So, anyone else tried VMWF 2.0b1?
I'm a registered buy of VMWF 1.1, but it's sat on my shelf basically since I bought it and I've used my *cough*extendedtrial*cough* of Parallels instead.
I had been interested in giving it another shot and tried the new 2.0 beta. I bought VMWF because I believed that even though Parallels was ahead of the game right now, that VMW would really whip Fusion 2 into shape to compete.
Here's the list of show stoppers that will keep me on Parallels for the time being:
1) Parallels maps your Windows 'My Documents' and 'Desktop' folder to your OS X profile, meaning you manage one set of them rather than two. Not in Fusion.
2) VMWare continues to ignore the cries for shared applications. This is where you have a word document on your OS X desktop, and you double-click it to open in finder, and you can choose to have it open in Word for Windows or Word for OS X, or vice-versa.
This is how you have to open a Word file on your OS X desktop in Fusion:
A)Start Word for Windows in fusion
B) Navigate to the file through the 'Shared Folders' to select and open it.
This is how you do it in Parallels:
A) Double-click the file.
Thats 100% more steps in Fusion!!!
I saw some talk on this on the VMWare Beta boards, the main consensus is that VMW is aware of the want, but are concerned about security. HHHEEEEELLLLOOOOOOOO!!! Parallels has had this feature since v3 in June 2007. Are you telling me it's a year later and you can't replicate this feature? Are people really that concerned with a Windows virus telling your machine to run OS X Terminal to delete your hard drive? Am I the only one who keeps important files on a USB drive hardly ever attached to my machine? Am I making any sense whatsoever at this point?!?!
3) Dual-core performance continues to make my VM's run slower. This is supposed to be a bg feature of Fusion over Parallels. However, every time I tick that '2 Virtual Processors' radio button, my VM slows down by about 20%. W. T. F.
4) Gaming + Resolution. Suppose you're running Windows in full-screen mode in Parallels. You start a game, like RA2, whose max resolution is 1024x768. In Fusion, you play in a small 1024x768 box. The problem is worse on older games, whose max resolution may be 640x480. In Parallels, the game is fullscreened to take up the most real estate... Sure, it may not look pretty because of older graphics being blown up to 4X their resolution, but it beats having to squint.
Having said that, I do like the UI of Fusion better than Parallels. For me, however, Fusion is still lagging behind quite significantly in terms of usability. People commonly ask me, because I'm in charge of IT at my company, which to buy for their Mac. I continuously support Parallels as a buying suggestion and see no reason to change that recommendation unless VMW adds a bucket full of features in 2.0b2.
Anyone else used 2.0b1 and have thoughts?
I'm a registered buy of VMWF 1.1, but it's sat on my shelf basically since I bought it and I've used my *cough*extendedtrial*cough* of Parallels instead.
I had been interested in giving it another shot and tried the new 2.0 beta. I bought VMWF because I believed that even though Parallels was ahead of the game right now, that VMW would really whip Fusion 2 into shape to compete.
Here's the list of show stoppers that will keep me on Parallels for the time being:
1) Parallels maps your Windows 'My Documents' and 'Desktop' folder to your OS X profile, meaning you manage one set of them rather than two. Not in Fusion.
2) VMWare continues to ignore the cries for shared applications. This is where you have a word document on your OS X desktop, and you double-click it to open in finder, and you can choose to have it open in Word for Windows or Word for OS X, or vice-versa.
This is how you have to open a Word file on your OS X desktop in Fusion:
A)Start Word for Windows in fusion
B) Navigate to the file through the 'Shared Folders' to select and open it.
This is how you do it in Parallels:
A) Double-click the file.
Thats 100% more steps in Fusion!!!
I saw some talk on this on the VMWare Beta boards, the main consensus is that VMW is aware of the want, but are concerned about security. HHHEEEEELLLLOOOOOOOO!!! Parallels has had this feature since v3 in June 2007. Are you telling me it's a year later and you can't replicate this feature? Are people really that concerned with a Windows virus telling your machine to run OS X Terminal to delete your hard drive? Am I the only one who keeps important files on a USB drive hardly ever attached to my machine? Am I making any sense whatsoever at this point?!?!
3) Dual-core performance continues to make my VM's run slower. This is supposed to be a bg feature of Fusion over Parallels. However, every time I tick that '2 Virtual Processors' radio button, my VM slows down by about 20%. W. T. F.
4) Gaming + Resolution. Suppose you're running Windows in full-screen mode in Parallels. You start a game, like RA2, whose max resolution is 1024x768. In Fusion, you play in a small 1024x768 box. The problem is worse on older games, whose max resolution may be 640x480. In Parallels, the game is fullscreened to take up the most real estate... Sure, it may not look pretty because of older graphics being blown up to 4X their resolution, but it beats having to squint.
Having said that, I do like the UI of Fusion better than Parallels. For me, however, Fusion is still lagging behind quite significantly in terms of usability. People commonly ask me, because I'm in charge of IT at my company, which to buy for their Mac. I continuously support Parallels as a buying suggestion and see no reason to change that recommendation unless VMW adds a bucket full of features in 2.0b2.
Anyone else used 2.0b1 and have thoughts?
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