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ReinaldoA1
Contributor
Contributor

Parallels 30% discount coupon - What is behind it?

Hi everyone, 

Even struggling to catch up in the beginning as a result of my lack of technical skills, I improved a lot on how to use VMTP and now I feel quite happy to run Windows on my Mac M1 for free (even being slow some times). After I received a e-mail earlier today from Parallels offering me a 30% discount, I started to concern what is coming ahead... Will VMWare start charging for Fusion? Will Parallels launch its version 18? Will I regret if I don't take it? Since the coupon is valid only valid for three days, I wonder what you guys think about it. 

Best regards

 

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

The tech preview is exactly that - a preview.  There will be a paid version later this year.  For version 12 they've made a free version available for non-commercial use, and while they haven't said anything about that going forward, it's probably reasonable to expect they'd do the same.

They've hinted we'll have something in June, probably around WWDC would be my guess.  Beyond that, it's all speculation.

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Technogeezer
Immortal
Immortal

Read the fine print about what version they're asking you to buy for that 30% off. 

Standard edition has two options - a one-time purchase with no upgrade options for $99.99 USD, or a subscription for $6.66 per month (79.99 per year).  Standard edition only lets you create a VM of 4vCPU and  8 GB of memory. The license is only good on 1 Mac (at least VMware offers their personal use license that can be obtained for non-commercial user for as many Macs as you own.

Professional edition is only a subscription.

With any Parallels subscription, if you stop paying for it, Parallels stops running and your VMs are useless. 

If you purchased Parallels 16 one-time licenses in August or September 2021, you'd get a free upgrade to Parallels 17. You'd have to ask them if they're going to announce something at WWDC and offer the same deal. If they don't give you an answer, be very suspect that the deal might lock you into a Parallels 17 one-time license. 

I'm personally leery of offers that say "buy now, this deal goes away soon". . 

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
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ReinaldoA1
Contributor
Contributor

Dear @Technogeezer 

Thanks a lot again for your superb attention.

They're offering their current version 17 (see attached) and the sent me it eventually because I tested it last year for 14 days (trial period) but did not buy. I got your point where vendors do the same "bla-bla-bla" very often, but I never got 30% and, connecting things a bit, there is a chance they're not bluffing thinking on two possibilities:  Target "no tech savvy" VMware Fusion Tech Preview users (like me) before VMWare starts charging for it next month (for something surely above $100) or they're just about to launch version 18 (which may bring valued improvements). In the last case, similar to what many companies do (including software), they may be just "burning" the last stint of the current version to bring in new customers before launching the "new model". We never know, but I agree this is just speculation. 

Best regards

 

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Technogeezer
Immortal
Immortal

I have another thought. End of fiscal quarter. The old public Corel - that owns Parallels right now - had a fiscal year that ended in November. If they still maintain that fiscal year after going private, that would make May 31 the end of the second fiscal quarter. It's also an old trick to offer discounts at the end of the quarter to boost the numbers any way they can.  

I'm not so sure about burning down the current version. With electronic distribution, it's not like they have to burn down inventory of physical media.

They did release Parallels 17 in August last year, so they might be thinking of a Parallels 18 release in the not too distant future. I get it if they're trying to time things for WWDC and blunt any potential product announcements from VMware. 

I would be surprised if VMware announces anything at WWDC other than a demonstration and updated Tech Preview. They've hinted at a Fusion release later this year. This makes sense to me since VMware does tend to make their product announcements around the time of their VMworld conference, and also tends to release Fusion and Workstation at the same time. 

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
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ReinaldoA1
Contributor
Contributor

Hi @Technogeezer 

Makes a lot of sense and thanks for your comments. Apart from being a good deal, I will wait to see how things evolve. We should never forget that Windows 11 ARM licensing on Apple Silicon is still very blur to make a solid bet on any paid Virtualization Software to later discover it will be useless. In the meantime, we still have UTM as a free alternative to get Win11 running on our Macs/M1 before the rules of the game become clear. 

Best regards

 

 

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fimbletim
Contributor
Contributor

I get these emails every couple of months.

It's 20, or 25, or 30 percent off, or it's bundled with other software and subscriptions.

Every sale tells you to hurry up and buy before the deal expires, multiple times.

I wouldn't worry about it. It's just marketing.

For reference:

  • My trial ended in Sept 2021
  • Sept 2021: 25% off 
  • Nov 2021: 25% off
  • Nov 2021: 20% off
  • Dec 2021: 30% off
  • Feb 2022: 87% off (including bundled software and subscriptions)
  • May 2022: 30% off
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