Fusion's handling of Fullscreen is driving me INSANE!

[thully]

Since Beta 3, I have really found Fusion to be a great way to try out a bunch of OSes inside OS X without partitioning. However, one thing is really driving me NUTS - VMware Fusion's handling of fullscreen virtual machines.

For one thing, if a VM is fullscreen and you either 1) put the system into suspend or 2) switch away from and hide the VM ("Hide VMware Fusion" in the application menu), Fusion switches from fullscreen to windowed mode for no real reason whatsoever. What really bugs me is that Parallels - though it gets a whole lot wrong - manages to get this right, as it is quite easy to one-keystroke switch between VMs.

Additionally, when running fullscreen there is no way - short of removing VMware Tools and losing all of the features it provides - to prevent the VMware Fusion menu bar from appearing. This is not a big deal in Windows, but is in Ubuntu Linux, as applications are launched from a menu bar \*at the very top of the screen*. The only suggestions I've received are to move/enlarge the menu bar, which is hardly a fix - in fact, that means I have less screen real estate to work with...

Finally - though this is a common complaint - whenever I start a VM, I'm stuck with Windowed mode as the default, and there is no way to make it Fullscreen or Unity. Parallels can do this, so I don't see why Fusion can't.

While these are all minor issues, the combination of them has made using Fusion much more frustrating than it could be. In Fusion, I find myself constantly having to press the "Fullscreen" button and move my mouse to avoid the Fusion menu bar. It almost has the feeling that the software wants to enforce \*it's* preferred settings (windowed mode, Fusion controls always accessible) on me.

[sculi2000]

I love Fusion and rely on it to do my job. That being said, the only thing I have to say about this post is "Amen".

[bgertzfield]

All very good feedback for sure. Please do file a Support Request for these features so they get tracked for a future release!

[thully]

I already did back around beta 3 or so - nothing has really come of it...

[ashwinds]

I use fusion with virtue desktop with a separate desktop for fusion and have had a similar problem.

Ever so often (not always), fusion will come out of full screen into windowed mode, usually happens when I am switching between desktops with CMD+Tab.

I am not sure what the pattern is. But one thing happens more often than not: If I switch with CMD+Tab while fusion is switching from windowed to full screen, it will fall back to windowed. HTH.

[thully]

Is there any chance this will be fixed for 1.0? I know some of my issues here have been considered "feature requests", but it seems like at least some of these issues should be considered \*bugs* and not \*features*.

This applies most to the spontaneously resizing windows (I can't see any way this would be anything \*but* a BUG), but also applies somewhat to the menu bar on the top of the screen (which makes using guests running GNOME - like Ubuntu - fullscreen an exercise in frustration).

I want to like Fusion, but the fact that these issues were in Beta 3 and 4, still exist in RC1, and look like they will be in 1.0 have me considering just getting a refund for my preorder after 1.0 comes out and living with dual-boot (Parallels still isn't usable with Linux guests).

[vinayv]

So as far as the full screen menu bar thing... we are looking at ways to improve the interaction for this. It will not be fixed for 1.0, but if we fix it, we want to get it right, so we are making sure we get the right interaction model for the VM. We targeted Windows guests, but we are re-visiting the problem.

If you have a second monitor, going full screen on the second monitor (move the single window over the second monitor then go full screen) will result in no menubar popping action. But of course, this requires that you have a second monitor.

[thully]

What about the spontaneously resizing windows - that is, the issue where fullscreen VMs like to switch to windowed upon resume from suspend/choosing "Hide VMware Fusion" from the menu? While the menu bar is an issue, this is by far the worst issue with RC1 and a possible dealbreaker for me on a laptop. It slows down switching to and from VMs enough for me that I'm starting to lose part of the advantage of VMs over dual-boot - OS switching speed. Honestly, I still don't get why it was marked "feature request" back in Beta 3 - Fusion changing VM orientation without the user expressly doing so seems like a bona-fide bug to me.. Honestly, this should probably carry over from VM suspend as well...

Also - in a related issue - is there any chance Cmd-Tab will completely hide fullscreen VMs when switching to the Finder? This would be good - one-keystroke switching between OS X and my fullscreen guests is great, but seeing the VM in the background interferes with using the Finder...

[vinayv]

well, with regards to the window resizing thing, we're looking at it. Basically, we kick out of full screen whenever the full screen window gets moved. We are looking at improving this behavior, but I can't say much beyond that.

The cmd-Tab thing you're talking about is unlikely. I say this because we are trying to be a good mac citizen and that means that we behave like other mac programs. But since you bring it up, we'll add to the list of things to revisit for future releases.

[thully]

For Cmd-Tab, I don't mean hiding Fusion whenever Cmd-Tab is used - I mean only when VMware Fusion is being run fullscreen. That may make a bit more sense...

[keratacon]

It would also be nice if while in fullscreen, the mouse remained captured in the guest. I've been attempting to play an older game under a Windows XP and the game is unplayable since it keeps loosing mouse focus.

Also it would be nice to be able to actually fullscreen resolutions less than the full resolution of the monitor (stretch pixels I guess)

[admin]

It would also be nice if while in fullscreen, the mouse remained captured in the guest.

Did you try setting vmmouse.present and pref.motionUngrab as described in the release notes?

Also it would be nice to be able to actually fullscreen resolutions less than the full resolution of the monitor (stretch pixels I guess)

See : Fit Full Screen

[murreyaw]

That is what worked for me.

[17maf]

Same here, VMWare often loses fullscreen mode.

Switching by given shortcuts does not wor here,

only via menu.

The worst thing for me, which I think is related to this,

is that my desktop icons won't keep their position after

each start of XP.

Thanks,

Micha

Mac Pro 8 core, VMWare Fusion 1.1, 12 GB, OS X 10.5, XP Pro SP2,

[mac_pro_user]

I'm currently evaluating VMWare Fusion 1.1.62573 due to a recent comparison by CNET regarding performance. I am an experienced Windows user who recently "made the switch". Actually, I've been using Macs since the days of AUX on the Mac II. Anyways, I digress...

System: Mac Pro Dual Quad 3.0Ghz Xeon, 4GB, (3) 500GB, 30" Display, OS X 10.5.1

Use: VMware Fusion with a Bootcamp dedicated disk running Windows XP SP2 with all updates.

Initial observations: There is some clear advantages, but there are MANY, MINOR, ANNOYANCES!

PROS:

a) Superior performance of Fusion as opposed to Parallels.

b) Clean integration of Unity with Finder dock.

CONS:

a) Fusion can't seem to remember what screen resolution I set!

b) Fusion arbitrarily rearranges desktop icons (most likely a symptom of screen resolution change) Icons near the task bar inexplicably move up on restart or on mode changes.

c) Screen resolution modes are broken. When setting screen resolution, Fusion sometimes (or sometimes not) automatically reduces horizontal size to account for status bar. Also, Fusion uses different desktop icon grids for different screen resolutions, resulting in some icons actually resting behind the task bar if they should be placed too close to the task bar.

c) Fusion Virtual Machine Library window won't "go away" when using Unity mode. The Virtual Machine Library window should hide when switching to Finder or any other app. Like most all other Mac apps behave. I'm left having to minimize it which is an annoyance.

d) Fusion switches to max resolution when OS X wakes from sleep and Fusion was left in Unity mode prior to OSX sleep.

e) Fusion should have an option for startup mode. Unity, Windowed, Full Screen. And... remember it!

Overall, the CONS make Fusion seem like beta software. I want to use Fusion because of performance alone, but these usability issues need to be fixed. Who wants to subject themselves to constant frustrations and annoyances. I want a stable system which I don't have to think about, so I can concentrate on getting actual work done.

In conclusion, these issues taken as a whole is a deal killer. I'm looking for a PC replacement which can "cleanly" integrate with OS X which does not require a reboot. Fusion comes close but there is more work to be done.

[17maf]

Thanks mac.pro.user,

That's exactly what I experienced and what annoys me.

No wonder though, got nearly the same configuration as you do.

Well, I have 12 GB to heat my room.

Thanks,

Micha

Mac Pro 8 core, VMWare Fusion 1.1, 12 GB, OS X 10.5, XP Pro SP2,

[Pat_Lee]

Micha and Mac.Pro.User,

Thanks for your feedback and feature requests. We will take them into consideration as we plan future releases of VMware Fusion.

Best,

Pat Lee

Senior Product Manager - Mac Products

VMware

[HobbitFootAussi]

My only beef with Fusion is that I have it set on Space 4 in Leopard and I hate that it doesn't start in Full screen mode. Its just a pain.

[rcardona2k]

This is true Fusion does not restore a new VM or a suspended VM to full screen. I have this setting in my .vmx for the day Fusion may honor it: gui.fullScreenAtPowerOn = "TRUE"

To solve this problem in the meanwhile, I use UIScripting to automate putting a VM in full screen mode. I have Fusion assigned to a Space, and a VM bundle in my Login Items, and I have a "go to full screen" Applescript applet which puts the VM in full screen in the space. Here's the source:

tell application "VMware Fusion"

activate

end tell

tell application "System Events"

tell process "VMware Fusion"

tell menu bar 1

tell menu bar item "View"

tell menu "View"

click menu item "Full Screen (Exit Single Window)"

end tell

end tell

end tell

end tell

end tell