Moody Clouds

New and Improved Features in VMware Fusion 2.0

VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 2 has a large number of enhancements, including:

• Multiple Snapshots
  • Save your virtual machine in any number of states, and return to those states at any time
  • Automatically take snapshots at regular intervals with AutoProtect
• File and URL Sharing
  • Share applications between your Mac and your virtual machines
  • Finder can now open your Mac’s files directly in Windows applications like Microsoft Word and Windows Media Player
  • VMware Fusion can configure virtual machines to open their files in Mac applications like Preview and iTunes
  • Click on a URL in a virtual machine and open it in your favorite Mac browser, or configure your Mac to open its links in a virtual machine
  • Map key folders in Windows Vista and Windows XP (Desktop, My Documents, My Music, My Pictures) to their corresponding Mac folders (Desktop, Documents, Music, and Pictures)
  • Greatly improved reliability of shared folders—now compatible with Microsoft Office and Visual Studio
• Experimental Support for Mac OS X Server Virtual Machines
  • You can create Mac OS X Server 10.5 virtual machines (experimental support). Due to Apple licensing restrictions, the standard edition of Mac OS X 10.5 is not supported in a virtual machine
• Display Improvement
  • Improved 3D support
  • Use 1080p full high definition video in Windows XP or Windows Vista
  • Freely resize your virtual machine�s window and enter and exit Full Screen view while playing games
  • Run Linux applications directly on your Mac�s desktop under Unity view
• UI Improvements
  • The New Virtual Machine Assistant has Linux Easy Install in addition to Windows Easy Install
  • Cut and paste files up to 4 MB, including graphics and styled text
  • Status icons glow when there is activity
  • A screen shot of the last suspended state of a virtual machine is displayed in Quick Look and Cover Flow
  • You can remap keyboard and mouse input
  • Keyboard compatibility between the Mac and the virtual machine is improved
  • The vmrun command line interface is available for scripting
• Broader Hardware and Software Support
  • VMware Fusion supports Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron
  • VMware Fusion supports 64-bit Vista Boot Camp; handles activation for Microsoft Office 2003 and Office 2007
  • Experimental support for 4-way SMP (note: Windows Vista and Windows XP limit themselves to two CPUs)
• Support for Virtual Hard Disks
  • You can mount the virtual disk of a powered-off Windows virtual machine using VMDKMounter (Mac OS X 10.5 or higher)
  • You now have the ability to resize virtual disks

Issues Resolved in VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 2

• Keyboard now works (no more “beep”) when running Quicken, VPN-1 SecureClient, last.fm, Google Earth, and other software
• No longer fails in Unity view when clicking in the top right corner of a window
• Windows task bar now correctly hidden and shown when entering Unity view
• Unity view now works correctly after taking a snapshot
• Importing a Parallels Desktop virtual machine no longer results in an alert about the virtual machine being locked
• Fixed slowdown and system not responding with “SendToVNet mbuf_dup failed” messages in log in Mac OS X 10.5
• Relaxed false positive warnings about Mac OS X running in VMX non-root operation
• Fixed errors when powering on a virtual machine using Mac OS X 10.6 WWDC developer seed

There is a hack to allow you to use Time Machine with a Windows networked share.

From a terminal window type:

defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

Then go to System Preferences, Time Machine and click on Change Disk and you can now select your network share.

There is no silver bullet answer as to why not, its a combination of reasons :-

1. OS X is built on UNIX. UNIX was a multi user system with a security architecture built into it at the beginning. WINDOWS came from a single user architecture with security and multi user capability as an after thought.

2. UNIX had networking built into it from the beginning, again in Windows this was bolted in at a later date.

3. Windows built Internet Explorer into the O/S at a very deep level, and allowed code execution within the browser. In OS X the browser is a completely separate application, its not a integral part of the OS. IMHO, this is the fundamental screw-up Microsoft made, as they created so many hooks into which someone can attack the OS.

4. In earlier Windows everything ran as the system user, so the capability to compromise an entire system was easier. (see reason 1)

5. Microsoft’s backward compatibility mantra doesn’t do them any favours as to run old software they need so many old APIs, all of which can have holes in them.

6. OS X has no registry. IMHO, second fundamental flaw Microsoft made.

7. OS X asks for your password before allowing you to run new software or install something. Not fool proof, but at least fool resistant.

Personally I don’t buy the “lack of market share” reason. Consider that in pre OS X days Macs did have viruses. Also interesting, that at that stage Macs were suffering point 1 & 2.

No system is totally safe, but Macs have a lot of architecture working in their favor.

Sources: SilverMac

from WSJ’s China Journal
On July 19th, Apple is opening its first retail store in China in Beijing’s Sanlitun entertainment district. The store opens at 10 a.m. local time.

“This is the first of many stores we will open in China,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of retail, in remarks at the store. He later added that Apple will open stores “in Beijing, in Shanghai and beyond,” and confirmed that another store will open in Beijing’s Qianmen area, a shopping street south of Tiananmen Square that has been renovated ahead of the Olympic Games, which begin next month.

The store carries the same design as Apple’s other retail stores but with a multilingual Genius bar. Since Apple has not yet negotiated a distribution deal with Chinese carriers, the iPhone will not be available initially. Apple’s presence in China was reportedly minimal before the iPod’s introduction about 5 years ago, but Apple appears to be continuing to expand their international retail push. This will be their 219th retail store worldwide.

The Wall Street Journal’s China Journal provides photos from the new store.