WebClient versus Native Client - Don't abandon the Native Client

[StuartR11]

So I have heard that the native client will at some point be going away and we will be forced to use the web client for all management tasks in our environments.

I just want to make my voice heard to VMWare and tell that the web client is abhorrently slow.  I get my day to day tasks done WAY faster via the Native client.  The interface to put it bluntly is just flat out slow.  I am not saying that the web client is useless.  I do utilize it in some instances, mostly when I am away from my environment and need to check on something or quickly fix something.

For day to day management and maintenance however I use the Native client.  I also absolutely love the Ipad client that utilizes the VCMA.  Between the two of those I rarely ever have to use the web client even when I am away from my environment.  This is particularly true now that I have published my Native client in my Citrix architecture.  When I am way I just fire up the native client via Citrix and away I go just as if I was sitting at my desk.

If you want to develop the web interface... I say go for it, but don't force me into it.  Keep the same functionality available for all clients (enhanced vMotion being one example)

Regards,

~Stuart Rowe

[franktroeger]

Hey Stuart,

i am vmware Trainer and i have to agree with you.

VMware claims Java and Flash are enterprise Ready and Web is the future. But all our customers and most of my students hate the slow web client.

But it seems that vmware dont listen and claim again like with the licenses on vram that everyone will like it and get a benefit of it.

Java and Flash are the biggest cancer in it and thats the future of vmware.

I agree microsoft can bring out cheap sluggish software but vmware customers pay for a mercedes and now they get a never used client.

Seems that vmware knows better what the customer wants than the customer. like fast clear client to manage paths in storage or maps in a tab of the vsphere client which shows configuration issues.

No vmware claim that you just want to click on 5 hyperlinks and wait about one minute each click to see nochting usefull and on top they force users to use this because you cant create vms with actuall vhw level.

Sad story, seen this before with novell imanager and sles, novell got a half cooked product and said this is the future. True story.

And vmware will never integrate all solutions in the web client like the configuration manager with iis and mssql. the product lifecycle is to short.

But np we can wait 6 months to administer all products on new version and 6 additional monts to upgrade everything again.

[Josh26]

VMware claims Java and Flash are enterprise Ready and Web is the future.

Yes they do, but it's a contradictory position. The WEB may be the future. Java and Flash however, are well and truly on their way out. How many new web applications make a sales point of "All HTML5, No flash or Java!"?

Having iPads refuse support for Flash isn't just a case of one obscure device being unsupported, it's the beginning of a trend away from these closed source environments. Microsoft can be seen moving in this direction on Surface, although they backed down from it more recently.

In an ideal world, most admins would ban Flash from their servers all together, closing one of the most abused security holes (just look up some of the recent well publicised hacks that involved Flash exploits) and increasing reliability. Only they can't do that any more, because VMware decided to take a turn for the dark ages.

[StuartR11]

Thank you both for your replies and support of my position on this.  I really hate to see this happening.

Regards,

~Stuart Rowe

[dustinn3]

Same here.  I love the C# client and hate the web client for day to day administration.  It's slower, requires more clicks, and doesn't support many of the plugin's I use yet.  Also I'm about at my wit's end with flash and java management tools.  I can't run half my management tools from my workstation anymore because Vendor A only supports Java 6 and Vendor B only supports Java 7.  Plus, some only work with IE, some with Firefox, and some with Chrome.

I talked with Vmware at VMUG and they said they were moving away from the C# client because it was just too slow for large installations.  Maybe so, but that's been the opposite of my experience.