Open letter - what is happening with Fusion

[slaurel]

I have a few things to get off my chest. I have been using a MAC now for about 4 years. From the time I was able, I stared using Parallels. Once version 1 of VMware was released, I gave it a try. I was not swayed one way or the other between the two programs UNTIL

1. VMware seemed to gain in the performance area

2. VMware decided to go public.

My rational behind number 2 was the thought that this would lead to an absolute top notch virtual environment based on the fact there would be lots of cash to use for new development.

Since then I have also purchased 5 new MACS for my business and decided to go with Fusion instead of Parallels.

Now I am wondering if I made a mistake. There are things that I want to do, specifically, use my MAC programs to open files on the Windows virtual environment. Fusion can't do this. I decided to go check out Parallels last week to see how much progress they were making these days. I downloaded the trial of version 3, and to my surprise it did exactly what I needed. I also realized it was very fast, maybe faster the Fusion and the whole environment seemed to be more streamlined.

So to conclude. What is going on with VMware. When is there going to be an update. I have now made the investment with VMware and don't plan on switching to Parallels, at least not now. I tend to have lots of faith with a company once I make a decision.

Holding on for now.

Steve

[petekazanjy]

Hi there Steve,

Firstly, thanks for your vote of confidence in VMware Fusion. It gives me great pride to hear that you have continued to grow your stable of virtualized Macs with the help of our software.

To address your points, firstly, VMware is a very large organization, and VMware Fusion, while quite a big deal to us on the Fusion team, and quite a big deal to our users who rely on it to help them get real things done, day in and out, is only one product at VMware. As such, regarding your question about VMware Fusion's feature set being somehow related to VMware's IPO, I can tell you that they're really not linked.

However, the larger question here is: there are features that users want, and which VMware Fusion may not have at this moment. While we don't comment on the future roadmap of our software, I can tell you that we have a team of brilliant engineers and product managers working on VMware Fusion, and that by no means is the product standing still. And as we continue to build on the fantastic platform that is VMware Fusion 1.0, we rely on, and deeply appreciate candid user feedback of the sort you're providing in your open letter.

To sum up: VMware is the industry leader in virtualization, with the strongest set of virtualization-trained engineers and is very committed to VMware Fusion.

Peter Kazanjy

VMware Fusion Product Marketing

[noetus]

@slaurel:

Have you tried all the options in Fusion? The way I open Windows files on my Mac is to have a permanent share via a Host only Network (in addition to a Bridged network for sharing files with my other computers on my home network) and to copy shortcuts of my principal Windows folders directly to the sidebar of the Mac Finder. That way as soon as the VM is up and running I havve full and permanent access to all my Windows files - right there on the Mac Finder - whether I am connected to a Network or not. You can even change the folder icons in the Finder sidebar (use Get Info and then cut and paste) and Mac OS will remember them (though only when the VM is connected - which is handy because it acts as a reminder when it is connected and when not). I now have ALL my data (which originates from my Windows-only days) on a VM disk and it works great. Opening, editing, and closing those files don't appear to be any less fast than opening, editing, and closing files on the Mac disk.

The feature that Fusion lacks that Parallels apparently has (although I've never tried Parallels extensively) is the capacity to access Windows files when the VM is powered down. To me that's a minor concern, as I want to have the VM on all the time anyway, and I've chosen to go with Windows 2000 which runs everything I need and sucks up fewer host resources than XP or Vista. (It's incredibly fast, actually, on my Mac - significantly faster to start up and power down than XP, just seconds, and it supports Unity. Windows 2000 seems like the perfect solution because in reality - unless you're in the business of testing OSes - you don't want that second OS, you just want the capacity to run that OS's programs. W2K achieves that better than XP or Vista, because, well, there is less OS there but it runs all the same programs, or almost all.)

Incidentally, it seems to me that granting access to Windows files when the VM is off is in principle a fairly trivial affair - it just requires a tool to mount the drive image. In other flavours of VMware (Workstation, etc) that is already possible. I would guess that either this is a feature that will be coming soon, or there is a good reason why they are not implementing it.

[admin]

noetus: I think slaurel is talking about something different than what you're describing. If I'm reading the OP correctly, what's desired is the ability to open a file on the host (or guest) and redirect it to open in a guest (or host) application. This is something the developers are aware people would like, and are also aware that there are security issues that need to be considered. However, VMware policy is to not comment on unannounced features, products, timelines, etc. so I can't say more.

[Zora]

Thanks for your open comment on VMware (Fusion) and what the future might look like.

I would like to add that I just decided to go for an iMac with fusion 3 months ago. The need for fusion was related to some mandatory programs I need (for compatibility reasons) in exactly the same version like my peers.

I see four major problems with fusion at the moment, three of them I also addressed in the community forum.

1. Unity mode does not work on two screens

I am not a developer, but I have to say that I was totally surprised to learn that this is an issue with fusion (yes, it is in the features not working section). I was seeing that the second screen is nothing more than an extention to my desktop, so why can't I move a unity window to the second screen?

2. Single Window mode is not stretchable to both screens

This, again, is a surprise, though some discussions lead to an implication with graphics RAM, but still, other applications are stretchable without problems.

3. Copy & Paste between Mac and (in this case) Windows applications running in VMware shows strange results if it comes to localized (Umlaut) letters

4. Access to the mac folders from Windows in vmware is slow close to hanging when changing a folder or getting a list of files.

Still, vmware fusion is doing it's job somehow, but the sum of above issues makes me wonder what version 1.2 or greater might look like, any issue not addressed in the next version will for sure lead to a Parallels 3.0 test on my machine - sorry for that.

Zora