Wishlist for VMware Fusion 4...

[OxkAMam]

Given that Fusion 4 is probably not too far off, I thought I'd create a topic where everyone can post their wishlist for the next major version.

For me, I'm reasonably happy with the functionality of Fusion 3.1.2, so I'm not after any major features/changes (although that may change the more I think about what I want/need from Fusion), but below is my list...

1) Keep the stability which I've come to appreciate from Fusion (I know people bang on about how fast Parallels is supposed to be, but I have tried version 5 and 6 and haven't been able to get a stable VM - it's either really slow, or hangs).

2) If they can they can squeeze more performance out of it (which I hope they can), then the faster the better.

3) Proper full support for multi-threaded CPU's. Currently, the multi-threaded part of a CPU core is not utilised, thereby wasting processing power.

3) GUI interface for various tasks. For example, mounting physical disks/partitions in VM's - I know you can use rawdiskCreator, but there should be a simple GUI for selecting the partitions/disks you want in the VM, with Fusion handling the rest. Another example is disabling snapshots for virtual disks - again it can be done by manually adding a setting into the vmx file, but there should be a checkbox setting in a GUI.

4) Improved performance of shared folders. When accessing a shared folder, I get poor speeds and high CPU usage. In Parallels, it's faster with almost zero CPU usage.

5) Fixes for all bugs I've reported.

[mygogo]

Robert Stewart wrote:

When you say "mount VM and VMDK", keep in mind that it would have to be read-only when the VM is suspended or running.  If you tried to write a file while the guest OS was running, some [i]very bad things[/i] would happen.  It could easily destroy the filesystem on the guest.

I agree that it could be interesting to have each VM as a separate application in the Dock.  That's quite clever, and something I had not considered.  I'm not sure how well it would work in actual use, but I think it could work.

When you say you would like to be able to 'pause' a VM, what exactly do you mean?  Do you want to just suspend execution without writing the state back to disk?

Yes, that's what I want.

[jay_snyder]

1: VMWare fusion should obey VESA vga modes for VM's without VMWare Tools installed.    I have a VM that I use for testing an embedded Linux install image that uses 640x480 mode, which works great on workstation & player on both Linux and Windows hosts.    When I run this VM on Fusion, the window is 1280x720.    Resizing the window just scales the contents, so that doesn't work well.     I use this VM for demoing the software of the device to customers, and would like the window to behave as it does on Workstation & player.

[jay_snyder]

Firewire device virtualization support (similar to how USB is supported now) would be great too!

[jay_snyder]

I would like to be able to close the VMWare application and leave VM's running like I can in Workstation.

[jruschme]

Funny, but it seems like I remember seeing some kind experimental FireWire virtualization all the way back in Workstation 5.5.

Did anything ever come of it?

[ColoradoMarmot]

Here's some others:

1) Don't create the application cache if the host integration features are turned off.

2) Eliminate the double-click to boot the VM (or give us the option) - it's a pain to have to force power off a VM to change the settings, then reboot (I don't use the library window because of the performance impact).  Double-click to open, then single click to start it up would be ideal.

3) Fix the progress bar on 'prepare to shrink', so it'd doesn't go 3/4 in 1/10 of a second, then take 45 minutes to go the rest of the way.

4) Stop updating the 'last modified date' on the .vmwarevm packages every time the library opens.  It should only update if we've actually booted the VM (this is causing unecessary backups).

5) Remove as many background services as possible.  Start them when a VM is run for the first time.

6) Allow mounting of Thunderbolt devices directly in the VM (not that that's a big issue yet, but just wanted to get it on the radar).

And please, don't follow Parallels route and prevent us from isolating the VM when we want to.  Many of us don't, and won't, use Unity.

[WoodyZ]

dlhotka wrote:

Here's some others:

1) Don't create the application cache if the host integration features are turned off.

The Applications folder and appListCache folder that reside within the Virtual Machine Document Package are not created if the appropriate setting are set.

4) Stop updating the 'last modified date' on the .vmwarevm packages every time the library opens.  It should only update if we've actually booted the VM (this is causing unecessary backups).

Since you don't use the Virtual Machine Library just remove the entries from there and they will not be updated every time VMware Fusion loads.

5) Remove as many background services as possible.  Start them when a VM is run for the first time.

The kernel extensions and networking services need to be run as root and the take very little resources and IMO it's less painful to have then loaded as they are vs every time needed.  The VMware Fusion Helper.app can be removed from your Login Items if you want  to.

And please, don't follow Parallels route and prevent us from isolating the VM when we want to.  Many of us don't, and won't, use Unity.

When was the last time you use Parallels?  You can control the amount of integration or isolation!

[Expr3ss]

Here's a simple (?) addition that would make me happy...

A single function to shut down all VMs and then Quit the application ... one click and walk away.

[WoodyZ]

A single function to shut down all VMs and then Quit the application ... one click and walk away.

While it's either two mouse clicks or pressing two keys on the keyboard you can simply just quit VMware Fusion and it will either suspend or shutdown all running VMs based upon the VMware Fusion Preferences.

Are you saying that's not good enough and you want an additional way to do the same thing?

[Expr3ss]

I've always been cautious about simply CMD Q-ing VMWare Fusion ... is this just my superstition?... it's reliably  safe?

If it is, then my wish has already been fulfulled

Cheers

[WoodyZ]

I've always been cautious about simply CMD Q-ing VMWare Fusion ... is this just my superstition?... it's reliably  safe?

If you have VMware Tools installed in your Virtual Machines then you can set the preference to "Power off the virtual machine" and it will do a controlled shutdown (at the least on Windows Guests) otherwise you need to use "Suspend the virtual machine" as VMware Tools are not required for this action.

As a general rule as with anything involving computers and automated actions always make sure that at a minimum User Data is always backed up off of the Virtual  Machine and always have a know good working copy of your Virtual Machines to restore from.

[Expr3ss]

Sure thing... thanks for the response.

[mygogo]

I got it fixed, thanks.

[WoodyZ]

When I enable VPN on the host, the guest network will be disconnected until I disconnect the host VPN connection.

This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with VMware Fusion and is normal and expected while connected via a VPN unless the VPN is configured to allow LAN access while connected and considering the security implications I would not allow a User to access their LAN while connected to one of my Servers via VPN.  Check with your Network Administrator for necessary settings change if permissible.

[dp_fusion]

That is a VPN policy setting at the server end of the connection. Some sites won't let you run a VPN client on both the host and the guest at the same time. Where I work I can connect to the VPN with the host system and the VPN resources are immediately available to the NAT'd guests as well as the host. Connecting from the guest of course does not allow the host access to the remote VPN resources. And it is all allowed or disallowed by policy.

[SvenGus]

Another cool feature would be better support for nested VMs: for example, Windows XP Mode via Windows Virtual PC already works remarkably well in Fusion 3 (but could be speedier, of course...); so, it would be even better if it also worked via VMware Player: i.e., allow the VMware Tools to run simultaneously inside Fusion and Player (nested within Fusion).

Not sure if it is possible in practice, however...

BTW, Windows XP Mode also works for Boot Camp Windows VMs, at least if you shut down XP Mode while booted natively before starting it in Fusion.

[SvenGus]

Talking about Boot Camp Windows VMs, it would be cool if you only had to activate Windows once, instead of 2-3 times, as happens today.

For example, using Windows 7 Enterprise Trial to experiment a little (it has a built-in key), if you activate it while booted natively, then you must reactivate it in Fusion and also once again when rebooting natively: a total of 3 activations (maybe they would be only 2 if you activate first from within Fusion? it's not all that clear...).

With a retail version, there would be problems after the first 2 activations: so, having to activate only once would of course be a very good thing (but maybe not possible in practice?).

Of course, if you have a TechNet subscription, these problems are potentially solved:

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/faqtip/save-even-more-money-with-a-technet-standard-subscription...

Maybe a future VMware & Microsoft TechNet partnership (discounts, etc. etc.)...?

OK, probably asking a little too much...:smileycool:

[WoodyZ]

Talking about Boot Camp Windows VMs, it would be cool if you only had to activate Windows once, instead of 2-3 times, as happens today.

VMware has absolutely no control whatsoever over this and it is totally and solely a Microsoft issue and any changes to this will have to come from Microsoft and don't hold you breath, it's not going to happen!

[dp_fusion]

I've discovered another hopefully simple whish for a future version. I frequently run nested RDP and virtual systems. In Fusion on my MacBook Pro I run Win7. It has a VPN client that connects me to my Windows desktop at work via RDP. On that Win7 desktop I have VMware Player running RedHat Linux. When they are all running in single windows there's not much problem except the screen area is consumed by title bars and window frames. So I run the local Win7 full screen and I have the control set up as hidden at the top of the screen. The RDP connection is also running full screen as there's still that realestate problem, an it too has a control  that is normally hidden. Naturally both hidden controls are centered. What I really need to run, though, is the Linux system because that is what I do for a living. Windows is only a gatekeeper to that end. So I run the Linux VM full screen and don'tcha know, it has a control bar, centered, top of screen.

So far the solution to control bar clutter is to slide the RDP control to the side - that is allowed by the control. I leave the Player control top center. I have placed the Win7 VM control at the right side of the screen. What I would like would be for the Player and Fusion controls to be adjustable as is the RDP control - I can then leave it at the top of the screen but slide one or the other to the right. Images provided hopefully show better what I'm talking about. One shows all the nested systems running in nested windows and the second shows the (black) Linux login screen with the various controls arrayed at the top and side of the screen. The control on the right would work better for me if it were on the top of the screen and adjustable left/right.

[SvenGus]

In an ideal world*, Microsoft should really address this issue, as a Boot Camp VM is indeed a real, "official" way of running Windows.

* Well, in a more ethical world activation wouldn't even exist, of course...