Getting started...

[Mac_hatter]

I have used Vista in/on a native partition for the last year (off and on).

With SP1 out I wanted to try again.

I also used Fusion 1.0 briefly and quit using it.

Now with Fusion 1.1 and Leopard - give it another try.

I've used the same pswd for Vista all this time.

Tried "use Mac OS" and tried disabling preference for keyboard support.

(It must be what I wanted as I had to retype it a 2nd time during setup of Vista this time).

Fusion / Vista won't accept it though.

Also,

my ~/ home directory is on another disk drive.

Fusion keeps telling me it can't create or WRITE and yet I can see and tell that the preferences

/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion is there - so it does. Ignore the message? just a bug, huh?

I tried search, yet search took me through everything and not just Fusion discussions.

Searching just inside the current level could help.

[Mac_hatter]

What I did (above) was to skip the auto install, so I could change cores to 2 virtual cores, and boost memory from anemic 512MB to 2.5GB (and on Mac Pro you wouldn't want to run OS X with less than 2GB, and when installing Vista 64-bit it would be nice to use a "smart" preference (and if you have quad-core how about using 4-cores???

The install seemed to be.... flakey going through manual setup.

Now I am faced with other problems (natch):

Norton Internet Security 2008 checks hardware and OS, and it took 4 attempts, restarts, and it ALMOST completed the install only to get a "setup stop responding" message at 95% thru and now have to uninstall and try again? communication to the Pioneer DVD?

I have 2GB of files on USB SD memory card. But even after adding USB device, can't access the files. That has a lot of installers and 740MB Vista SP1.

It just seems that it is one step sideways and two backwards, but none forward.

I figure I bought Vista and Fusion and I don't NEED or want to be forced into a native OS, a VM should hopefully run acceptably. But I have my doubts.

Mac Pro w/ VM on a stripped RAID, 6GB RAM and it feels like molasses with 2- cores (I feel for anyone running with one, unless it is not threaded to take advantage of multi-core).

I suppose EVENTUALLY I'll get what I need (Quicken 2008, some other programs) installed, but right now it takes a lot longer this way.