to the drawing board).

 

[Stevamundo]

5. I have not used Parallels 3 and have no need for DirectX, so I cannot comment there.

There's my issue right there. I liked Parallels 2.5 myself. HOWEVER Parallels 3.0 is crap. Top it off Parallels is using FALSE ADVERTISING about 3.0, which really pisses me off.

Parallels 3.0 really should be an EARLY BETA right now.

 

[AngryAnt]

One of the things that really appeals to me about fusion is that their version of coherence splits the XP windows into real OS X windows - enabling you to switch between them using exposé (a feature I would *really* appreciate in Parallels).

However - I have yet to encounter a bug in Parallels 3.0. I mainly use it for running Visual Studio 2005 and some custom software plus a few games (hitman 1-3, heroes of might and magic III and quake 4).

Until fusion is released or I encounter a real problem in my parallels setup, I have no intension of spending time on fusion. Features I really enjoy in parallels:

- Coherence (though I would like compatibility with exposé - support tells me this is on progress though).
- Cross-opening of documents, urls, emails etc.
- Launching of XP apps from the dock.
- Only sharing a single or few folders to windows - thus keeping your data relatively safe.