Is it worth upgrading from v7 to v9?

One potentially compelling reason to upgrade to v9 from v7 is that v7 is a couple years old, and we're about to get a major OS X update to Mavericks. Whereas PD9 is apparently designed to support Mavericks, of course v7 was not.

 

When I upgraded from 7 to 8 I didn't notice a difference until I needed to reinstall Mountain Lion (upgraded the HD in my 2010 iMac 27") when i did a fresh install I noticed that win7-64 boots somewhat quicker. The option I find i use is the "Pause Windows when no applications are open" Basically it puts windows in a "pause" managed by parallels, the resume from this is only 2 or 3 seconds. If you exit parallels (while paused) parallels suspends the os like normal and it takes virtually the same length of time to revive from the suspended as it does to boot. So I tend to have parallels just shut down rather than suspend and pause when i'm not actively using the host os. If your not using Mountain Lion I don't know if there would be an advantage to moving to 9. I haven't heard if Mavericks will be available for the machine I have or if it will be incompatible hardware.

 

Okay, so long after I posted this, the issue has come up again. This time, however, I can offer some feedback. I purchased PD9 yesterday as a part of an upgrade bundle offer that was just too good to ignore. Here are the results of my testing via running Windows Experience Index on Windows 7 Ultimate under PD7 and PD9:

Base Score: PD7 PD9 (DX10) PD9 (DX9)
================================

CPU: 4.5 4.5 4.5
RAM: 4.9 4.9 4.9
2D Graphics 3.3 2.8 3.3
3D Graphics 2.0 3.2 3.2
Disk 7.0 7.8 7.8

Conclusion about performance claims, at least for Windows 7 for my particular configuration*, is that the upgrade from PD7 to PD9 nets very useful and solid improvements in the running VM. I have no comment about startup or shutdown speed. I have not measured those parameters nor do I care about them at all. All I care about is how the VMs perform and with my particular hardware, the improvement in DirectX 9 video raises the overall WEI rating from 2.0 to 3.2. That is an epic improvement on the same hardware. The SSD's performance improved dramatically, as well, making this upgrade absolutely worthwhile. Two thumbs up.

*Hardware/OS configuration: Early 2008 MacBook4,1; 6GB RAM; 600GB Intel 320 Series SSD; OS X 10.7.5

With regard to the input method editor bug that I discovered in PD8, it still exists in PD9, but I was able to effect a workaround. So, I'm currently in Happy Land after the upgrade. Bonus points for the upgrade was the bundle itself; my KAV 2011 for Mac was due to go unsupported as of December this year. The bundle included a free upgrade to KIS 2014 for Mac, which extends my renewal from October 2014 to mid-February 2015. There are a bunch of other apps that I'll likely never use, but having download links and keys are a nice touch.

Well done to Parallels. PD6-to-PD7 was a brilliant upgrade and well worth the money. PD7-to-PD9 would appear to have been equally as good an investment that will go a long way to keeping my old hardware in the game for the foreseeable future. Two thumbs up!

 

Support just contacted me and pointed me to a KB article that resolves the issue I had in PD8 and PD9. My satisfaction has jumped to 100%.

How to disable keyboard synchronisation between Mac and Windows virtual machine

 

Hi Everyone,

Please find below more detailed information about What is new in Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac:

http://kb.parallels.com/117014

Thanks,
Looran