Hi Bernhard,
There are always several new features included with each major release of Parallels Desktop for Mac and personally, I don't always agree with the things that are turned on by default. I sure that certain features
are left in the "on" position intentionally to be able to showcase those new features to users who might never have known about them otherwise. It's a fine line to determine which features we should turn on by default and which ones not to. Sorry about the confusion on this. I encourage you whenever you do an major upgrade to your Parallels, to check out the readme file that's included next to the "install" button from the mounted DMG. It always includes a "what's new" section.
Another good resource for new features and general info like this is the bundled Help file that comes with Parallels Desktop. I know that sounds pretty generic, but honestly, I use it frequently to just to get specific detail on what a certain feature is and how to use it best. It's under the "help" menu from the Parallels Desktop menu bar up top. It's got an index, so you can just type in a word, any word, and it will display all the hits for that word.
I'm concerned that turning off the Apple Remote feature didn't work for you. Mine's at the office so I won't be able to look at this more closely until next week. I'll get back to you when I can try it on my MBP.