Today I updated my home Mac Pro to Leopard, and proceeded to download and install the latest Parallels release. I have been a faithful early adopter, buying their very first release when it was buggy and unstable, and have since seen it outgrow many expectations. First surprise was having to “upgrade” to version 3.0, for a total of $49.99. Incidentally, this comes out to just over 31€, but they charge 39€ at the store if you choose this currency – when are US-based companies going to stop abusing European customers? But I digress.
Having made the purchase, I am told that my order “needs review”, and that it should be handled in between 12 and 24 hours. Not sure what this means, but the Internet was invented so that purchases, particularly of downloadable software, could be immediate. Well not quite, but you get my point. With the the option to receive a 15-day trial key via email, I was still a happy camper, until I get this in my inbox:
Dear Parallels user,
Thank you for registering for a 15-day trial download of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac! Your trial activation key gives you access to a complete version of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac and all of its innovative features.
Your trial activation key is listed below:
PRODUCT : Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac
ACTIVATION KEY : XXXXX-40Z99-F4ZZ1-ZONMV-XXXXX
START DATE : 2007/12/26
END DATE : 2008/01/10
Pay attention at the dates, and then tell me if this is not worth sending to The Daily WTF!