I currently work in an organization that makes all software development work inside a virtual machine. This refers to various causes of risk / management / safety / compliance.
The default setting is something like:
- VMWare image for developers with tools installed
- The VM is configured according to the needs of the project / thread.
- The VM is in a network and a domain isolated from the real-time network.
- SCM connectivity is only possible through the dev / test network
- Electronic and office tools must be in a live network, so this means that there are two separate desktops at once
- Tools for heavy weights used in virtual machines, so they are very resource intensive.
Some of the problems people complain about are:
- The development environment is slower than usual (the host OS is Windows XP, so memory is limited)
- Switching between a DEV machine and an email / office machine is a pain, simple things like cutting and pasting get complicated. It is less efficient in terms of usability.
- The mouse, in particular, does not work properly using the VMWare or RDP player.
- Separate Network / Domain Dev / Test Login Required
Has anyone seen or worked in other (hopefully better) settings for this that have similar limitations (as mentioned above)?
In particular, are there viable options that eliminate the need to run files in a VM in general?