PD13 Multiple Monitors Still a Problem

I wanted to create a new thread with PD13 in the title. It may better get some attention from the Parallels people to fix this unacceptable shortcoming.

Link to prior thread: https://forum.parallels.com/threads/pd12-messes-up-multiple-monitors.337791/

 

I upgraded to PD12 and then had to downgrade back to 11 to get the correct multiple monitor behaviour.
Now PD13 is out and my paid for copy of PD12 was never used...
I've been happily using parallels for over a decade, however this problem is going to push me to switch to another solution unfortunately.

 

In the same boat as everyone else where we've stuck with PD11 up to this point (despite shared folders breaking in the last couple of months Windows 10 Insider builds). I actually went ahead and installed PD13 today, just to take another look at the situation as i pretty much would have refused to believe that multi monitor support was still completely broken at this point without seeing it with my own eyes, but sure enough, yup.. its still completely unworkable no matter what options i choose if i want to switch back and forth between OS X and Windows in fullscreen over two displays.

Absolutely bizarre that Parallels can't see this as an issue and add back in the option to use it the way it works in PD11.

 

Yup. Classic sign of a company who loses sight of their loyal customer base.

 

Me too - It seems I'm just repeating previous comments, but, hello! How can this be ignored, I am still on PD11 because of this. PD11 works exactly as required but why should I pay for a subscription when the core software is unusable. I'll be marching with my chequebook to another vendor and I imagine I'm not the only one if this continues.

Common parallels get this working and stop saying it's Apple OS to blame. Clearly there is a workaround which we could use - even add a health warning to it if Apple change the undocumented fix you have in place.

 

I got an email from Parallels today announcing PD 13. I'd love to upgrade, but I'm with many others who are stuck in PD 11 because I need the full screen multiple monitor support... I'm a business user and go back and forth between Windows 10 and Mac OS all day long...

 

Thanks for this thread. All the above apply to me. I use dual monitors and keep windows in one of my spaces. I do not want to use Coherence. I like keeping things seperate. I will have to keep an eye on VMware and see what people say about it.

Does anybody know if High Sierra fixed anything in this arena since they say its Apple's problem.

 

If it were Apple's problem, why does PD 11 work fine? ...

 

Make sure everyone votes so they can see how many people they could potentially lose over this. Whatever the number is, it's a fraction of the actual number they'll lose if they don't fix it....

 

I am referring to the native Apple solution that Parallels went to.

 

All I'm saying is regardless of how they do it- it can be done. PD 11 works fine, and I'm running the latest Mac OS...

 

I was one of the people posting quite early in the older multi-monitor thread.
However I've found I can get it to work quite well, provided I forget about 'full screen' mode.
If instead I simply run in the normal window mode, and then put a window into the second screen, and stretch this to fill the screen, it works quite well.
Need to use 'best for external displays'. Despite my second screen having full retina resolution, the screen never scaled correctly if I selected 'best for retina'.
No need for separate display spaces etc..
PD12, gave problems doing this unless I selected DX9 as the 3D acceleration mode. However PD13, seems to have fixed this.

So pluses on PD13:
It is faster. especially some disk functions.
DX10 works better on a second monitor in windowed mode.

Downside:
Still no full screen multi-monitor operation like PD11.
Keyboard issues if you have anything with an extended keyboard.

 

Wouldn't Windows then treat this as one Gigantic display then, rather than multiple?

 

Just confirmed, yes, that is what Windows does.
Parallels just needs to fix this.

 

No. Windows only uses the area you define the working window as. Remember you have three modes:
1) Coherence. No window, just Windows applications working in the Mac display.
2) Full screen mode. Here there is a 'window' occupying the full area of a screen and Windows works inside this.
3) Windowed mode. In this you define a window (box stretched out to the size you want), and 'Windows' runs inside this box.
If you stretch such a window out to fill the 'full screen', this behaves very like full screen mode, except:
a) You still get a bar at the top, giving the connection details etc..
b) You are running vectored through the Mac screen drivers, not directly through the 'full screen' drivers, that PD11 had.
It is these full screen drivers that have problems in multi-monitor mode.
Obviously there is a performance cost to vectoring through the Mac drivers, but I've found the performance to still be very good, and the loss of a thin bar for the connection details, status etc., at the top of the screen, is minor. Anyone wanting to run games (which is where full screen did offer advantages), can't go this way, but for 90% of users who want a Windows screen a Mac screen (and possibly some others), this does work.

 

Right, if you have it in Windowed mode and you stretch it across multiple displays- Windows treats this as one display. It did on mine anyway... It's not a fix- definitely doesn't work for me.

 

I managed to get a refund on PD12 took months to come through, I genuinely want to upgrade to a PD product that works properly for multiple monitors, but alas seems PD13 is still not fit for purpose. How long can we us us PD11 before it fails to keep up. After Windows 10 Creators update my PD11 only launches to the logon screen maybe 75% of the time, I get a black screen which I have to shutdown the VPC and re-boot, seems to work on a second boot. Will have to switch if it gets worse. Whats the next best option?

 

Simply can't believe they haven't addressed this. Arrogant or bloody minded to say the least

 

I was in the same boat until i really gave Coherence a try. Now multi monitor support is not that important anymore.

 

If you run coherence, can you keep it all in a space. I run multiple spaces: One for email and Safari, one for my calendar, ...
I just want to keep my windows/business work separate from my other stuff and enjoy two full screens. One screen with email and another with task work. This also includes keeping the windows desktop icons in a separate space as well.