In my office, I display both the VM and host OS on a 27" Apple MiniDisplayPort Cinema Display with the laptop's lid closed, using an external Apple USB keyboard and BlueTooth Magic Mouse.
I have a remote office where I'd like more screen real estate than is provided by the 15" laptop screen. I've not been able to figure out how to do this. Obstacles I've seen so far:
- Although I can create an extended desktop for the Mac OS, so windows within the Mac OS (including Mac OS windows from Fusion itself) can be on one or the other monitor or even bridge across both displays, the Mac OS window that houses my Windows 7 VM is trapped within the laptop's screen that shows the Mac OS menubar. Perhaps this can be fixed using "Spaces" in the Mac OS; I've not tried that yet.
- In Fusion, toggling the radio button in <Virtual Machine>Settings>Display> seems to have no impact on either display. The Dell Monitor is limited by my connection (Thunderbolt to VGA) to a maximum 1440 X 900, which means even if I could get Win 7 VM windows to display there, I'd not have any more screen real estate to play with.
I'm not even sure where to start. Options might include figuring out how to use "spaces," but I don't think that would help me get more screen real estate on the Dell Monitor. I've been a Mac guy since 1984, so I don't know if that's because I'm using an Apple Thunderbot to VGA adapter (the monitor itself can do DVI; I have no idea whether that permits it to show more pixels).
Another option might be to upgrade my host OS to Mavericks and Fusion to Fusion 6, but I don't know whether that improves multiple monitor support.
A third option would be to get a higher resolution Apple Display as my second monitor for my remote office, but that would be ridiculously expensive for the number of times I'm here in this remote office.
I'd be grateful for answers or even pointers to answers.
Thanks so much,
Jim Robertson