Upgrade from Parallels 10 to 11, is it worth it?

[iMcLovin]

Has anyone here upgraded from Parallels 10 to 11? I have windows 10 installed, I experienced some glitches in a game through Parallels in Steam. But I have my doubt upgrading to Parallels 11 will fix it, and from the featurelist I seen, theres hardly any reason to upgrade. I use it on a desktop so parallels being less power hungry is of no interest to me.
Would be interested to hear if anyone has any positive experiences in upgrading, and noticing any positive difference at all?

 

[GNice]

For me the better memory management alone makes it worth it. The same VM's use significantly less memory on the host (my mac) using 11 vs 10. If that matters to you I would strongly consider making the move.

 

[kryten42]

I'm still on 9 even with El Capitan and Windows 10, it works despite what they say

I will upgrade to 11 when I get a good enough offer I am sure.

 

[Phoenixx]

I'm on version 10 too, but, I'm considering going to Fusion when I update. Personally, I find it appalling that Parallels 10 would not be updated to handle Windows 10 and El Capitan, and the licensing differences between the two are striking. Fusion allows you to install the software on an unlimited number of Macs, as long as you are not using it commercially, while Parallels is a "one license key per Mac" situation (making it very expensive if you have more than one machine).

Dropping support on a one year old piece of software, and not matching the licensing setup of your competition is simply not acceptable, as far as I'm concerned.

I should also add that the cost of low end Windows machines has reduced dramatically. It is now possible to get a up a separate Windows 10 computer (tablet) for the price of three years of Parallels upgrades (new), or just over the same price as a one year upgrade, if you buy second hand. Given this, getting a Windows 10 tablet (or getting a Windows 8 tablet and upgrading the OS on it), is now a viable and cost effective alternative to Parallels.

 

[Fancuku]

I will upgrade to 11 when I get a good enough offer I am sure.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-free-upgrade-to-11-for-28-at-newegg.1929807/

 

[Rusty33]

I'm on version 10 too, but, I'm considering going to Fusion when I update. Personally, I find it appalling that Parallels 10 would not be updated to handle Windows 10 and El Capitan, and the licensing differences between the two are striking. Fusion allows you to install the software on an unlimited number of Macs, as long as you are not using it commercially, while Parallels is a "one license key per Mac" situation (making it very expensive if you have more than one machine).

Dropping support on a one year old piece of software, and not matching the licensing setup of your competition is simply not acceptable, as far as I'm concerned.

I should also add that the cost of low end Windows machines has reduced dramatically. It is now possible to get a up a separate Windows 10 computer (tablet) for the price of three years of Parallels upgrades (new), or just over the same price as a one year upgrade, if you buy second hand. Given this, getting a Windows 10 tablet (or getting a Windows 8 tablet and upgrading the OS on it), is now a viable and cost effective alternative to Parallels.

Wow - so Parallels 10 breaks in El Capitan???

 

[Spink10]

Wow - so Parallels 10 breaks in El Capitan???

Working fine for me. Limited use.

 

[campyguy]

...while Parallels is a "one license key per Mac" situation (making it very expensive if you have more than one machine).

Not accurate - I've read too many FUD posts about this. Read the EULA. The "easy" KB states:
"Note: In order to use Parallels Desktop for Mac on several Mac machines, you need to purchase the corresponding number of licenses. If you would like to move Parallels Desktop from one computer to another, you do not need to buy a new key, simply uninstall the software from the Mac it is currently installed on before installing on a new one." (Emphasis added, for clarity)

http://kb.parallels.com/en/112971

To some, a PITA for some, but easy to do. I move a licensed install between Macs with the VMs staying on a server - when the need is over, the PD install is removed - it only takes a few minutes.

 

[Tigerman82]

For what it's worth, I'm using Parallels 10 with El Capitan and have had zero problems with Win10 Pro. Granted, I'm a light user of Windows and have it just in case I need to run a Windows app on my iMac. Anyway, as I've experienced zero problems, I certainly don't see the need to upgrade to Parallels 11. Obviously, if you're a power user of Windows (which I guess would be odd as you are using an OS X virtual machine and not a dedicated Windows PC) than Parallels 11 might have some advantages.

 

[takeshi74]

Not accurate - I've read too many FUD posts about this.

Depends on whether Phoenixx was talking about moving the license from one machine to another or running it simultaneously on multiple machines. It seems like the latter to me.

 

[campyguy]

Depends on whether Phoenixx was talking about moving the license from one machine to another or running it simultaneously on multiple machines. It seems like the latter to me.

No, not really. PD doesn't allow for "moving the license" or "multiple installations of a single license" for consumer use. No "seeming" about it - read the EULA, it's pretty straightforward. And, read the quoted KB text from my post that negates that posed theory.

Besides, for the next couple of days Newegg is selling boxed copies of PD 10 that will include an upgrade to PD 11 for under $40 as long as the PD 11 upgrade is requested before the 10/31 cut off date. It seems silly to be wasting time with this bit of the thread at that price.

 

[Phoenixx]

If you would like to move Parallels Desktop from one computer to another, you do not need to buy a new key, simply uninstall the software from the Mac it is currently installed on before installing on a new one." (Emphasis added, for clarity)

Exactly. You cannot install the software on multiple Macs, only one. Moving the licence does NOT change the fact that it is installed on only one machine at a time. Fusion is able to be installed on as many machines as you have, simultaneously. For those of us with multiple machines, this alone is a good reason to dump using Parallels.

 

[960design]

Has anyone here upgraded from Parallels 10 to 11? I have windows 10 installed, I experienced some glitches in a game through Parallels in Steam. But I have my doubt upgrading to Parallels 11 will fix it, and from the featurelist I seen, theres hardly any reason to upgrade. I use it on a desktop so parallels being less power hungry is of no interest to me.
Would be interested to hear if anyone has any positive experiences in upgrading, and noticing any positive difference at all?

If I may recommend something completely different. I use VirtualBox for Kali Linux, Windows10, Solaris and a few other OS on my Mac. I load it up in a separate workspace and can literally go from Linux to Solaris to Win10 to Mac with a three finger swipe. It costs nothing and is very simple to run. Setup takes reading a page or two of text, but it is far from complex.

 

[campyguy]

Exactly. You cannot install the software on multiple Macs, only one. Moving the licence does NOT change the fact that it is installed on only one machine at a time. Fusion is able to be installed on as many machines as you have, simultaneously. For those of us with multiple machines, this alone is a good reason to dump using Parallels.

Not "exactly". I get why people whine about this point you're trying to make - you and I, we're making different "points" here. IMHO, the larger issue is that a lot of us are using Parallels to run Windows - with Windows having one seat/CAL per license and PD using the same business model - one seat/CAL per license. I seriously doubt that too many users of PD 10 have given much thought to piracy with Windows 7/8/8.1, and with PD 11 emulating a NIC and it's emulated hardware MAC address - Parallels may be capitulating to MS's requirements to combat piracy. I run a small business and my MS rep has been a bit more militant about licensing lately.

I don't know what Dell's stipulations are in regard to Fusion and Windows. Dell owns EMC which owns VMWare - the largest tech sector buy ever, and they've been talking for months about that buy. I shied away from VMWare because I didn't know what Dell was going to do with VMWare - shelve it, shutter it, enhance it, let it slide into oblivion. I'd rather pay for a $50 upgrade that will be working in a year than spend about that much for a product that may or may not die in a few weeks. So, there's that - I'd lay coin down that you didn't know about the Dell buy. Your multiple license option doesn't mean much if the application dies next week... Dell hasn't been up front about what they would do with VMWare - look up what happened with VirtualPC, which I owned before MS sucked it up and made it disappear. Once burned, twice shy.