In virtual machines that have Windows XP or later guest operating systems, you can switch to Unity mode to display applications directly on the host system desktop. Open applications in Unity mode appear on the taskbar in the same way as open host system applications.

To configure Unity mode settings for a selected virtual machine, select VM > Settings, click the Options tab, and select Unity.

Note:

You cannot configure Unity mode settings for a shared or remote virtual machine.

Table 1. Unity Mode Options

Setting

Description

Show borders

Set a window border that identifies the application as belonging to the virtual machine rather than to the host computer.

Show badges

Display a logo in the title bar.

Use a custom color in window borders

Use a custom color in window borders to help distinguish between the application windows that belong to various virtual machines. For example, you can set the applications for one virtual machine to have a blue border and set the applications for another virtual machine to have a yellow border. On Windows hosts, click Choose color to use the color chooser.

Enable applications menu

The virtual machine Start or Applications menu appears on the host system desktop.

When you can access the virtual machine Start or Applications menu from the host machine desktop, you can start applications in the virtual machine that are not open in Unity mode. If you do not enable this setting, you must exit Unity mode to display the virtual machine Start or Applications menu in the console view.