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Andreas_Masur
Expert
Expert

Beta 3 - Virtual Machine settings not requested before installation

When the option 'Start virtual machine and install operating system' is selected the installation of the operating system starts automatically without giving you the chance to adjust settings such as number CPUs, memory etc. which is of course crucial if you intend to use more than one CPU.

If this option is disabled, the settings screen just pops up once you hit 'Finish' as one would expect.

The behvaiour happens with both using an installation disc or an ISO image. It is not a big issue since disabling the checkbox will provide the settings dialog prior to any installation.

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Pat_Lee
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Andreas,

This is by design. For the majority of Mac users we are targetting with VMware Fusion that just want to run Windows, the defaults should serve them well which is why we being the install by default on Finish. The only reason we ask the disk size during the Assistant is that is a nightmare to grow a disk after the fact for more users, especially those using Windows.

The reason we have the checkbox at the end is for power users who want to tweak everything, they just uncheck the box and can play to the hearts delight before starting the VM the first time.

Thanks for the feedback and continued use of VMware Fusion.

Best,

Pat Lee

Senior Product Manager - Mac Products

VMware

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Andreas_Masur
Expert
Expert

Pat,

This if course clears things up and is a valid point...I agree, it makes things easier for the targeted consumer market. Just wanted to make sure that this is not unintended behaviour of Beta 3 since it differs from Beta 2.

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mu3rt3
Contributor
Contributor

Pat

Thanks for providing an explanation. You have confirmed what I've suspected - VMware's target market for the Mac is people who aren't generally that technical who are interested in running Windows. The development of the UI, etc. is consistent with this thinking.

Would it be possible to provide a way of toggling between 'Advanced' and 'Basic' modes for those of us who are using the Mac as our primary development platform? It would be really nice to have some of the features of the Windows version available. From my reading of the posts and the number of technical people I speak to who are converting to the Mac, I think you have a reasonably large user base who would really appreciate this feature.

Regards.

Martin

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Pat_Lee
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Martin,

VMware Fusion is targeted for the core Mac end user, where we can't have two modes of Advanced and Basic. The Mac apps targeted at this customer are designed for this customer and don't toggle back and forth.

There is a lot of underlying features as a developer you can take advantage of today in VMware Fusion including 64-bit guests, VirtualSMP, and others.

Once we ship VMware Fusion, we will look at the market opportunity for other products for the Mac including our more technical developer focussed products.

Thanks for your interest in VMware Fusion and your feedback.

Best,

Pat Lee

Senior Product Manager - Mac Products

VMware

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arang
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I'd certainly vote for VMWare Workstation for the Mac. Smiley Happy

Seriously, I hope that Fusion takes off and there is a sufficient base of users to eventually justify the additional development of a more advanced version. Teams would be useful to me, as would more sophisticated snapshot management, access to emulated serial ports, etc.

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msohnius
Contributor
Contributor

VMware Fusion is targeted for the core Mac end user, where we can't have two modes of

Advanced and Basic.

Huh? I know \*loads* of Mac applications that give you "Easy Install" and "Custom" as options when you install. So why not for VMware? Let's put it this way: REALLY non-technical users wouldn't touch something like this anyway. After all, it's gonna be Windows in the end, or Linux, or NetWare. Just the kind of stuff your average "life style" Mac-head would install to play with, right?

I happen to work, in my day job, for a company that is deeply involved in most of the operating systems I mentioned above. Our developers are currently busy clandestinely buying MacBooks, often with their own money, which they then convert to quadruple-boot machines (i.e. "all of the above" plus the native Mac OS X) and show them off to their friends, as well as work on. I'd say it's those folks' hearts and minds that are going to get you a head start in this business, not necessarily Joe Luser to whom his Mac is only the the box that gets Bittorrent onto his iPod.

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blackpuma
Contributor
Contributor

REALLY non-technical users wouldn't touch

something like this

I'd disagree. There are those who want one (or two) Win32 apps. Sure, grannie just wants Mail and iChat to talk to the grandkids, but there are other non-technical users who are "stuck" with Windows because they rely on a specific app. For example, I could name several architectural offices that would like to switch… except for the darned CAD program that's only available for Win32. They have no tech staff, but they have a guy or two who (when pressed to the wall) will venture to re-install Windows.

Also, in our company, if Fusion pans out (which it looks like it will), all the PC hardware will probably be phased out for Macs as the machines reach the end of their useful lifetime.

Yeah, gearheads like me will keep begging for Workstation 6 for OS X. I'd rather not have to have copies of VMs laying around because the multi-snapshot trees aren't available.

I see it in my interest for Fusion to be a hit. True or not, I see a correlation between Fusion sales and the odds of Workstation 6 for OS X coming out soon. Smiley Happy

Anyhow, my two bits.

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silliker
Contributor
Contributor

I used the easy install wizard to install XP x64, and while I can understand your desire to make things as easy as possible for the end user, you should probably consider having some dynamic default settings.

I was somewhat surprised that the auto-generated VM was only given 256M of RAM when my system has 2G.

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