A Time for Giving Thanks

It's that time of year and Parallels wants to take the opportunity to stand up and say some very, very important thank yous.

Let me start by explaining that recently there has been some media pick-up focusing on selective comments in our forums from some unhappy customers following the launch of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. To date, over 100,000 copies of the new version have been downloaded - thank you to everyone who has supported us.  It's disappointing to see that some people aren't having that great of an experience, and we are working hard to try to address the issues. Huge thanks to anyone who has provided feedback or is working with the support or development teams. While we hope our customers will only have a positive experience, any critical feedback enables us to identify and work on areas for improvement. I hope we have already solved the problems you were experiencing and you are now having a good experience with version 4, but to anyone still experiencing problems, we apologize and thank you for your patience while we help to solve any issues you may have.

A question that I have been asked a few times is whether we properly tested Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. We did. In fact it was extensively tested internally to begin with and then externally by several thousand users over a period of months, and before it was released to the market it was put through its paces in a battery of acceptance tests. Big thanks also to the beta testers. Unfortunately there are literally millions upon millions of permutations of computing environments, and as such, some users are experiencing problems we didn't encounter in the testing stage. We take this very seriously and are completely focused on addressing any issues reported, which is why we have already issues an update for version 4. This has addressed many of the issues we are hearing about, but we are continuing to work with any customers that are experiencing further problems to address them as quickly as possible, and to refine the product to ensure other users do not experience the same problems.

Despite this, there are still some very unhappy people in our forums at the moment. The complaints are being investigated at the top level of the company, with our CEO personally committed to solving user issues. That said, there are also numerous threads from customers expressing what a positive experience they are having; though Parallels' forums were created to enable people to ask questions or flag issues or make recommendations to other users, so by definition they will be largely populated by people talking about problems. We very much appreciate all our customer feedback: good or bad, we thank you and we take it all very seriously. To this end, and unlike our competitors in this space, we offer free email support at all times, and have made our telephone support free for anyone encountering problems with getting started with or upgrading to Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. We sincerely hope that you will take advantage of these resources to inform us of any issues that you may have. Parallels proudly stands behind its products and we want to be able to effectively ensure that you have the best user experience with our products. All emails are currently being answered within 24 hours. For full information on our support options, pleas click here.

We recognize people are busy though, so for customers who would rather not pursue the support path and find a resolution to the problem, a full refund is available for up to 30 days after purchase from our website, or up to 90 days after purchase of a boxed copy. For a refund, please click here.

For any other inquiries relating to this matter, you can contact me directly.

Time to get the turkey in the oven.  From everyone at Parallels we offer you many thanks and wish you Happy Holidays!

Comments

[mike3k]

I haven't had any problems with Desktop 4. I had switched to VMWare just so I could run OS X Server, but I didn't really like running Windows with it. When 4.0 was released I switched back to Parallels. I was able to convert my 3.0 VM cleanly, even though it did require a manual step. I think I've converted that same VM several times between Parallels & VMware :)

[Torley]

This post is so well-crafted. It has heart and some humor, yet keeps customer delight #1!

I also like the red emphasis for THANKS.

Way to go, Jen — I'm checking out Parallels as a way to run Sony Vegas (my fave video editor)... I saw it namechecked in an ad blurb but have yet to see it in a more comprehensive compatibility listing here... *digs deeper*

I'm hoping Parallels will work well, as I make video tutorials for the leading virtual world of Second Life. =)

[Linda]

Who is running this sitebuilder program? There seems to be no support for it at all.
All the help links lead to this parallels site, which looks far removed from webhosting and site builder. Why even sell this program if there is no support or directions.
This is the most confusing thing , to need some decent set up directions and then come to this site.

[Chris McGuigan]

I too have had issues upgrading to V4.0
But I expected them.
This is a huge release and anyone jumping on a major new release has to live with the fact that there will be issues. I guess it's an education thing. I'm a developer myself, so I understand these issues. Someone buying Parallels for the first time may not understand this and it's just one of life's little conundrums we all have to live with.

I have to admit I did too fire off an email to Parallels that, whilst not rude, was a little terse but that was more to do with confusion and frustration over the free upgrade procedure which was ultimately resolved within 48 hours.

You guys and gals at Parallels have achieved an amazing product very rapidly. But with that comes a bigger customer base and however small, a more vocal number of disgruntled customers.

Moral: We just all have to learn to be a little more tolerant with each other which is the point of thanksgiving isn't it?

[John Ruschmeyer]

For a long time, the Windows and Linux users of Parallels Workstation have been convinced that the lack of any new versions for that product is a sign that Parallels primary focus is now the Mac market. Nowhere is that more evident than in this post.

In this post, you thank your Mac customers for their support of PD 4.0 and express your commitment to resolve the problems of "some very unhappy people" who are having problems with 4.0.

What of the *many* unhappy Windows and Linux users who have seen the releases of PD 2.5, 3.0 and 4.0 while still being stuck at version 2.2? Where is the public statement of commitment to that segment of your customer base? Mac users get new releases; we get "sometime next year" hints from developers not in a position to discuss availability or pricing.

Where are the things that Parallels Windows and Linux users should be thankfui for?

While Parallels and its Mac users get their turkey out of the oven, we'll just throw the frozen leftover turkey from Thanksgiving 2006 into the microwave. We can always scrape off the freezer burned parts.

[Leto_Parallels]

You’re right John, it was poor of us to make it sound like it’s only our Parallels Desktop for Mac customers we wanted to thank. My colleague Jen has asked me to make a big apology on her behalf. Parallels very much values all its customers and we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supports us; be they customers, testers or partners across any of our products. We really never wanted to make it seem otherwise.

In fact, we particularly appreciate our Parallels Workstation users who have been very patient in supporting us while we continue to develop the next version of the product. For more information on this, see my post entitled "Hi-ho Hi-ho, it's off to Work(station) we go" at this link:
http://blogs.parallels.com/consumertech/2008/12/hiho-hiho-its-off-to-workstation-we-go.html

Information is still very limited at this point I’m afraid, but we will post more as soon as we can.