Applications Menu position...

[SvenGus]

Would it be possible to pin the VMware Fusion menu bar item - the Applications Menu - towards the left (before all the other icons) or the right (before the Spotlight and Notifications icons), in a future version? It's rather inconvenient to be forced to look after it, randomly immersed as it is between the other icons.

Of course, one of the best features of Fusion, but always improvable...

[SvenGus]

... BTW, apart from this feature request for the future, really time for a 6.0.3 or 6.1 update...! :smileycool:

[ChipMcK]

Placement of icons/badges on the MenuBar  is controlled by Apple.

There is no api today for VMware to utilize.

Suggest you submit FeedBack to Apple.

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

ChipMcK wrote: Placement of icons/badges on the MenuBar  is controlled by Apple.

There is no api today for VMware to utilize.

Suggest you submit FeedBack to Apple.

While that might be true to some degree nonetheless an App that is properly written can be moved via Command-Click-Drag just like the OS X System App Icons in the Menu Bar.  I know this because I currently have and have had Apps that while they by default would normally load to the left of OS X System App Icons like all non OS X System Apps Icons do in the order they'er loaded being the latest to the far left, nonetheless I can use Command-Click-Drag to change the location.

So, because it can be done I'm going to assume there is an API and I'm further going to assume that if other software manufactures can do it then so can VMware with VMware Fusion and no need to submit feedback to Apple (although not saying not to give Apple feedback)!

BTW The current App I use to arrange non OS X System Apps Icons in the Menu Bar via Command-Click-Drag like the OS X System Apps Icons is Bartender.

[SvenGus]

Bartender is certainly an option; but it should be possible to do this also without third party apps: for example, the utility XMenu (an app, not a menu extra: exactly as the Fusion Applications menu) lives in the menu bar and by default has its menu to the right (between the Spotlight and Notifications icons), but there is also an option in its preferences to put the menu to the left (before the other menu items); so, if such a little utility is capable of this, even more should the VMware Fusion Applications menu!

[SvenGus]

In XMenu 1.9.6 (previously, I referred to the App Store version, still at 1.9.4), the default position is - even better! - to the left of both the Spotlight and Notifcations icons (see pictures below: XMenu is the icon with an applications-like A😞 anyway, it would probably be easy to add a similar behavior also to the Fusion Applications menu...

[WoodyZ]

I was running 1.9.5 and while no functional difference on icon placement in 1.9.6 one only has two choices, default between Spotlight and Messages or check the "To the left of the menu extras" preference.  IMO all apps that can place themselves in the menu bar should be able to Command-Click-Drag like the OS X System Apps Icons and their position maintained between reboots.  Since only some of the non OS X System Apps Icons were able to do this that is one of the reasons I choose to use Bartender.

[SvenGus]

I deleted the previous preferences, so probably this explains the default icon placement to the left of both Spotlight and Messages in 1.9.6.

... But is it really possible, as you said, to enable menu extra-like behavior (i.e., command-click-drag) also for apps that aren't Apple menu extras? I mean, without third party apps like Bartender.

(For example, none of the menu bar apps to the left of the AppleScript menu extra in the screenshots before seem to support this feature...)

If possible, that would of course be the best solution (place it where you want); otherwise, XMenu-like options would anyway certainly be better than today's non-options...

[WoodyZ]

I deleted the previous preferences, so probably this explains the default icon placement to the left of both Spotlight and Messages in 1.9.6.

Interesting, I too deleted the com.devon-technologies.XMenu.plist file and it placed it between the two.  I'm running Mountain Lion, are you running Mavericks?

... But is it really possible, as you said, to enable menu extra-like behavior (i.e., command-click-drag) also for apps that aren't Apple menu extras? I mean, without third party apps like Bartender.

(For example, none of the menu bar apps to the left of the AppleScript menu extra in the screenshots before seem to support this feature...)

Yes it's true some non OS X System Apps Icons in the menu bar have the same behavior as the OS X System Apps Icons in the menu bar so it is definitely a programable option and (for me anyway), Command-Click-Drag is the preferred behavior for all objects in the menu bar.  Bartender has more features then I use and I'd prefer $5 just to rearrange the menu bar vs $15 for all the bells and whistles.  I'm just glad someone was as annoyed with the placement and created an app to handle it.  My Objective-C programming skills are novice at best.

If possible, that would of course be the best solution (place it where you want); otherwise, XMenu-like options would anyway certainly be better than today's non-options...

Yes, having any options vs you get what to got is always a better choice!

[SvenGus]

I'm running Mavericks, 10.9.2.

... BTW, the Fusion Applications menu could perhaps be made more visible also by making it (optionally) colored, similarly to the Parallels Desktop menu item visible in Coherence mode (which, when invoked, always occupies the first position to the left of the "real" Apple menu extras: but that's of course a different situation, compared to the Fusion menu, which is always present from login onwards, and thus with a non-controllable position, at least for now).