For the last several months, I have been hard at work programming parts of the user interface for the newest version of VMware Workstation. For those who don't know, VMware makes virtualization software. VMware Workstation basically lets you run a separate operating system on top of the current one that you are running without much overhead. For instance, I am running Windows Vista as my operating system right now, but there are many programs that work better with Windows XP than they worked with Windows Vista. With VMware Workstation, I can run this other operating system and use the programs on it even though I am still using Windows Vista.
The feature that I have been working on is a redesign of the functionality used to create a new virtual machine. This is the initial step you take when you first install VMware Workstation in order to start running a virtual machine. In this version, the two features we added to new virtual machine creation are: 1) Easy Install, which allows you to enter some settings for your operating system like serial number, usern ame, and password and then step away from your computer while the installation happens automatically and 2) Guess the Guest, which reads the operating system installer disc and determines which operating system you are trying to install. I helped out some with the code to do those two tasks, but mostly I wrote the user interface for these new features.
Even though this version of Workstation is only in beta, Infoworld.com did a preview of it and really liked it. What was even better was that they specifically pointed out the features I have been working on and called them the most "fully baked" new feature of the beta release. It was a great feeling to see all of the hard work I've put into this release appreciated and to see screenshots of my feature on their website.
Here is a link to the review
Screenshot one of some of the user interface I wrote
Screenshot two of some of the user interface I wrote
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