Parallels 6 on Mountain Lion - Supported?

Play the game

You have to learn to play the game with companies like Parallels. I just got a P7 upgrade (actually the full version) for $30. that's fine. I paid up until 5. then i figured out how to use P6 without a license because I was annoyed at these crazy upgrade policies. i've been a licensed user since P3. anyway, i bought vmware 3 in a really cheap bundle offered by smith micro a couple years ago. the price of the bundle was a great deal and vmware 3 was just a "throw in" for me because I use parallels. so now with the ML debacle, I just used my obsolete vmware 3 license to buy P7 for $30 using the competitive upgrade.

Just do whatever you need to do to get around all this mess. I am a P customer but I will play their little game as they put me in a position where I have to in order to use their software. I'd have moved to vmware but the cost was higher than leveraging my old vmware 3 license to get P7. so i will use P7 now, likely skip P8 and take advantage of discounts they offer maybe for P9. we'll see.

just play their little game if you can.

 

$50 once a year is the best possible outcome IF you buy Parallels at the right time.

For instance I bought Parallels 6 in late August 2011. They want me to buy Parallels 7 in July 2012 and in 2 months they will want me to buy Parallels 8.

 

You will get V8 for free if you would update now, READ the thread...

 

I hear you but usually you can skip a release or maybe even two unless its a necessary upgrade such as P7/ML. i bought P3, skipped P4, upgraded to P5 with a $30 offer, skipped P6, upgraded to P7 using basically a free vmware 3 license i own. since P3 i've paid $60 in total to be on the current P7 platform.

basically unless i have to upgrade, i don't. i was actually going to wait as long as it takes for a P7 upgrade offer to come along. i would have put off the ML upgrade until the P7 upgrade was available. but then i thought about using my vmware license to do a competitive upgrade. so that was good. otherwise i would have stayed on P6/Lion until i could get P7 for $30. no rush for me.

 

as long as P8 is released within 6 months of your purchase of P7. i wouldn't put it across them to ensure they release P8 AFTER the 6 month time period.

I would have switched to a competing product had I not been able to get the upgrade for $30 to P7 just now. Parallels has had this dumb upgrade policy since I have been a customer but I always find a way to avoid upgrading or getting them cheaper.

I bought P3 in 2006. so for me its been $60 to keep myself upgraded enough that I can use it up to and including mountain lion.

 

Thats how they treat their customers

I had a very amusing chat with one of their customer reps. I've put it down for you to share the fun:
http://www.bartkowiak.de/archives/422

 

Same here. Until now I have been happy with the product and support but this is outrageous. I think this is the end of Parallels for me...

 

complete rip off...

dear parallels-

...SERIOUSLY!?!
do you really think i will spend another single cent on your software?! I ALREADY BOUGHT THIS SOFTWARE T-H-R-E-E TIMES! and i STILL had advertising pop ups (WHAT A CHEEK!!) when starting parallels desktop every now and then... (ticking the box "don't show this again" didn't really help...)

and now you are trying to charge your loyal customers again and again for EVERY osx update by fakeing incompability to your previous versions. funny enough parallels is ALWAYS the only one of all my softwares that is not compatible anymore with new osx versions. obviously your company is only about to be on the make...
please take my humble advice: convince your existing customers to download and update to your new software or versions by providing new and exciting features and novelites, and not by ripping them off and fooling them.

so long, good bye parallels. paying for ONE software THREE times within three years is more than enough, that's it.

sincerely,
a FORMER customer

 

How did you do that? Was it difficult? Would be funny to use this thread to show people how to do it!

 

Totally agree and there's no way whatsoever to switch it off, even the instructions from support don't work.

I'm going back to VMware Fusion, should never have switched in the first place, Fusion is ROCK SOLID, doesn't bug you with adverts and their versions work across operating system updates without being duped into buying the product again.

Parallels, you are a shower of bastards and I'll be glad to see the back of you!

 

VMWare Fusion?

Only the latest version of Fusion (4.1.3) is compatible with ML, users running Fusion 3 will have to upgrade to 4, Fusion 3 was released in October 2009, in fact, I believe Fusion 3 doesn't even run on Lion contrary to Parallels 6, released a year later. Both Parallels 7 and Fusion 4 were released around the same date (1 month difference), both support Lion and ML.

Resources:
http://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2012/07/vmware-fusion-and-os-x-mountain-lion-faq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware_Fusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac

 

From your own link:
"(Fusion VM) 3.1.4 April 13, 2012 Fixes a bug with starting virtual machines on OS X 10.7.4."

If Fusion VM does not run on lion....how do they fix a bug in lion?

If you just google VMware and lion, you will find:
"VMware Fusion 3.1.4 was designed for OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). It is compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), with some limitations."

Not trying to say which one is bette (although my personally experience PD is faster than VM).
At least for me, I am not expecting PD6 run perfectly on 10.8....but it should at least run (like my photoshop c3 is running on 10.8...not well nor fully functional, but at least run).

 

VirtualBox can use Parallels (.hdd) disks in simple-format without conversion. If the disk does not use the simple format, it must be converted first using the Parallels Image Tool.

But I would uninstall Parallels Tools first (if you have it installed on the VM) and make a backup copy of the VM. Then create a new VirtualBox machine, matching the CPU and memory settings as closely as you can to the Parallels machine.

http://superuser.com/questions/330335/convert-parallels-vm-to-virtual-box-vm

 

Forgot the image tool isn't in 6 (or 7) ... You can change the disk format in the Hard Disk pane of the Virtual Machine Configuration dialog.

 

No longer recommending to customers

Dear Parallels:

I work in information technology and both officially and informally recommend products for purchase by organizations and individuals. I regret to say that I'm no longer recommending your Parallels product for the following reasons:

1) exceptionally poor handling of customer concerns, in turn reflecting poorly on those recommending your product

2) a pre-existing flaw in v6, exposed upon upgrade to OS X 10.8, without a maintenance patch. I am aware of no other commercial product that required a paid upgrade to run on Mountain Lion, other than Parallels.

3) an inconsistent and confusing support policy. One does not expect free patches for ever, but it is not unreasonable for a commercial product to support operating system upgrades released within a year of sale or some other reasonable period. It is unreasonable to purchase software only to have to repurchase the same product a few months later.

Please consider the example of the a leading desktop publishing software developer, whose product went from category leader to niche product in just a few years in the early 2000s. Some have suggested that poor customer service and the inflexibility of support and upgrade policies as the reasons for an exodus to Adobe products. There is a cost to dissatisfied customers; one which may not reflect immediately in your bottom line, but which eventually comes due.

I am certain that VMWare will appreciate the additional opportunities brought about by your poor choices as much as Adobe appreciated those of its erstwhile competitor.

 

I can't agree more... smooth_move!
I'm customer since P2 and as a IT consultant I have recommended Parallels to numerous clients as a perfect solution for running windows on their new macbooks. I already received 2 messages since yesterday from people upset that P6 doesn't work anymore after upgrading to OS X ML. The only thing I could say that I feel same way as they feel - ripped off. And I sent them link to this forum, so they can see how many people are affected.

I just can't agree to pay another $50 to Parallels. I feel like I already paid enough since P2. I should be able to use P6 with ML without problem. It's worth to mention here that Crossover (purchased with promo code for $19) works with Windows apps like Office flawlessly after upgrading to OS X ML. Unfortunately, I need slightly more than CrossOver can do, but despite of this fact I WILL NEVER EVER SPEND A DIME on Parallels. I'd rather turn on older Windows 7 laptop, when necessary...

It's funny, but I own 2 licences for P6, one was purchased as a part of bundle just weeks before announcing P7.

 

Wow, I can't agree more with everyone. I'll be switching my machine to fusion and certainly won't be recommending Parallels anymore.

 

I looked at Fusion - they are doing the same thing as Parallels. I'm not so sure they are a better choice.

Virtualbox however ...

 

I am not sure if am going to go to Fusion or just give up on virtualization for OS X, but I do know that I am not paying $50 for a patch just so it'll work with the latest version of OS X. It never worked well enough to justify the original price anyways and I keep hearing that the new version has ads so I think I'll just use Spashtop to remote into my PC if I need something from Windows.

 

So I had to create an account just to post this one time. Like all of you, I'm in the same boat - I'm a long time customer who was forced to upgrade to v6 less than a year ago when I upgraded to Lion. Its funny, other software I need for work just allows me to download the new version when Apple releases new OS updates for free. I can't stomach spending $50 just so I can continue using software I purchased less than a year ago. These update charges are just unsustainable. Guess I'll be leaving Parallels and will be encouraging all my colleagues to do the same. Disappointing...