Service Announcement for Users of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac

No problem, my mistake and thanks!

 

Bought PD 7 and was a happy user. New PD 8, 9 has nothing I need, so naturally I don't want to upgrade. Now 10.9 is on, and I receive the email after I finished installing 10.9, SOL. Not to mention the "upgrade price" is higher than my PD 7 price. So long Parallels, VirtualBox user I become. For those of you also use Parallels to test websites development, checkout https://github.com/xdissent/ievms.

 

Running PD7 on my 2011 iMac and very annoyed by Parallels right now.

Having bought PD8 for my new Macbook Air when I got it this June - PD9 came out just a week or two later, less than a year after PD8; needless to say, that's how long it took me to get annoyed by Parallels; because you notice a strategy to get a few suckers who waited for the new Mac Air to buy a new laptop, and to then not release the completely new version until a week or six after the launch.

The forced upgrade is a total rip-off. Out of principle, I too will move to VirtualBox.
I happily pay for good software and fair upgrade schemes, but Parallels is just taking it too far.

 

This is incorrect, if you bought it in June, PDM 9 came out in 2 months later, in September. If you had bought PDM8 2 weeks before PDM9 release you would be entitled to a free upgrade.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac#Version_9

Parallels consistently releases a new version about the same time each year, at the end of the summer, in fact, versions 6, 7, 8 and 9 were all released in early September of 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

 

Perhaps they should introduce a subscription service then if they are that consistent? At least that way people know what they're buying into when they purchase Parallels. The people who are disgruntled are those who thought they were buying a stand-alone piece of software and for whom upgrading would be a choice, not a requirement. A stand-alone application shouldn't be unusable after 2 years, that's just not acceptable.

If Parallels charged say $35 a year people would know what to expect. They either tie themselves in and pay the subscription or they look elsewhere.

It's all moot now anyway because I think Parallels are now waiting for this to blow over.

 

A subscription service would imply the product would cease working after the subscription ended. This is not the case, the case here is that each version is supported with updates for about two years after release (when the version after the next is released), PDM7 continues to work in OS X up to 10.8.5, but not in 10.9. This support policy has been public and consistent over the last years.

Apple made the host OS a shifting target, they've slowly changed to yearly versions, and slowly changed the pricing to free, which I personally wasn't expecting. I can't help wondering what would be of this thread if Mavericks wasn't free and costed the same as Mountain Lion.

The fact that it's now known that Apple is going to make yearly version updates, released for free, this will have an impact on all software makers as they will certainly have to consider how much to charge, when to charge and for what.

 

I don't think it's all moot now. Sooner or later the folks at Parallels (if not totally blind and ignorant) will realize the might have gotten more in the end if they went for a different upgrade policy.
I heard so many people around me that are truly pissed and will or have already left PD behind. Instead of feeling the need to explain themselves the folks at Parallels should realize it won't turn out that well for them if they have a "few" customers paying the 50$ or € while drawing a lot of customers away (that are also spreading the word)... instead of having ALL of their customers paying only 20$ for the upgrade and keeping those customers on a longterm base because they're happy. It's simple math.

Also I really had a laugh when Specimen (or Chris - can't remember) came up with Adobe as a comparison - BIG TIME!!
I have people running CS4 or even CS3 under Mavericks!!! classic own goal.

BTW just yesterday I was doing a keynote presentation in front of 40 people (doing 4 more in November alone) - all switching from PC to Mac...and OF COURSE I got asked about ways how to use Windows on a Mac...guess what I recommended Parallels Desktop...NOT!

40 prospective customers that are not buying Parallels now...
My colleagues do the same by the way.

And I do agree with Curtmantle if Parallels sold PD as some kind of subscription so people know before buying it would be a totally different story.

AND it is not true that all subscription services stop working after the subscription ended - like virus scanners I remember from my time on Windows - they were still usable but not updated anymore...

 

That isn't necessarily the case. I am a developer on the .NET platform and there is a development suite called Developer Xpress for which you pay a yearly subscription. If you stop that subscription, you retain a license for the last version before the expiry of your subscription and you can continue to download it from their site (plus service releases for that specific version). This isn't unique.

Parallels are entirely reliant on both Microsoft and Apple and I don't doubt it's not easy - I'm not complaining simply because it's inconvenient. As for the reaction in this thread if Mavericks wasn't free? I can't speak for anyone else but I originally received the upgrade alert before I knew Mavericks was free... and I was no less disappointed. I think much of it is the notion that customers are being forced into a hole and people don't like that. The whole issue has not been handled well at all.

I am prepared to pay something for the upgrade... I wasn't expecting a free one, but a better worded announcement/email and a significant discount for a period after Mavericks was released might have gone down a bit better. The idea that those who have already upgraded would be annoyed doesn't hold much water as it's a common occurrence in retail that offers/discounts are given to products at various times and sometimes you buy something that is discounted soon after. It happens all the time.

Anyway, I know you aren't an employee and I don't want you to think I'm having a go at you because that's not the case at all. I appreciate the situation you're in and I appreciate the fact that you are responding to people in this thread too.

 

To refresh your memory, what I said was:

And to put it in to context, that's a response to the comparison being made between Apple and Parallels, because Apple is offering Mavericks for free. It's a comparison of Business Models.

Adobe CS5, CS4 and CS3 actually require a trick to work under Mavericks or they will not launch at all, Java 6 has to be updated/installed (this is actually a security concern), this was discovered by Adobe users, Adobe has not released any software update to these versions except to CS6 to address Mavericks compatibility.

source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/apple/3475218/open-adobe-cs-photoshop-indesign-in-os-x-mavericks/

A Virus scanner that runs but can't be updated is in my opinion, useless.

 

Thank you, I don't feel personally attacked in any way, just confronting ideas in a healthy manner.

 

I just wanted to add my voice to those who are annoyed that they'll have to buy a new version of parallels to be able to continue to use their VMs after installing Mavericks.

The game has changed with Apple releasing OS upgrades every year, and now offering them for free. I don't think it's acceptable to buy a piece of software that's only going to be good for a year and a half. I also really dislike the subscription model. Annoyingly, and probably naively, spent £20 on an upgrade to Parallels 7 in July thinking that would tide me over for a while (I didn't know of Parallels' two version support rule), and now fully 3 months later I'm expected to shell out again if I want to upgrade to Mavericks.

I don't know if anybody from Parallels will read this, or whether anything will change, but I wanted to say my piece. I'm annoyed. As far as I'm concerned I want to upgrade to Mavericks and I can't and it's all Parallels fault. I feel like I'm being held to ransom.

I hear that Parallels hold black friday sales, so I'll look again at upgrading then. If I do end up upgrading (by no means guaranteed) I don't want to pay full price.

 

Hi douglaswa,

I want to assure you that we do read the posts and relay the information internally. As is well known, Apple's focus is on hardware and iOS devices. Parallels makes software, and the reason we posted this notification in September is to allow our customers time to make a decision, instead of the day of Mavericks release. I laid out the points in the initial post that it was not technically feasible (or from a resource perspective) for Parallels to back-port Parallels Desktop 7 as it is two years old.

I do not want to set any false expectations to any of our community members when I say that we do discuss your questions/comments internally, but there will not be an update to Parallels Desktop 7. If you are on our email list, you will receive any notifications from our Marketing team if there are any promotions that will be held in the future. If you find a copy of Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac, from an authorized re-seller, please keep in mind that the Parallels Tech Guarantee is in effect until October 31, 2013.

Chris

 

Just so you know here some of us are...

Just so you know where some of us are including several more people I have spoken with that are using or formerly using Parallels. I have taken 7 and Windows 7 off of 3 of our macs already because the upgrade is so expensive and even more than that we do not want to keep throwing money away at a minimum of every 2 years. If it were one time I would buy it. Maybe you should sell a life time upgrade? (Not at $50 every 2 years as it is now.) I would give another $50 for that. In our case, the need to be able to switch between multiple displays in full screen mode was fixed in Mavericks and that is much more important to us than what we gained on those machines from Parallels. Installing Office 2011 for mac purchased from Amazon has taken care of what our users needed in power point, Excel and Word and we did not need any other windows apps on them anyway. Office will not keep charging us later and I am sure it will work with macs upgrades as they come out. Money well spent. We use multiple displays in several locations in our church multiple times a week. We really do not need 9 now but I thought it would be honest to tell you at parallels what our situation is like. We are not alone. Several of my friends in other churches began using it at my recommendation. I set up a church that runs 5 macs in Jacksonville , FL after the pastor used my mac and loved it. They bought new Macs just before 8 came out and I installed 7 on them. They also need this multi screen fix on mavericks. I am sure they will be making similar changes like we have made here in Tennessee. Just thought you guys should know what is happening in our world where I have made a number of sales for you. You have already made the money but I will not push the high prices you are charging for upgrade. We bought 7 in some instances for less than you want for the upgrade. Good luck. By the way, You are welcome for the sales I helped you make... At the time, I was happy to do it. You really do have a great product!!! I have loved parallels since the first moment I installed it! That is the only reason I have posted on here. I am still using 7 on one machine... windows needs outweighs what I would gain on Mavericks there. It is used for mostly for Photoshop (in Windows 7) and iMovie. We are playing with Virtual box and the Crossover free trial right now more out of curiosity for future needs than anything. Seems a shame to let all of these copies of windows to go to waste. But I have to say Parallels is what I prefer.

I do have another question? How come you are still allowing the selling of 7 and 8 on Amazon and other places when support is gone? Don't you need to have that said in the description to avoid more backlash?

 

Hi prodigalmike,

Thanks for your post and thoughts on my comments.

To answer the question on Amazon: The older versions that are sold are often by 3rd party re-sellers who sell in the Amazon Marketplace. These are not copies sold by Parallels and we do not have control over the content posted by them since they are a 3rd party. This is one reason why copies purchased in the Amazon Marketplace are not covered under our Parallels Tech Guarantee. Parallels purchased directly from Amazon, as the re-seller, are covered as they are an authorized partner of Parallels. Hope this clarifies/answers your question.

Chris

 

Cost to Upgrade

I am reading the company response to all the complaints...I too agree that making people constantly pay to upgrade is financially irresponsible on Parallels part. I understand that every company has a finite amount of financial resources...however...can you imagine if every software manufacturer made you pay for upgrades so that their software would continue to function? If Microsoft made you buy a new Office suite to work on Windows 8....or if printer companies such as HP, Canon, etc made you purchase updated drives just so you can use their devices on new operations systems? When Windows 7 came out...some printers were not compatible....and we had to wait for updated drives to become available...when they became available, did HP and Canon and other companies tell their customers they had to buy the new drivers? The same applies to you case....providing updated support on your software should be YOUR cost of doing business...and your cost of being in business....$50.00 every time a new version comes out? Based on your cost it would be more beneficial for people to just buy themselves a dedicated windows machine rather than having to continuously pay to upgrade.

 

I am reading the company response to all the complaints...I too agree that making people constantly pay to upgrade is financially irresponsible on Parallels part. I understand that every company has a finite amount of financial resources...however...can you imagine if every software manufacturer made you pay for upgrades so that their software would continue to function? If Microsoft made you buy a new Office suite to work on Windows 8....or if printer companies such as HP, Canon, etc made you purchase updated drives just so you can use their devices on new operations systems? When Windows 7 came out...some printers were not compatible....and we had to wait for updated drives to become available...when they became available, did HP and Canon and other companies tell their customers they had to buy the new drivers? The same applies to you case....providing updated support on your software should be YOUR cost of doing business...and your cost of being in business....$50.00 every time a new version comes out? Based on your cost it would be more beneficial for people to just buy themselves a dedicated windows machine rather than having to continuously pay to upgrade.

 

Funny you mention Printers, HP and all!
When Vista came out lots of older printers never got their drivers updated, old drivers didn't work in Vista, so if you were the owner of a few years old printer, you had to buy A NEW PRINTER! (;

 

I'm sure most would agree Vista was a disaster on many levels so not really a fair assessment in my opinion.

 

The same printers also wouldn't work in Windows 7 or 8, as the underlying architecture change was made in Vista, in fact Windows 8, again, made considerable changes in how to handle hardware sending more printers to the local landfill.

 

techdaddy, you're not really helping the argument here with your example. Printers are hardware and HP is making its money off of the hardware and replacement toner/ink. They offer the drivers for free. Over time, they may stop supporting an older version of the host OS, but it's usually based on the age of the printer (a 3 year old printer would typically still be supported) but, again, hardware companies and software companies are two different things.

The case has already been made pretty clear in these forums, IMO. Parallels is a software company and most rational people don't expect them to continue to support every version of Mac OS, or every version of the OS you want to install within Parallels, forever. But 2 years or less of supporting a dot-point update to the host Mac OS X seems too short for the software to effectively "break". I don't think that most of us are opposed to having to pay some sort of upgrade fee for this 2-year old software, but $50 is over 50% of the full product price and that seems excessive to many of us.

Several days have passed and Parallels (the company) hasn't made any improvement to the situation, so I don't hold out much hope. At this point, the company has lost favor with me, and since my needs are so simple (running remote desktop software under Windows 7), my next move will probably be to test out VirtualBox. The worth of the time I've already spent discussing this has exceeded the $50, and the time I'll expend learning about and installing VirtualBox plus re-installing Windows will far exceed that $50, but I didn't really like the attitude the company has presented on this matter, so it became a matter of principle for me to not give in and give them my $50. Plus, as an entrepreneur, software developer, and someone interested in how companies navigate the free market, it became an enjoyable debate/discussion for me to participate in, so I don't really consider my time spent to be completely wasted.