Service Announcement for Users of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac

I dont get it, i get an email 3 days after OSx Mavericks is released saying that parallels wont work anymore. Dont Parallels run the beta OS software to test compatability beforehand? I was one of the unfortunates who upgraded MacOSx expecting things to work. How about some heads up so I can better chose whether to upgrade my operating system or not...

 

Maverick Update PD7 -> PD9

Hello Chris,

as many others, also in this thread, I've upgraded to Maverick right after it came out. I do understand that PD is integrated much more tightly with an OS than the a "regular" application, thus requiring an update every time the OS is updated. And since this requires work on your part, I also understand this update is not free, and even if Apple chooses to supply their OS updates for free, you don't have to do the same.

But, I think the update price is outrageous. Being in Germany, I have to pay $65 just for a license key. (The full product only costs $79 in the US!)
So I pretty much have to repurchase your product for 62% of the original purchase price annualy with Apple releasing a new OS version once a year. That means I've paid 125% of the original purchase price after two updates. That smells a lot like a subscription, and if I had known that when I originally purchased PD, I would not have bought your product.

I don't think you're treating your existing customer base well, I don't feel like a "valued customer", but more like a dairy cow being milked regularly.
$20-$30 would have been fine, but $49 is ridiculous.

Consider this: if I go to a store and purchase a boxed product for $79, with the cost of the printed color box and its contents, shipping cost to the dealer and the dealer's profit margin, you'll probably end up with less money than what a digital update license key sold through your online store earns you, which is nearly pure profit. So you probably make more off of the updates than the full products! Do you feel this is fair?

So, please reconsider your pricing policy, PD is not vital component for me, so I will live without it unless you offer affordable updates.

Kind regards

 

Thanks - I will!

Chris - I think you can see where this is leading - and given the fact that today is only day #2 after the release of Mavericks be assured this is only the beginning. Like I said you can explain as much as you want, but since all of us are using a lot of other software from other companies that still work and being supported for years after their initial release show us that clearly something's wrong with your policy here.
And your company has to be aware that your customers are your most valuable "goods" - if you treat them like this they will turn away - and not only that - as you can see they will certainly spread the word...thanks to the www and social media the possibilities to do so are endless.

If you and your company don't see that you have to change policy in terms of how you support you customer base, this will damage your image severely.

Judging by your posts you're still not aware and still don't take your customers seriously...well we'll see.

Please don't be so ignorant to ignore your us.


*off to amazon to write a review*

 

I don't think Chris is in the position to change company policies, he's just an employee that's taking al the flak from frustrated customers. But I really do hope that he relays the customer opinion up the food chain, and that Parallels reacts before it's too late. I've already downloaded the competition's trial version and will be installing it tonight, and I'm sure others will too.

 

I do not agree to pay 49 for such an upgrade. The writing is on the wall. De-installing Parallels and as others have done moving forward.

 

Whenever I read this I cringe, because VMWare has EXACTLY the same 2 year support (with updates) policy, and releases a new version every year. I can understand people are angry that the software they bought 2 years ago no longer works on the latest version of their OS, but 'threatening' with hoping to VMWare Fusion when they do exactly the same sounds unreasonable or uninformed. Hoping to VirtualBox, I would understand better, it's like saying: "I want to leave this Parallels and VMWare commercial loop that forces me to buy a new version at least every 2 years, if I want to keep up-to-date on the OS X front. And for that I don't mind having less performance or worst integration".

 

Dear Specimen,

I wasn't threatening at all, and I didn't have VMWare in mind at all. All I was saying that I'd give an alternative a try. But thanks for bringing VMWare into the game, I hadn't thought of that one before you brought it up.
Also, I still do have a Windows machine on my desk, and PD was just a convenience, not a necessity for me.

You missed my point completely I'm afraid: Contrary to many others I do see the need to pay for updates, but paying 2/3 of the original purchase price to make a software I already own compatible with a new operating system version is just not justified. In my opinion, which I'm entitled to. Yours is obviously different.

 

For clarification.
You said, and I quote:

AFAIK, there's only one competitor that has a trial version, the universe of this type of Virtualization on Mac is very restrict, it's just Parallels, VMWare and VirtualBox (which is free and as such doesn't have a trial).

Considering that, how could you not have VMWare in mind when you said you already downloaded "the competition's trial version"?

Is my assumption wrong? Is there another competitor in the same virtualization space (not server virtualization) that is not mentioned? Please do enlighten me, I'm curious, I like to keep up-to-date on these things.

As to your point, and missing it, it was not my intention to target it at all, my target was the mention of the "the competition's trial version" and to debunk any false notions about VMWare Fusion. My reply is not so much at you, but for others that read this thread.

 

So, is this your point?

That's the 2 years (2 versions behind) support policy I mentioned (counting from the date PDM7 was released).

 

Well, Codeweaver's CrossOver12 does offer a trial version, I don't know much about that product, and before I research their licensing model I'll test it. Others in this thread seem happy with it at least.

Just for the record: I have been a happy customer and had no complaints about PD7 itself, so I would still like to continue to use their product.

 

Just registered in the forums (which seemed a lot more complicated than it needed to be) to post here, and wanted to echo most of fieroluke's post. I purchased PD7 nearly two years ago in order to run Windows 7. I never had a need or desire to upgrade to Windows 8. I do, however, want to upgrade to Mavericks. I saw the warning pop-ups about the lack of PD7 compatibility with Mavericks, so I've held off from upgrading to Mavericks while I figure out what to do. I can appreciate that Parallels may be more tightly integrated into the OS, and so "patching" PD7 may not be workable. But from my perspective, my current platform works fine and I don't desire any new features from Parallels. Mavericks looks just like my current version of OSX, but with some new features thrown in. As a developer myself, I realize that there may, in fact, be tons of changes under the surface of Mavericks, but I mention this to prepare you for the onslaught of many casual users who won't realize/appreciate that at all, and who won't have paid attention to the warning pop-ups, and will proceed with upgrading to Mavericks, and then think that your software is simply "broken" and expect relief from your company, without having to pay $50.

Giving away free upgrades would be wonderful, but I'm not expecting that. But $50 just to keep Windows 7 working? That's not really acceptable, either. I really think that the solution is for your company to offer a steeply discounted upgrade price, even just to get up to PD8 for $10-20. The statement that you don't "stock" PD8 anymore, is kind of silly, don't you think? This is software we're talking about. You don't need to stock boxed versions, just the 0's and 1's of the software on your server, and offer up a download link.

While I consider my options, please also answer the following questions for me: I'm considering buying a new MacBook later this year. If I were to upgrade now, will I be able to also install Parallels on my new laptop? If I can only install it on one laptop, will I be able to transfer my license from my current laptop to the new one?

 

Ok, I see, CrossOver is something totally different, it's not virtualization, at all, it's based on the Open Source project WINE ( http://www.winehq.org/ ), it's a compatibility layer, translating Windows API calls into POSIX. The upside is that it requires less resources, and you don't need to have Windows installed anywhere, the downside is that the compatibility is a per app thing, some Windows apps work well, others not at all.

List of Apps:
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/

For instance, the MS Office 2010 is not fully supported yet and might not run well on CrossOver. MS Office 2013, on the other hand, doesn't work, at all:
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=10518


However, I'm not up-to-date as to the support policy of CrossOver, so I'll not comment on that.

 

Oh, well. I received a surprise letter few hours ago preventing me from installing the new OS X, great, but damn I'm already on it! since yesterday! What do you want from me now? To pay for I-dont-know-what or just get out and forget about using purchased software? And I'm not about bugs in some 2-damn-years-old software (who the hell uses such an ancient things?!) I'm about it simply works NO MORE. And you guys saying - yes, its okay, purchase a new version, we gonna make you a discount. Wtf. I had purchased either a two-year license of your product or a complete one?

You made a good thing that Parallels Desktop, we appreciate it. Don't loose your customers, don't spoil your reputation.

 

I'm not happy with parallel's price policy as well. I have version 7 for students (yes i'm really a student in health IT) so I paid 39,90€ + postage through apple's and registered in 2012-02-23. So 1 year and 8 months... I bypassed ML but I just can't justify the same for Mavericks. It's free and brings plenty of reasons for upgrading, specially longer battery amongst other features. Parallel's solution: a 50€ upgrade! I don't feel that's fair, knowing you still keep a student program at half of price (you sure see some commercial advantage in this) for a new licence. It doesn't make sense at all, does it? I could accept a half discount (20€) for the upgrade, but that's still a 50% proportion after all and It makes me look for alternatives and some compromises become acceptable.

 

I am an I.T manager in my organisation and we have 168 active mac users, all with Parallels 7 licenses.

The strategic decision going forward is to upgrade to Mavericks within the next 2 months or after its first major upgrade ( i.e. 10.9.1 etc ).

I can tell you now that I will not sign off a purchase order to buy Parallels 9 due to reasons already mentioned in this thread. I have also instructed my team to look at alternatives such as Vmware Fusion or Virtualbox.

Watching this thread with closely.

 

I too am very unhappy with this. I'm in the UK and being asked to pay £34.99 (equivalent $56) to continue to use a software I purchased two years ago. I am another who, on principal, will not upgrade. This is shoddy treatment of customers. The choice offered by parallels is to either: hold off upgrading your computer to the latest operating system or to pay £34.99 so I can continue to have use of the software I have already purchased (the upgrade is of no interest to me) - with the possibility that I will have to pay them again in a couple of years time when apple again upgrade their operating system.

It's quite a contrast: Apple offering free upgrade. Parallels holding customers to ransom. Says a lot about their company ethos and ethics.

 

You should take into account that Apple's Core Business is Hardware, Parallels' is Software.

 

I am in the situation of running PD7, and also having just upgraded to Mavericks.

1. If I buy the update to PD9, will my upgrade work even though I'm already on Mavericks?
2. Everywhere it is mentioned that the update should be performed first. Thanks for that, but not relevant to
me. Will this work ex-post facto?

 

I agree .... having to pay again and again is not right !

 

I have already upgraded to Mavericks. What is the best path to upgrading to Parallels 9? Note that I use time machine to back up my Mac.