PowerPoint in WVPC

Running Office 2007 <gag> in Windows 7 x64, so loaded Office 2003 in a
WVPC VM as I still need to support and develop for that platform as
well.

All is good except... When I flick PPT into presentation mode, it
centers the show smackdab in the middle of the virtual display -- that
is, spread across both displays and split down the middle.

Anyone know of anyway to force it to use one or the other, as it does
when it's installed native?

Thanks... Karl

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

Karl E. Peterson wrote:
> Running Office 2007 <gag> in Windows 7 x64, so loaded Office 2003 in a WVPC
> VM as I still need to support and develop for that platform as well.
>
> All is good except... When I flick PPT into presentation mode, it centers
> the show smackdab in the middle of the virtual display -- that is, spread
> across both physical displays and split down the middle.
>
> Anyone know of anyway to force it to use one or the other, as it does when
> it's installed native?

Seeing no response in the VirtualPC group, I'm now thinking I should've
also cross-posted over into a PowerPoint group as well.

For the PowerPoint folks: WVPC is "Windows Virtual PC" which allows
virtual XP machines to be setup in Windows 7. In this case, PPT2003 is
being run "seemlessly", making it appear that it's running as an
installed app in the Win7 install, rather than within the XP VM.

Any thoughts or ideas or questions?

Thanks... Karl

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

Steve Rindsberg wrote:
> In article <#>, Karl E. Peterson wrote:
>> Karl E. Peterson wrote:
>>> Running Office 2007 <gag> in Windows 7 x64, so loaded Office 2003 in a WVPC
>>> VM as I still need to support and develop for that platform as well.
>>>
>>> All is good except... When I flick PPT into presentation mode, it centers
>>> the show smackdab in the middle of the virtual display -- that is, spread
>>> across both physical displays and split down the middle.
>>>
>>> Anyone know of anyway to force it to use one or the other, as it does when
>>> it's installed native?
>>
>> Seeing no response in the VirtualPC group, I'm now thinking I should've
>> also cross-posted over into a PowerPoint group as well.
>>
>> For the PowerPoint folks: WVPC is "Windows Virtual PC" which allows
>> virtual XP machines to be setup in Windows 7. In this case, PPT2003 is
>> being run "seemlessly", making it appear that it's running as an
>> installed app in the Win7 install, rather than within the XP VM.
>
> "seemlessly"? Shouldn't that be "shamelessly"? Or maybe "seamlessly".
> Yeah. That's the ticket. Sans Seams.

Heh, well, sometimes it seems to work better than others?

> So we try this on for size: in seamless mode, do you/can you set the display
> resolution of the virtual machine?

No. It just seems to use the entire virtual screen coordinates, not
differentiating between individual monitors.

As I google about more and more, it's starting to seem like a "known
limitation/feature." For example:

"Virtual application windows being centered across two monitors is a
known limitation. The application opens in span mode and treats the 2
monitors as 1 big screen, hence the centering."
~
http://blogs.technet.com/windows_vpc...irtual-pc.aspx

(I can't tell if that's an official MSFT mouth speaking, there, or
not?)

> I'm thinking that there might be some
> kind of disconnect between the VM's display rez and the rez of the physical
> machine hosting it. What happens if you set the two to match? Assuming
> that's possible.

These things are weird. They operate just as though they are installed
on the host. Other than having the whole XP theme thing going on, with
nary a sign of Aero, of course.

Thanks... Karl

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

Steve Rindsberg wrote:
> In article <#>, Karl E. Peterson wrote:
>> Steve Rindsberg wrote:
>>> In article <#>, Karl E. Peterson wrote:
>>>> Karl E. Peterson wrote:
>>>>> Running Office 2007 <gag> in Windows 7 x64, so loaded Office 2003 in a
>>>>> WVPC VM as I still need to support and develop for that platform as
>>>>> well.
>>>>>
>>>>> All is good except... When I flick PPT into presentation mode, it
>>>>> centers the show smackdab in the middle of the virtual display -- that
>>>>> is, spread across both physical displays and split down the middle.
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyone know of anyway to force it to use one or the other, as it does
>>>>> when it's installed native?
>>>>
>>>> Seeing no response in the VirtualPC group, I'm now thinking I should've
>>>> also cross-posted over into a PowerPoint group as well.
>>>>
>>>> For the PowerPoint folks: WVPC is "Windows Virtual PC" which allows
>>>> virtual XP machines to be setup in Windows 7. In this case, PPT2003 is
>>>> being run "seemlessly", making it appear that it's running as an
>>>> installed app in the Win7 install, rather than within the XP VM.
>>>
>>> "seemlessly"? Shouldn't that be "shamelessly"? Or maybe "seamlessly".
>>> Yeah. That's the ticket. Sans Seams.
>>
>> Heh, well, sometimes it seems to work better than others?
>>
>>> So we try this on for size: in seamless mode, do you/can you set the
>>> display resolution of the virtual machine?
>>
>> No. It just seems to use the entire virtual screen coordinates, not
>> differentiating between individual monitors.
>>
>> As I google about more and more, it's starting to seem like a "known
>> limitation/feature." For example:
>>
>> "Virtual application windows being centered across two monitors is a
>> known limitation. The application opens in span mode and treats the 2
>> monitors as 1 big screen, hence the centering."
>> ~
>> http://blogs.technet.com/windows_vpc...irtual-pc.aspx
>>
>> (I can't tell if that's an official MSFT mouth speaking, there, or
>> not?)
>>
>>> I'm thinking that there might be some
>>> kind of disconnect between the VM's display rez and the rez of the
>>> physical machine hosting it. What happens if you set the two to match?
>>> Assuming that's possible.
>>
>> These things are weird. They operate just as though they are installed
>> on the host. Other than having the whole XP theme thing going on, with
>> nary a sign of Aero, of course.
>
> Hm. Use VMWare instead? ;-)

Does it have the seamless operation?

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

>> Hm. Use VMWare instead? ;-)
>
> Does it have the seamless operation?

Not quite as good as XP Mode -- it's called Unity, and it's also pretty
slow. (it uses screen scraping rather than RDP)

--
Bob Comer

Steve Rindsberg wrote:
> [snippedy-doodah snippedy-yay]
>
>>> Hm. Use VMWare instead? ;-)
>>
>> Does it have the seamless operation?
>
> Unless you beat it pretty good, it's not even aware of the extended desktop.
> The copy of Windows running inside it is restricted to the VMware window
> (which can be full screen on one or another of the monitors). For example,
> if you doubleclick the title bar of the VMWare app, it expands to fill
> whichever monitor it's *mostly* on; it doesn't try to fill both monitors
> (ie, the expanded desktop). If you want it to do that, you'd make the app
> less than maximized then manually drag and size it to the desired
> shape/size.

Okay, that sounds a whole like running ordinary VirtualPC VMs. They've
actually done something kind of crazy with what they now call "Windows
Virtual PC" that can be added onto non-consumer versions of Windows 7.
It makes it appear the software running in an XP VM is actually running
on Windows 7. But it fails to pass along the separate monitor
information. It's very cool, and at times very frustrating. Funny how
that goes, huh?

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

Robert Comer wrote:
>>> Hm. Use VMWare instead? ;-)
>>
>> Does it have the seamless operation?
>
> Not quite as good as XP Mode -- it's called Unity, and it's also pretty slow.
> (it uses screen scraping rather than RDP)

Okay, that's good to know. So we're left just waiting for MSFT to
accurately pass the monitor metrics through to the guest VM, then. :-(

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

> Okay, that's good to know. So we're left just waiting for MSFT to
> accurately pass the monitor metrics through to the guest VM, then. :-(

I wouldn't know, I never use extended desktop like that, however I don't
think it's passing parameter that's the problem, it's probably the drawing
technology. In VPC2007 it was a directdraw problem, but I don't know about
WVPC.

--
Bob Comer

"Karl E. Peterson" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Robert Comer wrote:
>>>> Hm. Use VMWare instead? ;-)
>>>
>>> Does it have the seamless operation?
>>
>> Not quite as good as XP Mode -- it's called Unity, and it's also pretty
>> slow. (it uses screen scraping rather than RDP)
>
> Okay, that's good to know. So we're left just waiting for MSFT to
> accurately pass the monitor metrics through to the guest VM, then. :-(
>
> --
> .NET: It's About Trust!
> http://vfred.mvps.org
>
>

Steve Rindsberg wrote:
> In article <>, Karl E. Peterson wrote:
>> Steve Rindsberg wrote:
>>> [snippedy-doodah snippedy-yay]
>>>
>>>>> Hm. Use VMWare instead? ;-)
>>>>
>>>> Does it have the seamless operation?
>>>
>>> Unless you beat it pretty good, it's not even aware of the extended
>>> desktop. The copy of Windows running inside it is restricted to the
>>> VMware window (which can be full screen on one or another of the
>>> monitors). For example, if you doubleclick the title bar of the VMWare
>>> app, it expands to fill whichever monitor it's *mostly* on; it doesn't
>>> try to fill both monitors (ie, the expanded desktop). If you want it to
>>> do that, you'd make the app less than maximized then manually drag and
>>> size it to the desired shape/size.
>>
>> Okay, that sounds a whole like running ordinary VirtualPC VMs. They've
>> actually done something kind of crazy with what they now call "Windows
>> Virtual PC" that can be added onto non-consumer versions of Windows 7.
>> It makes it appear the software running in an XP VM is actually running
>> on Windows 7. But it fails to pass along the separate monitor
>> information. It's very cool, and at times very frustrating. Funny how
>> that goes, huh?
>
> AKA Version 1 bug? ;-)

I'd like to think, yeah. But given the difficulty I've had describing
it, I wonder if it's risen to anyone's attention yet.

> Been meaning to ask, though: got URL? Where do you download this pup?

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/

Once you get an "XP Mode" VM running, anything you put in the "All
Users" start menu will show up in your host Windows 7 start menu, under
the VirtualPC group, and can be fired up as you would any other
"native" application. If the VM isn't already running, that starts up
(in the background, unseen) first. The "seamless" app just runs as
would any other, except that it's XP themed rather than all Aero'd out.
<g>

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org

Robert Comer wrote:
>> Okay, that's good to know. So we're left just waiting for MSFT to
>> accurately pass the monitor metrics through to the guest VM, then. :-(
>
> I wouldn't know, I never use extended desktop like that, however I don't
> think it's passing parameter that's the problem, it's probably the drawing
> technology. In VPC2007 it was a directdraw problem, but I don't know about
> WVPC.

I could find out definitely enough, I guess, by just writing up a quick
little monitor enumeration applet and running it in that mode. But I
think, from the time I've spent working with the monitor API, that it's
pretty clear what's happening. The seamless apps are simply being told
there's one monitor, and its dimensions are given as that of the entire
virtual monitor which is the accumulamulated area of all physical
monitors combined.

IOW, say you have two monitors, side by side. Both running at
1280x1024, with the 0,0 point at the upper-left of monitor 1, which is
on the left. The coordinate space for the twp physical displays would
be something like:

0,0 1279,0 1280,0 2559,0

*1* *2*

0,1023 1279,1023 1280,1023 2559,1023

(Hope you have a fixed-width font! <g>)

But monitor "0" is the virtual display, that covers the whole thing.
It's coordinates would be:

0,0 2559,0

*0*

0,1023 2559,1023

That's the one being given to the seamless apps, when they inquire
about monitor dimensions. This also explains why their popup dialogs
(msgbox's, etc) so often appear split between the two monitors.
They're simply centering themselves on what they see as "the" monitor.

--
..NET: It's About Trust!
http://vfred.mvps.org