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A fair warning to anyone considering Parallels

philxor said:
Yeah I've used Parallels since version 1 and yes there are ads even with a full paid license. You can disable them with the checkbox and they do not show up again.

Below is an example of a Parallels 7 ad. It's not a computer-specific thing...
Click to expand...

...and the checkbox disables only that particular ad.
If they show you a Kaspersky ad and you check the checkbox, it won't show the Kaspersky ad again.
But ads for different products/services will show.

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ipsychedelic said:
I haven't seen ads but then It might be the Little Snitch on me, if you know what I'm saying.
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right here!

People on Parallels forums did analyze the network activity, and Parallels phones home every time it starts, even with autoupdate off and "promo=off" options.

My hypothesis is that most people who are not seeing these ads are running Little Snitch or similar. My own configuration is absolutely plain vanilla, clean install of 10.7 and Parallels 7, and no, I did not upgrade from Parallels trial.
 
I am Running little snitch also, and a quick check of the monitor as i launch parallels 7 does indeed show it try and "Dial Home", i have it blocked by default.

So, easy answer, dont like the ads in P7, install little snitch and they go away :D
 
I used to use Parallels until I got a dedicated box for running Windows/Linux. I was annoyed by the Kaspersky offers too, since I have absolutely no use for them. However, I was not aware that there is more than one of these kinds of offers. I also have a paid license for VMware Fusion but haven't fired that thing up in a long time.
 
valiar said:
Please read the linked forum thread, as well as the reviews for Parallels 7 on Amazon.com (or just google "parallels ads").
Also, by your own admission, you are not running Parallels 7, which is what this thread is about. They started showing way more ads after the 6->7 update. If you wish, I can even post screenshots.

If the application had a working preference to disable this behavior, this would have been simply bad taste. As it stands, there is no way to disable the ads, and the developer deletes any post on their forum that mentions the current workaround for the problem. THAT is what got me all worked-up.
Click to expand...

No, I indicated that I have run Parallels since v4 and the only advertisement I have seen was a warning that I would need to upgrade to v7 for OS 10.7 compatibility. I indeed am running v7 and have not seen a single advertisement.
 
I use Parallels 7 every day and I've only had one ad so far. That's still one too many, but I'm not going to throw my toys out of the pram over it. It's still a great product. Windows 7 boots and runs faster in Parallels 7 on my Mac than it does natively on my i7/SSD work laptop. I switched from VMware years ago after VMware crapped all over one of my virtual machines. Not had any similar issues with Parallels to date. I use VirtualBox at work and it's nowhere near as slick as Parallels. So while I'm not happy if they start pushing more ads, it's nowhere near the point I would consider moving on from Parallels.
 
firedept said:
Not running Little Snitch and still no ads. Not sure why some of you are seeing ads when others are not???
Click to expand...
That would be the magic leprechaun of love that automatically added the calling home ips to your /etc/hosts hehehe...

No seriously, could be a localized thing, to show relevant adds?
 
ipsychedelic said:
I haven't seen ads but then It might be the Little Snitch on me, if you know what I'm saying.
Click to expand...

Ha ha in a good way, I've bought little snitch in a bundle and have had a few years of free updates, unlike Parallels.

Thru Little Snitch I learned that Parallels likes to phone home every few days even if I haven't used it for weeks. Its a legit copy, piss off Parallels Why should it do that? That's bs Google stuff like Chrome phoning home every day even if I haven't used it for a week.

Sidenote, is there anything like Little Snitch for the PC? Not too complicated?
 
I see the ads. I purchased my copy through a MacBundle. Perhaps that has something to do with it?
 
KPOM said:
I see the ads. I purchased my copy through a MacBundle. Perhaps that has something to do with it?
Click to expand...
I bought Parallels 7 through a MacBundle and though I've looked for them, I've never seen any ads.
 
spacepower7 said:
Ha ha in a good way, I've bought little snitch in a bundle and have had a few years of free updates, unlike Parallels.

Thru Little Snitch I learned that Parallels likes to phone home every few days even if I haven't used it for weeks. Its a legit copy, piss off Parallels Why should it do that? That's bs Google stuff like Chrome phoning home every day even if I haven't used it for a week.

Sidenote, is there anything like Little Snitch for the PC? Not too complicated?
Click to expand...
Yes, that's why I love Little Snitch, because I can't stand apps that like to call home every now and then, and I even despise more the apps that constantly ask you to "register with us", I did that in the past with not only software but also gadgets I bought and what for? To get included into their spam lists (yet again)? :roll eyes:

For Windows (I'm a recent Mac converted), there is the awesome Comodo. And it's totally free. Used it for years without a hitch. Thankfully I found Little Snitch on OS X, although it wasn't free but oh well.
 
ipsychedelic said:
Yes, that's why I love Little Snitch, because I can't stand apps that like to call home every now and then, and I even despise more the apps that constantly ask you to "register with us", I did that in the past with not only software but also gadgets I bought and what for? To get included into their spam lists (yet again)? :roll eyes:

For Windows (I'm a recent Mac converted), there is the awesome Comodo. And it's totally free. Used it for years without a hitch. Thankfully I found Little Snitch on OS X, although it wasn't free but oh well.
Click to expand...

I bought Little Snitch years ago, so far about 3 years of free updates, maybe more.

The interesting thing is how companies interact with consumers, background phone homes etc that didn't exist a few years ago bc the majority wasn't on high speed Internet.

Maybe this should be a new thread?

Maybe I'm paranoid but I don't like companies tracking me. How do I know that google doesn't track me even if I only use them for search, via my ip address

I just noticed that CNN website who of course knows my ip and location gives me Atlanta ( their headquarter) weather until I decide to specify my city. Google gives recommendations based on my city even though they never asked if it was ok. There is a boundary between usefulness and assumption, and asking permission.
 
Been using Parallels for two years after moving on from Vmware Fusion. No ads for me at all. 3 months ago i reinstalled my OS as i upgraded to a bigger HDD. Downloaded a new copy of Parallels registered with my original serial, still did not encounter any ads...this is really strange
 
I got an ad the first time I launched it post installation. I clicked the box that opted out of viewing future ads and I haven't seen another ad since. I just wish my cable television offers the same option. I pay lot for HD tv & my DVR monthly, but I still have to watch ads during my favorite shows.
 
GGJstudios said:
I bought Parallels 7 through a MacBundle and though I've looked for them, I've never seen any ads.
Click to expand...

bought the same one. had an ad on first startup, but i was able to click on "don't show anymore" or something like that and i haven't seen another ad since.
 
spacepower7 said:
Maybe I'm paranoid but I don't like companies tracking me. How do I know that google doesn't track me even if I only use them for search, via my ip address.
I just noticed that CNN website who of course knows my ip and location gives me Atlanta ( their headquarter) weather until I decide to specify my city. Google gives recommendations based on my city even though they never asked if it was ok. There is a boundary between usefulness and assumption, and asking permission.
Click to expand...
As your point out, your IP address alone gives the receiving server a rough idea of where you are.
It is not sinister or spooky for a weather website to show you local weather. Why would you want Google to ask permission to tell you what the weather is where you are -- when you want to know what the weather is where you are?

Is Google and others collecting large amounts of data from you? You betcha. Is much of it personally identifiable to you? Not so much.
Can they type in your name and see everything you've been doing? Unlikely.
Can they type in "white water rafting" and get your IP address or cookie ID as one of several hundred people who looked at a related site? Oh Yes.

It is of no business use to be able to select individuals and then read through their preferences and activities. It is much more useful to choose a product, and get a long list of people who might be interested in it.

They're not tracking you. They are tracking products. And some of the products go to you. You are not the object. You are the object's destination.
 
CylonGlitch said:
I've been using VirtualBox at home to test it out. It works OK. But I've crashed it quite a few times, and it is MUCH slower than Fusion, about 50% the speed actually.
Click to expand...

Probably good reason to ignore VirtualBox. I've used VMWare Fusion at a previous job and at home and quite like it.

However, I use VirtualBox at my current job for the rare times I need to use Windows XP, and VirtualBox brings my 2010 MBP to its knees where it can't do much outside of VirtualBox. With VMWare Fusion 2, I could be running a bunch of Mac apps (including Xcode) and Windows 7 in VMWare.
 
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