Odd issues with Virtue Desktop Manager and Fast-OS Switching

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by syphon, Jun 20, 2006.

  1. syphon

    syphon Bit poster

    Messages:
    7
    Hey guys,

    I'm using Virtue Desktop Manager to switch between OSX and WinXP (my guest OS). I'm using the Final build, and things work great... for the most part :)

    I have Virtue Desktop Manager running... and WinXP (via parallels) is running in full screen on one of the desktops. Switching TO my WinXP desktop works great. If i switch FROM the WinXP desktop back to another one, something weird happens.

    If the desktop I switch back to doesn't have any windows open... then the desktop appears blank. Neither the Dock nor the Menu Bar appear. The only thing that appears is my Desktop-Wallpaper and any icons I have on the desktop. Once I click on the desktop (to bring the focus to it) everything appears.

    If the desktop I switch to DOES have a window open, it switches just fine. Another oddity is that if I close that window, the desktop manager automatically sends me back to my WinXP desktop.

    Here are some repro steps:
    1. Ensure that you have Virtue Desktop Manager running. Also ensure that Parallels is running a guest os (WinXP) on a seperate Desktop, and then open a System Preferences window on another desktop.
    2. Using Desktop Manager, switch to the WinXP desktop.
    3. Switch back to the OSX Desktop (the one with System Preferences open)
    4. Note that everything appeared on the OSX Desktop. Now close the System Preferences window.
    5. At this point, note that you've automatically jumped back to the WinXP desktop.
    6. Switch back to the OSX desktop
    7. Note that the Dock and Menu Bar do not appear.


    This bug is in a gray area, because it occurs with both Parallels and Virtue running. I'm not sure exactly whom to report this to, so I hope this is a good place.
     
  2. syphon

    syphon Bit poster

    Messages:
    7
    Has anyone looked at this?

    I bought and am using the latest version (build 1848) and am still seeing this error. Whenever I switch from a full-screen Guest OS Desktop back to my native OS Desktop, it displays incorrectly.
     
  3. VTMac

    VTMac Pro

    Messages:
    340
    I can tell you I have the same setup and don't have the problem on my MBP.
     
  4. seven

    seven Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    I am having exactly the same problem. Plus, another problem on top of it (with/without parallels) is that "text overlay" is sometimes (rather often) not displayed when changing desktops. To get it displayed, I had to change the destop to another back and forth couple times until it is displayed.
     
  5. syphon

    syphon Bit poster

    Messages:
    7
    I understand that this is a bit of a "gray area" between Parallels and Virtue, but I'd hoped at least SOMEONE would respond. :(
     
  6. BrentB

    BrentB Member

    Messages:
    60
    I see this occasionally, but clicking anywhere on the desktop brings the dock/menubar "back".
     
  7. ScottTFrazer

    ScottTFrazer Junior Member

    Messages:
    15
    When you close the systems preferences panel, it only jumps you over to the WinXP desktop if you've checked the "change desktop to show focused application" box under "Application" in the VirtueDesktops preferences. If you uncheck that box, the desktop will stay on the OS X desktop, but the menubar and dock will disappear.

    When you close the system preferences, the Parallels application is indeed focused, but the WinXP VM "window" (even though it's full screen it still has a window) hasn't actually received focus yet. If you click anywhere in the VM and then switch back to the OS X desktop, the problem doesn't reproduce. If you change back to the OS X desktop wthout clicking, the problem reproduces, but you can fix it by just clicking on the OS X desktop (or any other application)

    It's possible that Parallels could fix this by causing the VM window to get focus whenever the app gets focus, but I could also see this causing problems if you've got more than one VM window running inside the application.
     

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