Parallels 3.0 and Snow Leopard - time for Fusion or VirtualBox

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Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I've been a Parallels user with 2.x and 3.x but I am pretty peeved that with the Snow Leopard upgrade that I can't run Parallels 3.x. I can't see why P3.x no longer works -- just a way to force users to upgrade to P4.x for those who were seduced by Snow Leopard??!



Because of this, I'm going to check out VMWare Fusion that I bought for $10 last November and the free VirtualBox. A few things have bothered me about Parallels:



1. in the past, their version numbers stayed the same but they would increment updates with new build numbers -- very confusing to figure out which was the current software version

2. when you make the purchase, they route you to another web site to do the ecommerce transaction -- so you kind of have to do a double take to see if you're getting phished or routed to a rogue site to steal your credit card number

3. this whole business with Snow Leopard and leaving Parallels 3.0 users in the lurch -- I understand the need to drive software licenses; but VMware has a Snow Leopard friendly update, VirtualBox can still run on Snow Leopard ... what makes Parallels 3.0 so special that it can't run on Snow Leopard???



Anybody else peeved with Parallels 3.0 no longer working?? This seems downright un-American which Parallels is as a company headquartered in Switzerland! Kudos to them for the first to bring virtualization to MacIntels, but perhaps this is when they "jumped the shark"!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SFSwitcher View Post


    ...Anybody else peeved with Parallels 3.0 no longer working?...



    Yes. I'm considering the same action.
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  • Reply 2 of 14
    I am now running VMWare Fusion 2.05 on Snow Leopard after importing the P3.0 image and it runs like a champ! Parallels just lost my business because of this. If there's one thing that was a pain in importing the P3.0 image, it is that you need to shut down Parallels 3.0 image properly with the Windows shut down function as opposed to just closing the window or quitting in Parallels. Resolving this was a little challenging since P3.0 on Snow Leopard no longer runs. Good thing I had another system with Leopard and Parallels 3.0 on it.
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  • Reply 3 of 14
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,584moderator
    Virtualization software isn't the same as your average software so I'd fully expect there to be issues on every new OS as they hook into very low-level parts of the system. Charging for updates is no worse than Apple charging ipod touch users for every single software update. I think it just so happens that Parallels 3 broke due to SL and the developers aren't offering a free upgrade to version 4.



    I personally prefer VMWare and their support is said to be much better but I wouldn't say this particular issue of the software not working under SL is entirely Parallels' fault. Adobe are the same and aren't offering CS3 support any more on Snow Leopard so if it breaks, you have to get CS4 and that's way more expensive than a Parallels upgrade.



    It's not pleasant but companies do this to minimize support costs. It's good that VMWare manage to offer a better customer experience but the situation is understandable for other companies.
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  • Reply 4 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SFSwitcher View Post


    but VMware has a Snow Leopard friendly update,



    VMWare Fusion runs fine under SL w/o an update AFAICT (VMWare Fusion 2.0.5).
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  • Reply 5 of 14
    I'm pretty pissed about this, too.

    I'm just a casual user and I don't the latest and greatest features. I just have to run the occasional Windows program. So I'm not interested in purchasing every update they release. But I expect to be able to run my software at least a year after the successor comes out. (P4 was only released 11/2008.)



    Even if I coughed up again to get Parallels 4, I'll face the same problem for 10.7, because at that point they'll have released Parallels 5.



    I'll most certainly switch to VMWare now, but not before writing the Parallel's guy a big fat stinking letter...
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  • Reply 6 of 14
    Parallels 3 does work in Snow Leopard.



    http://toni.uebernickel.info/apple/p...-snow-leopard/



    I don't have SL yet but my buddy runs it with the exception of drag 'n drop using the above link on his Mac Mini...
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  • Reply 7 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stoneygate View Post


    Parallels 3 does work in Snow Leopard.



    http://toni.uebernickel.info/apple/p...-snow-leopard/



    I don't have SL yet but my buddy runs it with the exception of drag 'n drop using the above link on his Mac Mini...



    Thanks stoneygate for the info -- but it crashed Snow Leopard on my MB Pro.



    This method as described in your friend's blog is to launch Parallels from the MacOS folder in the Parallels 3.0 package. It didn't work for me. Don't try it unless you shut down your other apps and save your work. I should of had a feeling as the colors on P3.0 didn't look right with a low res color set (16-bit or less). Luckily I didn't lose anything.



    Still going to stick with VMWare just on principle.
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  • Reply 8 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by foobar View Post


    I'm just a casual user and I don't the latest and greatest features. I just have to run the occasional Windows program.



    In that case you might wanna try CrossOver, foobar. It runs a remarkable number of Windows apps, in OSX, without the need to have Windows installed.

    You can configure it to 'catch' every Windows app trying to start up and support it to full functionality.
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  • Reply 9 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SFSwitcher View Post


    Thanks stoneygate for the info -- but it crashed Snow Leopard on my MB Pro



    Hmm, I was counting on using the workaround in that blog (not my buddys, he just read it) on my 2006 iMac when I go to SL. Oh well, I'll just stump up the upgrade price as Parallels gives me what I need.
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  • Reply 10 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    In that case you might wanna try CrossOver, foobar. It runs a remarkable number of Windows apps, in OSX, without the need to have Windows installed.

    You can configure it to 'catch' every Windows app trying to start up and support it to full functionality.



    Seconded
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  • Reply 11 of 14
    Cross over is not a viable solution for serious use. There are plenty of issues when you use Microsoft Office 2003/2007. Check the compatibility of the application you want to use with CrossOver before doing anything. You can also checkout the trial. The advantage of CrossOver is that you don't need to install Windows.



    Another good virtual machine software is VirtualBox from Sun. It is free and it works very well under Windows. The Mac version has some hiccups and it doesn't work well under snow leopard yet. But it is getting better.
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  • Reply 12 of 14
    I currently have Parallels Desktop 3. I then upgraded to Snow Leopard. I purchased the Parallels Desktop 4, downloaded the file, but cannot open the file. When I double click on the file, I get the following error message:



    "The document "ParallelsDesktop-4.0.6578.438874.exe" could not be opened. AppleScript Editor cannot open files in the "AppleScriptEditor.app Document" format."



    Why is the download in the format of a PC file (.exe), instead of a MAC file (.dmg)?



    Any ideas? Thanks so much.
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  • Reply 13 of 14
    I had a small problem with Fusion and switched to Parallels last fall. Then for some reason I let myself buy 3.0. Now with Snow Leopard I'm told I have to buy an upgrade to 4.0 for $50. This would be my third purchase in less than a year.



    Parallels misses the boat by not being more 'Apple-like' and cultivating customer loyalty rather than exploiting us. I'm outta here and back to Fusion.
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  • Reply 14 of 14
    Like most people here - I am pretty disgusted with the attitude of Parallels. I have been running VM Fusion on my MacBook Pro. I upgraded all my Macs with Snow Leopard and the desktop now is no-go with P3!!

    So, I have just downloaded a new VM Fusion licence!

    Parallels sure knows how to reward loyalty!! Well this is what they get for this policy of greed - And I will not be coming back!!



    How to trash your business (Parallels) with one STUPID decision!
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