Over the years, I have successfully upgraded many types of software from an older to a newer version. Almost without exception, the process extracts and maintains settings and preferences from the previous version, and provides “wizards” to set up any essential new configurations, so that the user can be up and running with the updated version in a matter of minutes.
Upgrading from Trados Studio 2019 to 2021 does none of that – the process is nothing short of a translator's worst nightmare. I have now wasted two days reading the forums and watching YouTube videos trying to get everything configured to the point where I can actually translate a document, with no success at all. I do not even understand much of the technical terminology used in the instructions, and neither should I be required to: I am a user, a paying customer, a translator – and not an IT engineer.
Having ready many, many adverse comments both here and on the Pros forums, it seems that even if I were able to decipher the extraordinarily complex instructions for getting Trados 2021 to function, it would not work reliably anyway. I am reading reports of constant crashes and glitches that make using the software a stressful experience for those of us working in a high-pressure environment in which time is money.
This is unacceptable for software that costs more than the entire Microsoft Office suite, which is simplicity itself to install and update, and works perfectly. In short, it is my opinion that Trados Studio 2021 is overpriced, unhelpful to the user who wants to buy a tool to make life simpler, and is quite simply not fit for purpose. Caveat emptor.