Parallels Update Installs Unrelated Daemon Without Permission 170
Calibax writes "Parallels recently released version 9 of Parallels Desktop, their popular hypervisor application for Mac. They also released a new product named Parallels Access that offers access to Windows applications from an iPad for $80 per year. Access has received less than stellar reviews. When a user upgrades Parallels Desktop, he is asked if he wants a free six-month subscription to Parallels Access. Even if he says no, the product is installed on his system and the application is started each time the system is rebooted. It is installed with ancillary files scattered around several directories in the system and Parallels has not supplied an uninstaller or listed the steps to fully uninstall the application, despite a number of requests. In other words, Parallels has decided it's a good idea to silently install a difficult to remove daemon application on the system, even if the user has explicitly stated they do not want it. They have not provided an uninstaller or a list of files installed or instructions on how to remove the application files. These are scattered to at least four Mac OS X OS system level directories."
Lost a customer (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been using Parallels over VMWare Fusion for a few years now (there has been some good bundle pricing on it, and there were some features it had that VMWare lacked at the time when I was deciding, though I don't recall what those were now).
Unless this turns out to be a tempest in a teacup or otherwise invented or overblown, I won't be doing that anymore, and VMWare will have gained back a customer.
Dan Aris
Re:Lost a customer (Score:5, Interesting)
On Mac, it is nowhere near as slick.
Re:Wow! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Burning bridges (Score:5, Interesting)
When you decline to install something you expect that it doesn't get installed. Parallels is going to burn a lot of trust by pulling this stunt. The cost of acquiring their customers has certainly got to exceed the profit from people who decide that they will change their mind and want to run this software anyways.
At a bare minimum they need to start by building a package that will remove all traces post haste for the anyone that wants it. For people that don't want to run the package explicit instructions need to be made available about how to completely remove this. Any number of companies have screwed up royally before this, those that are still respected are the ones that instituted proper damage control.
This is not the first time Parallels has failed to uninstall things; I ran an installer of a trial product of theirs a few years back, and after uninstalling, still had to go in manually and clean up some components that wanted to run some sort of service. I haven't touched Parallels since. VirtualBox allows me to write my own additions, and if I need something more polished, VMWare Fusion is still rock solid.
So it will be interesting to see Parallels' response to thiis, as it definitely puts their (paid) installer solidly in the category of Potentially Unwanted Application alongside the CNet downloader and all the bundleware coming out of Russia and China.
Re:Lost a customer (Score:2, Interesting)
Wow. For an Anonymous Coward, you sure sound like a paid shill.