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Should I get Parallels 8 now, or wait for Parallels 9?

U

unknownfps

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 3, 2013
46
0
I'll be start going to college in mid-August and I need to run on Windows on some programs in courses I'll be taking.
Parallels seems to release their updates every mid-September.
I don't know if Parallels 9 will be worth waiting.
In general, are the next Parallels update worth waiting for?
There are so many cheap good deals on Windows 8 and Parallels right now, so I'm really confused on what to do without buyer's remorse!
Also, should I go for Windows 7 or Windows 8? I'm not going to use Windows on Mac for gaming, I already have a PC for that. I bought the Air for a specific reason.
Thanks.
 
unknownfps said:
I don't know if Parallels 9 will be worth waiting. No one does.

In general, are the next Parallels update worth waiting for? In general, some are, some are not.

There are so many cheap good deals on Windows 8 and Parallels right now, so I'm really confused on what to do without buyer's remorse! You need to learn to make a decision with the information you have now and move on.

Also, should I go for Windows 7 or Windows 8? Win7
Click to expand...

Inline.
 
Now

All this software is supposed to do is let you run windows on a mac...the new version is just a marketing effort as revenue is falling off and they can stimulate new revenue by coming out with 9. Save money and time and buy 8.
 
I bought parallels 8 with windows 8 and it works just fine, not sure why you would wait for 9.
 
One thing to keep in mind about getting version 8 vs. 9. Parallels usually drops development of past versions like a hot potato.

I cannot remember getting a software update after the next version has been released.
 
In my opinion, Parallels is crap. Go with VMWare Fusion instead. If you really need Parallels, just purchase the current version. It's useless just waiting around for a software update.
 
cledet said:
From personal experience, Parallels is a resource hog compared to Fusion. It's slower and I don't like that Parallels displays ads when you launch it. I just paid money for a product. I don't need to see ads.
Click to expand...

Ok. Not sure where the resource hog issue comes from. I ran Parallels on my 2011 MBA just fine. On this new one, it screams. And I am not sure what ads you are referring to. Parallels 8 (at least my copy) has no ads.

What it does have is one heck of an ability to run VMs...
 

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ZBoater said:
Ok. Not sure where the resource hog issue comes from. I ran Parallels on my 2011 MBA just fine. On this new one, it screams. And I am not sure what ads you are referring to. Parallels 8 (at least my copy) has no ads.

What it does have is one heck of an ability to run VMs...
Click to expand...

I'm glad it's working out for you. I had bad experience with their products and the ads are a known issue. Stuck with Fusion and works great.
 
I'm putting in a second vote for Virtualbox. It's free and does most of the same things Parallels does. I currently use it to run Windows on my iMac at work and never had a problem.

Obviously being free, there are some limitations. Virtualbox is behind the curve compared to Parallels when it comes to intensive graphics, and dragging and dropping between the host and VM instances (though shared virtual drives make up for this).

I would give it a shot and see if it works for you. If not, then consider Parallels 9 when it comes out, or VMWare.
 
ZBoater said:
Really? And why is that? :confused:
Click to expand...

Some people just get a bug up their butt about a product then think they have to bad mouth it whenever they can.

Parallels runs fine and checking the 'Don't show again' box solves the so called 'ad problem'.
 
TC25 said:
Some people just get a bug up their butt about a product then think they have to bad mouth it whenever they can.

Parallels runs fine and checking the 'Don't show again' box solves the so called 'ad problem'.
Click to expand...

Actually, it doesn't, at least not with Parallels 7. Even after checking that box, I do occasionally get ads on start-up to upgrade to 8.

It's a little annoying, but considering how convenient Parallels is otherwise to me, it's not a deal breaker.

As for whether or not the OP should wait for 9, if you can afford to wait, just wait, there's no harm in that I suppose, although you do take the risk of bugs and the like.

As for the guy who posted that link about Parallels 8 supporting Mavericks, well, it supports running a Mavericks VM, not actually running Mavericks, and that's not a clean install from just Mavericks (you have to "upgrade" to it). That being said, if I remember right, users have found ways to get Parallels 8 to work under Mavericks beta, but initially, there were problems.

Like I said, if you can afford to wait, just wait, Mavericks compatibility will almost assuredly be a selling point for 9. If you fall into the update windows, you could also try buying 8 in August too (assuming it comes out in Sep.)
 
i saw this on another post.

defaults write com.parallels.Parallels\ Desktop ProductPromo.ForcePromoOff -bool YES

Type that in terminal and see if that takes care of this "problem".
 
You have Virtual Box, Parallels 8 and VMware Fusion 5. My suggestion would be to do a comparison between them and pick which will best suit your needs.

Parallels can be had with other bundled apps at same price as Fusion alone. If cost is an issue then go with Virtual Box. Nothing better than free.

I have tried all 3 programs and all will work. It is a matter of what your requirements are going to be. I did end up using Parallels and have never had an issue with it. Never seen the ads either as has been noted.

No sense in waiting to purchase either. If you need it now, get it.
 
When Parallels 8 was released there was a cheap upgrade to it if you had parallels 7. There was also a very large price drop in parallels 7 when parallels 8 was released.
 
ZBoater said:
Ok. Not sure where the resource hog issue comes from. I ran Parallels on my 2011 MBA just fine. On this new one, it screams. And I am not sure what ads you are referring to. Parallels 8 (at least my copy) has no ads.

What it does have is one heck of an ability to run VMs...
Click to expand...

Can you PROUDLY vouch that you have a DECENT 7+ hours of battery life on your 11' inch 2013 i5 or i7 Air with Parallels running? I don't think so

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TC25 said:
Some people just get a bug up their butt about a product then think they have to bad mouth it whenever they can.

Parallels runs fine and checking the 'Don't show again' box solves the so called 'ad problem'.
Click to expand...

hahahhahah...lmfao....hahahha..rofl.....bug up their butt...haha ...thnx for saying that to whoever you said it to...lol
 
johnjey said:
Can you PROUDLY vouch that you have a DECENT 7+ hours of battery life on your 11' inch 2013 i5 or i7 Air with Parallels running? I don't think so
Click to expand...

So it was the battery we were talking about? Sorry, resource hog and battery to me mean different things. But no, the only thing I have done battery only is play Civ 5 (Mac version) and I could only get 3 hours doing that. I haven't tried doing 7 hours (or 12) of anything, as I plug into power any chance I get.

So I infer from what you are saying that someone has done a battery torture test of Parallels and VMWare and found VMWare to be significantly more "battery friendly" than Parallels? That sounds fishy to me.
 
ZBoater said:
So it was the battery we were talking about? Sorry, resource hog and battery to me mean different things. But no, the only thing I have done battery only is play Civ 5 (Mac version) and I could only get 3 hours doing that. I haven't tried doing 7 hours (or 12) of anything, as I plug into power any chance I get.

So I infer from what you are saying that someone has done a battery torture test of Parallels and VMWare and found VMWare to be significantly more "battery friendly" than Parallels? That sounds fishy to me.
Click to expand...

No, i didn't go that route of comparisons, nor did i vouch for Vmware Fusion win here over Parallels, all i was saying was that these virtual machine programs are a battery killer
 
VMWare > Parallels.

I think both offer a free trial so give each one a spin. In my experience VMWare performs better, is cheaper, no ads, and no stupid tweet/facebook buttons.
 
Parallels > VMWare

Works better and the user community is filled with people who actually know how to use the product and they don't bash VMware.
 
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