virtualbox.org

I have been loving VirtualBox, but the latest release has a very irritating 'feature'. Here is my configuration:

- Hosting on MacPro 17" (16 Gb w/512 SSD)
- Guest OS is Windows 7 64 bit
- 2 External monitors connected via thunderbolt -> VGA adapters

Using 4.3.8, I was able to dedicate my 2 external monitors to the Windows Guest in Full Screen mode and keep my laptop display for the Mac. I would display iPhone emulators and other Mac apps the laptop screen while at the same time viewing windows items on the external monitors. This was very convenient for me.

I just installed 4.3.10 this morning and now when I put the Windows guest into full screen mode, it blanks out the laptop display (which is not assigned to be used by the guest). The Mac dock will appear if I hover over the bottom of the laptop's screen, but if I click on anything, the Windows guest minimizes. So I can no longer have my Windows guest active while seeing something on my Mac's screen as well (unless I switch to seamless or scaled mode).

Is there anyway to make 4.3.10 work like the previous version in Full Screen mode in this regard?

I don't know if it will help because I only have one monitor per machine but, did you try changing the settings in your Mac's System Preferences>Mission Control?

Thanks
I turned on the "Displays have separate Spaces" option in Mission Control and that did help. There are some quirks with that setup, but I think I can live with them. For instance, if I drag a Mac application onto an external monitor, the 'space' flips to Mac mode and hides the Windows screen on that monitor. I have to bring up the VirtualBox main window and click 'Show' on that VM to get it back.

I had turned that off previously because that option left a blank space at the top of each external window in prior versions of VirtualBox. They seem to have fixed that issue.

you're welcome. it's not surprising I suppose one fix affects something else. glad it works well enough for now.