Fusion's Future

[Mikero]

Hi everyone,

As we're winding down the year, planning is well underway for the next big releases of Fusion and Fusion Pro.

With me being new to the role of being responsible for the entirety of the Fusion experience, all the way from initial awareness to buying, using and getting support, I'm working on a multi-year plan of how we're going to take Fusion into the future.

I personally think it would be wrong of me to do this without hearing from our users and the community.  I've always wanted to do right by our users, and I hope that giving you a forum to voice your thoughts underscores our commitment to 'do the right thing'.

The world has been changing since Apple first brought OS X to x86, allowing us to do this amazing thing called Virtualization. But with changing times people are using Fusion for a variety of different reasons that we may not have originally thought of.

So, I'd like to use this thread as a forum to get direct feedback from you on what you think Fusion could do next.

Let's hear about how you use Fusion and what else might help make that experience even better.

Let's hear about what Fusion doesn't do today that would make your lives easier.

Let's hear about what Fusion does that drives you crazy!

Do you deploy Fusion en-masse in the office? What can we do better for this use case? (and did you know about Horizon FLEX??)

Do you build software using Fusion? How can we make that a more productive and joyful experience?

Lastly, I just want to say thank you to all of our users.  It's been a great year for us, and for me personally. I'm immensely proud of what the team here has been able to deliver over the years, and we couldn't be more excited to take things to the next level with you by our side.

Happy Holidays!

-Mike

[sharpjs]

I use Fusion for .NET / SQL programming work all day, and I've done this for years.

My issues:

• I used to have problems with modifier keys getting stuck, but that doesn't happen now.
• Occasionally I will have the mouse stop recognizing clicks, but it's not often, and a guest restart fixes it.
• Sometimes copy/paste or drag/drop between host/guest will stop working, requiring a guest restart.
• Sometimes the Fusion host process will eat lots of CPU even while the guest is idle.  A Fusion restart fixes it.
• Unity causes too much performance hit and too many visual artifacts, so I don't use it.

With all that said, fusion works better for me now than it ever has before.  I can't remember when or if Fusion ever crashed.

I would like to be able to hide the title bar in single-window mode.  I don't run full-screen, because then OS X won't let me have other windows on top of Fusion.  So instead I run single-window and just want to make the window as big as possible.  This also lets me see my nifty stuff up in the menu bar.

I would like a bit more power with key bindings.

• Move them up and down in the prefs window.
• Allow a binding like Command+Control -> Windows
• Make prefs window resizable vertically so I can see more key bindings at once.

[DVE2000]

I'd like more support for headless VMs. And by that, I don't mean necessarily without GUI capability, I just mean built in support to have a VM be kicked off after booting without requiring user login. And to be gracefully suspended or shutdown when the Mac is shutdown. It is possible to use launchd plists and a script to kick off a machine and to have have safe shutdown (I have that), but it would be nice if it would be part of the built in Fusion options.

It would be nice to be able to add which ports should be forwarded to which VM in the Fusion GUI, and have that info saved during network reconfigs . Right now, the networking is sometimes reset on startup and the vmnet8 files are copied to *.bak and overwritten. Again, I've fixed that functionality with a script, but it would be nice if such support was built in.

[chengkiang]

The number one thing I'd like to see in new versions of Fusion this. I do not want to be forced to upgrade to a new version of VMWare Fusion just because I upgraded my Mac OS X. I have used Fusion since 1.0 and finally got sick of having to pay for all the new versions. Is there a way for me to continue using an older version in the newer OS (just like how every other software, including the free and open source VirtualBox)? I am not suggesting that new versions be made free, but if I don't need/want any new features of the new version, I should not be forced to upgrade to continue using Fusion in a new Mac OS X version.

[bezhe]

I develop OS X applications, and use Fusion mainly to test my code on OS X clients. Things that I would like to see:

• Ability to clean up virtual HD of OS X VMs.
• More efficient use of disk space by linked clones. Initially it is good, but after a while it uses the same if not more than a full clone, defeating the whole purpose of the feature. There should be an option to clean up space for disk clones. Like most users I have moved away from using HDs to SSDs quite a while ago. I would not even mind a disk access performance impact if linked clones were using disk space much more efficiently.
• More focus on improving the performance of running OS X itself in a VM.
• A preference for each VM to specify whether it should participate in App Nap. I usually run these VMs full-screen, and don't want to have them use resources when I don't look at them.
• Because I am always running multiple VMs, it would be very useful to have an option to have VMWare permanently display a small overlay with the VM name in a specified corner of the window, or as VM desktop background. When you switch to them in full-screen it displays a temporary overlay right now, but what I am asking for is something more permanent.

[cb1kenobi]

Ability to query, connect, and disconnect USB devices from the command line. We need this for automated testing.

[oofgeek]

Improved multiple monitor support.  I almost always have Fusion set to use all 3 of my monitors, but it drives me nuts that all 3 jump back to my running VM when any of the displays gets focus.  I'd love to be able just to jump focus for the one screen.  Often times I will have a web page or content up on another display that I want to reference while working in the VM, but it is impossible to do this without switching back to single monitor mode. 

[scott_roland]

I use vmWare to run EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools in a Linux virtual machine, while still having access to my native OS X applications.

When I share my host OS X HFS+ file system with my guest Linux OS, I would like the ability to create hard links. This would allow applications running in the guest to truly treat it as a native file system and save disk space.

[MrB201110141]

I'm a developer, I code in Microsoft Visual Studio on Windows 10 via VMWare Fusion and code in Xcode also on the same MacBook Pro.

I've been following the iPad Pro story and have seen rumours of Apple looking at writing an Xcode version for the iPad Pro and although I can't see this replacing MacOS for me I can imagine myself switching to say an iPad Pro and iMac 27" 5K. Currently I carry around a MacBook Pro 13" and often an iPad mini too (I use the AppCooker App for iOS app mockups on there). So my point is if Apple come up with an Xcode for iPad Pro product I could combine my mobile machines and make my back-pack a lot lighter. I imagine there's other developers like me out there and VMWare for iOS in the light of the iPad Pro would be an interesting product. Also I guess we could see Windows 10 with the touch bits working on Apple hardware... that would be interesting

Thanks for reaching out,

Neil

[daylward]

I currently use Fusion on a late 2011 27" iMac with two connected displays.  Half my work (software development on the Microsoft stack, and some real estate management software) ties me to Windows, but I really like the Mac hardware platform overall and I love to have access to both platforms on one machine.  Fusion creates a conceptually ideal environment for my purposes, and I love Unity mode.  But there have long been some quirks that really bother me, and I don't know why it takes so long to fix them.

I'd like you to focus on making the GUI integration more seamless between Windows and Mac in Unity mode.  For example:

• Copy and paste are very finicky, even still.  It commonly gets into a state where I can't copy and paste between the two and I usually have to resort to a suspend and restart of Fusion to get it back on track.
• When programs like Outlook open a window (e.g., when a new message arrives) it steals focus from my Mac program - that's annoying.
• All kinds of graphical problems in Windows 10 still especially - window borders show through, graphics are sluggish, etc.  I still use Windows 7 primarily because it just works better, even though I'd like to move to Windows 10.
• Switching between virtual machines, even just temporarily, screws up the file associations (open an Excel spreadsheet on the Mac doesn't launch Excel in the VM anymore), and it takes a lot of fiddling to get them back. Even going through all the options on the "Default Applications" control panel doesn't fix it right away.

In short, I think a lot could be done to improve the user experience for someone who uses Windows 10 in a Unity environment on multiple monitors.

[MLSCO]

I am a basic user of Fusion.  I have had it since about late 2011.  I use is to run Windows 7 on which I run financial software (Quicken and Quickbooks) that is more capable in Windows versions than in MAC versions.  I do not like to update software a lot because I find that more often than not I wind up with problems that I did not have before.  I am an advocate of the "if it an't broke don't fix it" modis operandi.

That said I am concerned that I do need to look at upgrading my OS, my browser, my VMWare and my Windows.  Some have recommended changing from VMWare to other virtualization software.  In line with my stated philosophy, I am inclined to stay with VM Ware as it has worked well for me.  My concern is to minimize the negative impact of any upgrades while leveraging the advantages. I cannot afford a long downtime due to problems. 

My current system is on a MACBOOK PRO, using OS X (Lion 10.7.5), Safari 6.1.6, Fusion 4.1.3, and Windows 7, with IE 9.0.8112.16421. There are several updates to OSX, Safari and Fusion since I set up my system.  My key objective is to ensure compatibility of the end integrated product across all of the software.  Whatever is done with Fusion in the future should make upgrading as simple and effective as possible.

MLSCO

[powpow23]

[Issue] I use a mac with multiple 27" displays. When disconnecting and then reconnecting to the display when a VM is in full screen on one display the window is sitll full screen but the actual console of the VM has moved 5cm of the screen and doesn't come back.

[Feature Request] Would really love to see more advance GUI area of Advanced Networking much like Workstation has. e.g. NAT/PAT options, virtual subnets with DHCP, control the connection speed to simulate WAN connectivity.

[vShpere Integration] Please continue the work on tight vSphere integration, datastore browser built in would be nice, I always have hanging on media mounting, sometimes very hard to get the console to work and just a black screen. Especially the Media mounting, when I connect the ISO to a VM on vSphere the name of the ISO changes to Untitled and nothing happens, even no error message.

[Simulate paste with keyboard] On newly installed VMs without VMWare tools having a feature to paste a string of text (e.g. license key, or a long command string) and Fusion will simulate the keyboard strokes into the console.

Running version Pro 8.1.0 (3272237)

Keep up the good work guys

[mpal1]

I use VMWare for:

* .net development on Windows 10

* Unix development on OpenBSD

* Testing OpenBSD servers before installing them

* Manage VMs on a ESXi server

* Trying potentially damaging things on an OS X VM, so my host machine is safe.

I would like Fusion (I don't mind if it's Pro) to fully replace the vSphere client, so that I don't need to have it installed on a Windows VM.

Detecting the OS X installer on a USB Stick created with the createinstallmedia command to install OSX would be helpful

OpenBSD presets would be useful

[AlessandroDN]

Hi Mike,

first of all thanks for asking and let us give you our feedback.

I daily use Fusion for SW development/testing on different platform, including OS X/Windows/Linux/BSD, appreciating the overall platform stability.

I really liked the integration of the vCenter client, push forward in that direction.

Speaking of Fusion itself, these are the features I'd love to see in the forthcoming releases

• graphic acceleration for OS X guests!
• the integration of HFS and Ext filesystems for cleaning and reclaiming space
• we definitively need a better network editor (with NAT/PAT) and the possibility to rename virtual lan adapter
• more advanced feature a-la Workstation Pro, i.e. the possibility to switch persistency on a vmdk
• a simpler UI: with the current version we have two views, icon and list. IMHO, none of them succeed
  • the icon view lacks any sort of information
  • the list view shows a lot of information but on a single VM

        you should try something in the middle (Parallels has a much cleaner UI)

• the integration of the OS X Hypervisor Framework and inclusion in the Mac App Store

Last but not least, the upgrade price to ver. 8 bumped to 120EUR which is frankly way too much, also considering that this is basically a yearly fee and that your main competitor is still in the range of 50EUR per year (as was till Fusion 7).

Best Regards

Alessandro

[Woodmeister50]

This one is really very simple but highly annoying and has been around way to long.  After a virtual machine is shut down

in full screen mode or windowed mode, please, please return to the virtual machine list instead of having this

big, huge (especially on full screen with large monitors) black display with big start arrow head!!!!!

[dmdev]

• graphic acceleration for OS X guests!

Yes! This! I do mostly iOS development and need more improvements to OS X as a guest OS. Certain clients' code may require that I use an older version of Xcode, which I use OS X VM's to solve.

• the integration of the OS X Hypervisor Framework and inclusion in the Mac App Store

Any software that uses kexts I am fundamentally cautious of, and this goes a long way to establish trust. Trust is, in fact, the only reason I currently choose VMWare over Parallels.

• better upgrade pricing

I want to keep up to date, but pricing holds me back. I usually wait until there's a special, like your recent Black Friday special

[wila]

Hi Mike,

In my day to day job I use Fusion full time as a platform to use as a developer on mostly desktop products (some web stuff as well)

Things I like to see in new Fusion

- It's rather frustrating on having to keep on telling people that a repair install on VMware Tools does not tend to fix VMware Tools issues. This is an ongoing issue since AFAICR Fusion 1.x

- Make copy & paste work reliable between full screen guests when swiping from one guest to another (Support Request # 15699096506) This broke somewhere around Fusion 4.x

- vmhgfs on linux should be in open-vm-tools so that all kernel modules needed can be in the main kernel

- Unity mode for Linux, bring it back please

- Shrink disks in the GUI for OS X guests

- OS X 3D support

- Sad to say but you should hire more Q&A engineers as new versions nowadays tend to break more as they fix, I'm not used to that from VMware. Case in point is that NAT port forwarding broke on Fusion 8.1/WS12.1 It is hard to believe this wasn't tested for in an automated test.

Oh and thanks for a -mostly- rock solid product

--

Wil

[BobFillmore]

‌Better graphics driver for OS X clients.... Apple Maps is currently unusable...  the map is blank.

[Technogeezer]

‌Mike,

As a long-time user of Fusion (since v1) and a frequent visitor to this community' I'm genreally happy with Fusion. But here are a few things that I can suggest to make things better:

More attention to product quality. There are too many reports of "how did that ever pass QA" defects whenever a new Fusion major release appears. There are too many "thats due to an Apple bug" which I would think should have been caught before release and not after.  Perhaps your testing and development process is not casting a wide enough sample of Mac models to catch configuration specific issues.

Performance regressions. Too many reports of "my virtual machine worked fine  under version n-1 and is slower under version n".

Fusion Pro should be for professionals. The current Fusion (nin-Pro) has a good set of features for the "I just want to run Windows on my Mac" customer. But the Pro version needs to have levels of control and configuration that are present in Workstation on Windows.

A way to import physical systems or virtual machines from other platforms that will automatically remove platform specific drivers ( such as Parallels tools).

[dl111122]

I've been using Fusion since version 2.0.3

It would be nice if Fusion supported Solaris 11. You supported previous versions of Solaris,

now I find that "Install VMware Tools" fails on Solaris 11. As a result, cut/paste between

the host and VM no longer works. Curiously enough, shared folders continue to work

(I upgraded from VMware 7.1.0).

When I called support the answer was "we don't support Solaris 11".

And to prove it, support told me to look up the VMware compatibility guide.

I really like Fusion, and don't want to be forced to use VirtualBox. I continue

to pay for Fusion even though VirtualBox is free.