Parallels Coherence - Multiple Monitors with Different Resolutions?

Works for my needs now. But It would be nice if the start bar did not show across both screens.

 

I have basically the same setup - 2.6GHz MacBook Pro (1440x900) and an external 1680x1050 display. I found the same problem - until I switched the monitor arrangement so that the external display became the primary Mac OS X display (when connected). In the Display Preferences >> Arrangement, drag the menu bar indicator onto the external display. With build 4.0.3810 in coherence mode, the "Windows" display still appears as one, large monitor, but now it will be the height of the external display. You need to fiddle with window positioning so that you don't have your secondary windows cut off on the laptop display (adjust the display arrangement) to line up at the top, bottom or whichever way works best for you). The big difference with .3810, though, is that now when you maximize one of the Windows windows, it only maximizes on one of the displays, instead of spanning both - a very big improvement. This is still not the ideal of having Windows see two, distinct monitors, but at least it is progress!

I, like the rest of us here, eagerly await the full, multi-display support!

2.6GHz MacBook Pro/200GB 7200 rpm/4GB RAM/OS X 10.5.6/Win XP Pro SP3 virtual machine

 

It is very strange, could you please create ticket in support we can check it

 

Any info on timeframe? This is show stopper for me and I was really hoping to get proper dual monitor support under v4.0.

 

OK - I opened a support ticket, but as I understand from your previous posts, work is under way to actually update the Parallels video driver to enable Windows to actually see both monitors separately. It seems to me that this issue will not be resolved until that project is completed. How else can Windows adjust to differing display size areas unless it can see and control them separately? This will also likely be the only way to resolve the issue of Windows pop-up messages appearing split between the two screens, since most of them open centered in the Windows primary display.

 

For those needing the exact route to make this change

While in Coherence Mode Click on Virtual Machine > Configure > Highlight Coherence under Features and check mare Use Multiple Displays. Works like a charm, thank you for the new feature.

 

Hello, mgjernes,

Please, let us know the ticket number, please.

 

I don't see how this works like a charm at all? I have a macbook pro along side a 23" apple display which are not at the same height and this feature just screws all the settings. To make it work I have to use the monitor preference to make the bottom of the laptop align with the bottom of the display (where in reality it doesn't). The Windows Xp bar is then along the bottom of the display and steps down along the bottom of the laptop.

When the cursor then migrate from one screen to another it too steps down which is not great.

I've just bought Parallels stupidly not reading up whether this feature had been included - I simply assumed it had.

The Virtual machine should have control over the arrangement of the screens in exactly the same way as the Mac OSX screen preferences.

I use AutoCAD and need the second screen for all the palettes. I'd have to agree with some other posters and say this is a pretty big failure.

Parallels 4.0.3810

 

Same issue as posted before.

Two monitors: 1280x800(macbook) & 1440x900
The resulting MS resolution is 2720x727 (screenshot)

At first the taskbar stretched across the larger montior right through the center, I had to do this to my monitor arrangement to make it stretch across the bottom of both - which is silly. This helps, but windows on the larger monitor can only be 727px tall (not 900).

Of course, the ideal would be MS seeing two different monitors at two different resolutions. As it is now, the taskbar on the second monitor is pointless/annoying, if I take a window from the left>right, it remains on the far left. With separate monitors one could install something like UltraMon and have a separate taskbar for each monitor. I prefer having the taskbar on one monitor and the dock on another, which is why I don't currently use this feature.

Looking forward to future updates. Appreciate the replies. Thanks.

 

Seriously?

It's been nearly a year sense this thread (and others like it) have been opened.

Many Parallels users have switched away due to this "bug" and I personally am quite upset that I bought the product that is so obviously lacking a very important feature. A year of "we are working in this direction" is obscene. Apple can have a new OS in the time you've been "working in this direction". Can Parallels please post a blog entry with some detail on how they plan to remedy this, what the status of this feature is etc? We as your paying customers have a right to know what's going on when a product we buy doesn't work as expected.

 

Anyone else have issues w/the taskbar going across both screens and not displaying correctly?

Can we get a feature that says which monitor the taskbar should live on? similar to when you're configuring in OS X

 

This thread is nearly 2 years old asking that same question. The answer is basically no, the multiple monitor option in Parallels is a waste of time, and will slow everything down anyway.

I'm gutted I bought the software now, as it does not do what it says on the tin!

I would suggest submitting a support 'ticket' as the more of these which are sent, the more likely Parallels will address it in a future update.

 

Does anyone even work here?

Why is this not priority # 1 for you? I purchased your software based on your feature set, one of them being multi-monitor support. But you don't REALLY have this , do you. Every time I have a dialogue box pop up I have to manually move it to one of the monitors so I can read it (which is quite often). When I start applications, usually they start too high on the monitor and I have to right click on the taskbar and manually move it down so I can see it. The start bar is stretched across both monitors and too low on the 2nd so anytime I need to interact with one of the icons, I need to go to window mode to interact with it.

Why are you leaving the installed base in the dark about this? Do you not care?

 

Could you please make this work? I just can't use dual-monitors, as my Windows windows always open out of reach on the smaller monitor. This is annoying!

 

Even if you use 2 equal screens: Most popup dialogs appear in the middle half on screen 1, half on screen 2 which makes it necessary to move the dialog to read or confirm it. This is very annoying ...

I personally use the Window mode only, since this make Coherence unusable for me.



-- Harald

 

Any word on this feature yet?

I too would like to see multiple displays supported where my Windows running in Coherence Mode will treat another display as another display instead of an extension of the current "desktop" it is running in.

I am running version 4.0.3846

 

another vote for improved dual monitor support. it's not even worth it for me to use Parallels anymore until this happens.

 

So it looks like multi-monitor support in Parallels hasn't really improved in the year + since I started this thread. Bummer.

I'd switch back to Parallels in a heartbeat if it would treat each monitor separately. Who knows, maybe in Parallels 5?

 

I see that multi-monitor support has been "enhanced" in the Parallels 5 feature list. Can anyone provide any info on this?

 

I'm wondering the same thing but can't seem to find the details anywhere... can someone please respond?