VMWare Fusion - 2 quick questions!

Hi guys,

Im tempted to give VMWare Fusion a go but i have a couple of quick questions! Firstly, can the XP/Vista virtual machine share files (such as mp3, document and image files) between itsself and the host macos system?

Also, if i plug,say,my usb digital camera in, can both Mac and VMWare virtual machine see the device? What about a printer?

Many thanks guys!

Cheers
Will

 

1) Yes you can share files between the two OSes.

2) Not too sure about this one but I'm pretty sure the answer is yes. Once I've booted into VmWare, I have plugged in my PDA and my cell phone. They're instantly recognized in VmWare. Oddly enough, OS X does not recognize those devices have been connected

 

Ah right - maybe VMWare "hijacks" the USB?

 

for USB device, i think you have to decide either Mac or VMWare to use it at any point of time. While it is visible to Mac/VMWare, it will not be visible/accessible by the other one. Good thing is, you can switch it back and forth.

 

Hi skyjuice thats answered the question time to buy VMWare then i guess! hehe

 

how is this done?

not sure if it's true either

i'm currently using a usb mouse that is usable within both vmware and os x

 

oh right... mmmm, so wot your saying is if you have a Scanner, for example plugged in and VMWare is running, only VMWare will see the scanner and NOT macos, however if you close VMWare down the Scanner will be accessible to MacOS?

I know im fretting over spilt milk, but i use alot of different USB devices during the day and it will be annoying have to close different applications down to use them....

 

For a mouse it's different, but for a device to which you can write data to/from you will only be able to access it in one of the Operating Systems at a time.
The reason for this is simple - to ensure data integrity - and it is not that much of a hassle to change the device from one OS to the other.

 

That makes sense yeh, ill take your word for it - thanks

 

I'm personally don't use any USB printer or scanner, so if they behave the same way as other USB device, I'm not sure. But I do use the USB for my external storage, terminal (for my work), camera and PDA phone. They do behave in that way. Under VMWare, you got to option to choose on connecting/disconnecting a particular USB device, so you can access it via VMWare.

 

oooh

that makes sense

how about a printer per se? can i print within os x and vmware? or do i need to disable the printer in one os first?

 

Printers in VMWare is handled just like external drives. You will have to enable the printer to VMWare and install the appropriate drivers under Windows.
Alternatively, you could enable printer sharing in OS X, and setup a network printer in Windows (which is what I do for both printing and external HDs).
If you use Parallels, the software will do this for you, which will save you a minutes.

 

you can download a free demo on their site, why not try it out?

 

Just had another thought! With the mac superdrive, can XP/Vista see it as a DVDRW drive?

 

yes...........

 

VMWare Fusion has little USB icons on the bottom right border of its window. Each one let's you toggle the device between OSX and the virtual machine without having to close out of VMWare Fusion. There is also an icon to toggle the Superdrive to be used in OSX or in the virtual machine. One of my favorite features about those bottom right icons in VMWare Fusion is its ability to recognize a .ISO file in OSX and have it load as a "disk" in the virtual machine.

To answer the other question, YES, Windows recognizes the Superdrive as a dual-layer burner in VMWare Fusion.