I have been using Parallels since the first version came out and then 2.x and trialled 3.x after seeing 3d support etc and a long time visitor of these forums but first time poster. So first of all hello everyone here!! What I have noticed is that since VMware have entered the mac virtualisation market the speed of the releases from Parallels has increased significantly and this has got me thinking... So onto thoughts and questions time! 1. Did the Parallels team rush out 3.0 just to try and get a further head start from VMware? 2. Has SWSOFT damaged their reputation for what is perceived to be a beta release? 3. Perhaps they should take the VMware approach and not promise the earth and let customer know exactly what they are getting without any marketing BS? My personal opinion is that Parallels did indeed rush this release out and I for one when reading around on the web thought 'wow' full DirectX support, and a lot of other new features made what I originally thought a compelling buy. But I held back and glad I did (3.x was a 15 day trial) as I have seen from the posters here that very few people are happy with this release and are complaining and some demanding refunds. Ran both Fusion Beta4 and Parallels 3.0 and so far think Fusion is a more polished product despite being a beta still and have already paid my $40 upfront but will keep an eye out for Parallels and may even end up buying that too. This isn't meant to start a flame war just voicing my opinions and thoughts and would like to hear what other people here have to say.
I think the 3.0.4124 build release was indeed released based on the date, not quality. That's how I saw it. Regardless, the 4128 build I'm running on my Mac right now is actually okay.
I still have major issues with 4128. Slow SLOW response in Vista. In XP I get massive VM HD thrasing, CPU sitting anywhere from 15% to 40% with nothing going on in Parallels. Smart Select isn't so smart. Coherence issues, USB issues the list goes on. 4128 should be a PUBLIC beta and nothing more.
It's not just Vista. Last night it took my XP SP2 VM 5 full minutes to boot and stop thrashing the HD. Vista is just more pronounced for me as I can no longer use it at all.
I am experiencing very slow performance with Vista as well. The problem is everything was MUCH faster before I upgraded to 3.0. I have 32Gb HD and 924Gb RAM reserved for my Vista VM. It shouldn't be this slow. Takes 5-10 seconds to close and email in Outlook 2007. I am tempted to start working in Citrix again until these issues are resolved.
Yeah. I have XP too. Same thing... boot times AND response of apps renders it nearly useless... And do not let it sit for a few hours... it begins to slow down your MAC then. And this does not even touch the mouse cursor issue I and others have been screaming about for a couple weeks now.
Rushed Releases............ Too bloomin' right, VMware is only on beta 4 and already it's miles more stable than ANY parallels build I've tried.... Add to that dx8 acceleration and also 'unity' which is Coherence in all but name..... sorry para but you'll never get my cashwhile your software is in such a state thingi
Sadly, I have read the very involved processes for converting hdd to VMware... and I already Transported my BEST windows machine and then SOLD the actual machine... wiped... I am stuck here waiting for them to fix all these bugs. I had NO issues to speak of with 2.5 and the various upgrades within, so I jumped to 3.0 without worry.... UGH... What a lesson learned. I may try VM with a generic install... but it's my Transported Copy which I cannot live without.
Sorry, Me too. As a beta tester I was relatively happy with prior releases but the last two were a real problem. And I do think a wider set of beta testers would have helped. It took me some time to decide i really hate what the SmartSelect did to my Mac experience--but I think they didn't understand the response the beta testers had to this in the first place. We clearly stated that the apps should launch in their native environment and not "cross over" unless we specifically indicated this. Where it got confused perhaps is when both environments have the same apps (MS Word for example). In any case i've had many more problems and am in the midst of moving to Fusion to give it close look. So far, significant issues are not as problematic in Fusion so... I'd hate to see parallels loose this so rapidly but hopefully there are thoughtful meetings occuring to figure out how to extract themselves from this mess. For us "users", we now have a real race that I for one thought Parallels was going to win by a landslide.
If you find a safe and not to painful method for converting hdd to whatever Fusion uses, my email is RachelFth At AOL. I would be very willing to try. Good luck.
If you had no issues with 2.5 ..... why not go back to it until the bugs in 3.0 get ironed out? Or did you just upgrade the VM and not keep a copy somewhere else?
Yeah... Fool me once... I had NO issues what-so-ever with previous upgrades .... I just did it without back ups. UGH.... I am stuck... But before you "go there" I am not blaming anyone... My entire and exclusive objection is they IGNORE customers, then SILENCE the ones who won't be ignored. All I want is for THAT to change. They have a dozen posts they can do that with if they CARE. They can send me a PM which addresses the issue, instead of threats. It is not like they do not have the time or resources... They just need to WANT to improve their customer service. Carry on !
I agree! I bought Parallels 3.0 for the first time, since I just got an intel based mac. The Transporter did not work as advertised! It would not import my VPC Windows XP virtual machine, which they said it would do, even though I followed the manual instructions carefully. Based on a tip on this forum, I downloaded a trial version of Parallels 2.5 and that transporter worked fine. Then I reinstalled version 3.0. Why did they release 3.0 when the transporter isn't working properly? This really annoys their customers. I must say Parallels is working beautifully now that I finally have it imported. My Windows XP starts up in about 20 seconds and seems VERY fast compared to VPC (which was ridiculously slow). Brian
Just as an aside.. thanks for mentioning VMWare Fusion. I just ordered it. I wondered when VMWare would venture into this arena... While Parallels has served my needs well enough - I've a 7+ year VMWare customer and I know their stuff is beyond solid. I'm sure given time //'s will get there, however. But I also see them as an 'upstart'.
I too saw them as 2nd tier... and with everyone from Steve himself to Digg extolling the virtues of Parallels... I jumped. And my experience was AWESOME... with the same energy you see me now ranting, I raved. All across the net and real world. Now they have with their indifference and threats made of me a bitter enemy who they refuse to comfort. Why, because they would rather silence me than have to actually reply to my or any other plea for help. Why? God only knows... it is unnatural.
I have an actual XP machine, and I'd love to see it get down to 5 minutes from power on to the HD being idle and the machine usable.
Yes, it is. I would suggest talking to a counselor about this. This is a massive and total overreaction, and your terminology carries a level of emotional weight more suited to love affairs than to interactions with a software vendor.
