Acronis True Image 2015 compared to previous versions

Corné, I feel your pain... The step you mentioned has been done by a lot of users. Specifically for 2015; myself included.

That was the only method we could think of that would give us a window of time, quickly, until such time a proper analysis could be performed on a replacement system. My use dates back to TI 2009. Gives you an idea of how long I've put my faith in Acronis. Been loyal since that time.

Sadly, though, times they are a chang'n...

Myself and other users of the product have voiced a consensus of sorts. Not all agree 100% nor do all disagree 100%. They just seem to think the evidence points towards the working hypothesis (not even matured to a theory yet...).

EVIDENCE:
1) It has been determined that a fundamental re-write of the underlying architecture has taken place.
2) It has been determined that a number of tools used within previous releases have been decoupled or dropped entirely from the base product.
3) It has been determined that a significant slowdown for problem responses by Acronis to those users of their product, authorized for such support, is taking place.

HYPOTHESIS - no direct line of sight to verify anything:
1) The decisions to alter the product radically took place at the highest levels of the Company.
2) The testing of the new release did not have sufficient focus prior to general release.
3) The problems being encountered have a significant root-cause in the underlying architecture (Systems with BitLocker, UEFI readability, USB3.0 recognition, etc.)
4) If the GUI is a layer which triggers actions within the base product (architecture) this may be corrected fairly rapidly and with least amount of impact to the end user. Because these issues float up to the GUI, then that indicates that the GUI is too tightly coupled to the underlying architecture, and evidence indicates that an entire redesign/rewrite/deployment contains issues which cause the GUI to misbehave.

CONCLUSION:
1) In order to protect systems we deemed critical enough to have a back-up solution in place, steps must be taken to protect those assets.
2) Steps that may be worth the effort includes the back-out of 2015 and restore the 2014 (or earlier version). This shall provide a window of "breathing room" to formulate a permanent solution (which may or may not include Acronis).
3) Additional considerations include an immediate purchase of a replacement product also, though this tends to be the more expensive approach.
4) Because of the pull-back in responsiveness from Acronis in reported issues, and the lack of a workable solution (instead of being requested to try this or that, then being a 'work-around') this implies the company may in fact be suffering from some form of financial difficulties.

OPINION:
It seems that the issues run deep within the product. Because of the apparent architectural changes which have occurred (otherwise 2015 would have continued a clear chain of command from release to release as it has done at least between 2009 and 2014) this implies that the decision to move forward was perhaps a bad Executive decision. A prime example of such decisions go all the way back to when Coke Cola release a new formula. Backlash was so severe that two things happened: a) Coke reissued the original formula in the form of Coke Cola Classic; b) the Executive which made the decision in the first place found incentive to find greener pastures elsewhere.

Not sure the Coke solution is available, though there remain similarities. The one underlying factor, is the Customer's. If they have lost the trust in Acronis to protect their assets, then they generally find a new pasture to graze in. And NEVER return to the original pasture. This is a serious loss of revenue for a company, and no matter how big you are, you are not immune to failure. As responsiveness to issues degrade, as the product really floats to the top of the list for products not worth buy, it won't be long before Acronis is no more. So, the buying public needs to ask itself; Should I place my trust in a company that is now pulling back on their Quality Control dollars, maintaining a staff that is responsive to their Customer base, and publishing faulty product that can no longer protect a person's assets as it was intended to do?

I know this is a book - and I do tend to be verbose - it's just that my experience with 2015 has cost me more than 100 hours of recovery time, and the problems that were originally reported last year with the product still remain.

Each user must make their own choices, just know that I've rocked along for more than 5 months w/o a solution, and there appears only half-heart'd attempts to provide 'work-around' solutions. They don't pay me to perform their quality control activity for errors that were reported and acknowledged a long time ago.

Hello Jim,

I have used Acronis since 2004 and was always content. I understand from your e-mail a rapid solution for the 2015 version will not happen (sadly). Said.

Since I posted the first message I have I have gone back to the 2014 version. For the moment I stick to that version as it seems to work OK (as it always did, but now I know for sure the problem is within ATH 2015 and not within my system).

But it seems legitimate to warn everyone about upgrading to ATH 2015; do not do that, stick to ATH 2014!

Take care.

Hi guys. As a new user to Acronis on the True Image 2015 since Dec 2014, I probably don't have access to revert to earlier versions... any suggestions. This posting and one other are not filling me with confidence and I can't afford to be mucking around with this )*$_#(....

Jim Low.. excellent post, and analogy.. though I doubt the Coke thing will happen, either.

I've been using Acronis since it was version 8.. I think? I forget where it started to turn south, but every new version has been less and less reliable and intuitive. I even have customers who have upgraded to 2015 and complain that they can't find things and that it's not intuitive.

The 'push' to make everything look like Windows 8 is really annoying.. but then again I've been in the computer business since before the IBM XT was released.. so I guess I'm just old fashioned.

Oh and now I have this sync function I can't get rid of. Do they really think I'm going to sync 7TB of data to the cloud?

Kiran

Kiran, thank you for the kind words. Sadly, I think you are correct. Businesses tend to be like a child that grows to adulthood. The parent gives advice, hoping their child won't make the same mistakes. Yet, each child, young or old, seems they must learn on their own. What's that saying about history? Those that forget it, shall always repeat it? (or something like that...)

Sounds as though you've aged yourself a bit. Me, I'll be explicit: I've been 'officially (meaning actually got a paycheck)' working with computers since 1974. (talking about an old-foogy... :).)

As to the sync issue, I ran into that same thing. (A long time ago.) I'll try to dust the cobwebs off my memory, see what I can come up with, and get back to you.

The sync part of Acronis should be an optional install. Should be.

Viv, I feel your [financial] pain. The only way I can think of getting around it is to negotiate with Acronis. See if they will allow you to get a key for 2014 (maybe through an exchange or refund for 2015).

Otherwise, (and only if you have Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate) using the Windows Backup may offer a little breathing room.

(opps... Did I say 'little'? Windows backup is very slow, far less intuitive than even the problematic TIH 2015. Though it does have one advantage that I can see, and it is that the MS solution is integrated with the OS, and doesn't require nor is it slowed down by, little things like BitLocker, UEFI, GPT type disks. - Oh, and if 2015 can't be down-checked to 2014, then with the breathing room, perhaps the impact to the cash flow can be eased. Once a different solution has been tested and approved, then before buying, make sure that the solution recognizes MS Backup files and can restore from them.)

Now, if the Windows 7 option is not available (and I am not familiar with Win 8.1 Pro), you might check to see if the Win 8.1 has a backup solution. I'm sure it is no better than Win 7's solution, but again - a little breathing room...

Others, with far broader knowledge than I can perhaps offer up better [and lower] cost options. I hope so.