12.1 Kills RAM Allocation over 8GB for non-Pro Version? | Hacker News Reader

12.1 Kills RAM Allocation over 8GB for non-Pro Version?

forum.parallels.com

46 pointspdnc13 comments

Parallels put out an update that killed preexisting functionality relied on by many users without notice trying to get them to subscribe to the PRO edition.

They claim users should have known...

"We apologize for any inconvenience. On some Mac computers, several features of Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition were available for use by Standard Edition users. The issue was fixed in the latest update (12.1.0) and as a result, you may have lost this functionality. The difference in the amount of memory and vCPU quantity that can be assigned to a virtual machine in different Parallels Desktop for Mac editions is documented in the Parallels Desktop User's Guide (http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v12/docs/en_US/Paralle... Desktop User's Guide.pdf): page 100 and 127 respectively."

Page 100 and 127? Really? This limitation has not been put on any previous version Parallels and was not enforced on the current version until the most recent update. It was not on any front page comparisons of their products I have ever seen. Suddenly with the update it just doesn't work anymore. Parallel's doesn't seem to care one bit for its longtime faithful users. Sad!

   “But the plans were on display…”
   “On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
   “That’s the display department.”
   “With a flashlight.”
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   “So had the stairs.”
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   “Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet 
   stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

Its not just that. I recently found out after years of using multilevel virtualization (e.g. Hyper-V on Windows in parallels) that an update removed the feature and I'd have to subscribe to the pro version to get it back.

I used to like parallels but the extreme user hostility, especially to pro users, has me wanting to move on.

Honestly now that windows has a decent bash shell I might just switch to using boot camp. Very frustrating.

It's hilarious that they'd be jerks to their target market, the pro user. It's like they licked their finger, and are poking the customer in the eyeball, smiling, and saying, "please upgrade!"

Could they have just pinned the CPU and memory to the documented limits, rather than breaking people's VMs? This behavior is a choice, and they've chosen poorly.

In their mind perhaps the users who hadn't purchased a Pro license were not pro users.

They were, they just hadn't yet been convinced to pay for an upgrade. This method of getting them to consider paying to upgrade is very unlikely to convince many.

I didn't say they weren't, only that Parallels doesn't consider them such

After a number of though the support channel and the management feedback channel, they have given me a key for one year of pro use, though I really wanted a refund.

That fact that the limitations are mentioned in the manual is irrelevant, the function of the edition comparison page at point of purchase is to point these differences out, it did not. This amounts to false and misleading advertising at best. Any one experienced with parallels, is unlikely to read the manual every upgrade.

I actually got mad when support stated that it was a mistake that the standard version had this extra functionality and that update 12.1.0 "fixed" this issue. I'll not deal with any corporation shows shows such disregard for customers that it expects them to pay for corporate mistakes.

Please edit the title to reflect what product you're talking about.

The original title did show the product but apparently it was moderated?

Subscribe to HN PRO Edition for context.

When I first used Parallels years ago I was pretty surprised how close to native it could run Windows (though not 3D graphics intensive apps, as far as I can recall.)

I tried running it recently though and the performance was _abysmal_. Just unusable, taking 30 minutes just to boot into a Windows 10 machine. I can fully believe that the problem is with some major change in OSX or Windows or something, but I feel ripped off for having paid for it again.

(yes, I tried all the little hacks and tricks from the forums.)

Feeling pretty good about ditching my Macbook for an XPS 15 now.

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