Parallels Stealing Focus, Switching Spaces

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Dogfish Jones

Junior Member
Using build 5582, and for the most part love it.

However, every so often the Space automatically switches to Parallels. I'm running Parallels in Coherence Mode, set in Space 3. Sometimes there is a popup on that screen, sometimes not. Most often, I can't figure out why it switched.

It would be nice if Parallels would bounce the icon in the Dock when there is an "event" in the VM instead of forcing a Space switch. Maybe this could be a configurable option?

I'm also looking forward to the day when we can spread VM apps across Spaces. That'll be sweet.
 
I agree that the switching spaces automatically is very very annoying. If you guys get a chance to make a fix to this, it would be awesome!
 
PLEASE! This is driving me frigging nuts. If this isn't fixed I will have to try VMware. I have to run outlook and it seems to want to grab focus every time a new email comes in, plus other random times that I haven't been able to identify.
 
Not a solution, but maybe a temporary workaround until this is fixed...

If you are running Parallels VM in its own space, run it in Windowed mode with a large window.
 
Aye. I'll try the windowed work around, but I only have 900 vertical pixels, and an extra title bar is irritating, but it's better than switching spaces while monitoring a log. I'll miss the screen real-estate, but it will keep me from bashing my head through my LCD. Thanks for the tip.

I'll give $10 to the parallels developer that fixes it!
 
This is a one month old issue and we still don't have a workaround? This sort of leaves parallels broken for me. Can anyone help us out?
 
This really has to get fixed. The operating disruption is more than annoying when you're trying to work and it just seems to randomly switch on you. I just had it switch me 3 times while starting the virtual machine. I know it takes a minute or two which is just fine, but constantly disrupting what I'm doing while it starts is way beyond annoying.

Does anyone know if VMWare does the same thing?
 
I turned spaces off as I can't use the command+enter as a switch spaces (single handed) and can't lose command+arrows function on my limited MBP keyboard.

But, I think I know why the stealing focus is happening in coherence based upon my experience with what happens on a single desktop:

Parallels makes the windows application in coherence have the windows cursor when hovering over the top with the mouse and gives it back to the mac when it leaves the windows space. When you have an application overlayed (virtually via spaces or acutally on a single desktop) and the mac cursor position corresponds geographically with a hotspot on the windows application (like makes a little bubble pop up, or gives a windows field focus) the coherence mode automatically puts the windows app up the uppermost layer (which switches focus in spaces to a new desktop).

I think this might be happening because in leopard you can scroll through a window with the mouse, even if the windows doesn't have focus (v. useful when comparing document contents) so there are levels of focus and an ability for an unfocused window to still do stuff. I don't remember being able to do this in tiger.

The issue that needs to be addressed then, is that - in coherence - when a windows application is not focused, then the windows cursor should be completely restricted from interacting with the windows application until true-focus is regained.

just my 2cents worth, but I think I'm right.

you guys agree?
 
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It sounds feasible. Adium is dealing with a similar issue, where if you mouse over the screen coordinates of a buddy, however on a different space, regardless of a window covering it, the buddy info will pop up. Kinda interesting to see my friend Mike's flux capacitor icon hovering over firefox...

This may have something to do with spaces not truley being different desktops, but Leo is just manipulating the windows on the desktop, similar to Microsoft's MSVDM. Again, I'm not an apple developer, so it's possible I'm off my rocker... There must be some way an application can ask kindly what space it's on, what space the machine is currently viewing, and have some logic surrounding that...
 
Any updates/work around for this?

I keep a Windows VM open all the time because I run Outlook. This happens to me so many times a day and it's driving me crazy.

I believe it even does this some times when I first bring my MacBook out of sleep mode and it's asking for my password.

Very, very irritating.
 
I know it's not always helpful when people post 'not happening to me...' but after over 6 weeks of having the 'send notification to front' box unchecked I've only had office 2007 steal focus a few times, and that's been then a java app (ImageJ) is running which notoriously loses focus for any Mac OSX application it shares a space with.

Office 2007 is also on all day and windows are open on my dsktop.

Do you have that setting checking in the VM>>configuration>>coherence panel of the main VM configuration window?
 
I've been battling with this bug for months now. I haven't posted before as it has been covered many times on the forums. I sure hope somebody is working on these focus issues.
 
My nerves are raw!

I have been fighting this problem for months and am getting to the end of my rope! Has anyone received any response from technical support on this issue?
 
I am also getting very frustrated by this problem.

I think Edd is right, the hotspots are throwing it off, sometimes I have seen it get caught in a 'loop' of switching to and fro between two spaces until I move the mouse off whatever hotspot it is hovered over.
 
It would be nice if the developers would acknowledge the problem and give us some reassurance that they are working on it and a fix is coming!
 
Can you please put here circumstances when it happens, I tried to reproduce situation on 5600, 5608, and was not able?
I need, what else is running along side Parallels Desktop
 
5608 version does steal focus a few annoying times when it starts up and boots into the VM and when it shuts down...both these processes do not need *any* user intervention. I'm using leopard with latest updates installed. I have spaces enabled. I'm running Parallel's on full screen mode and it's assigned to Space 2 on the desktop.

I should tell that I don't run many windows apps that are mentioned here so I haven't encountered focus steals after windows is up & running.

Thanks!
 
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