RE:
Does the issue persist if you reduce the cores to 2 and the RAM to 4GB?
Answer:
Win7x64 VM in Fusion 4.1.1 on MacPro:
1 processor core 1 GB RAM Start VM to Win 7 Login 62 seconds Open Arc GIS test map 31 seconds
1 processor core 2 GB RAM Start VM to Win 7 Login 78 seconds Open Arc GIS test map 31 seconds
2 processor cores, 4 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login 67 seconds Open Arc GIS test map 29 seconds
4 processor cores, 8 GB RAM: Start VM to Win 7 Login 62 seconds Open Arc GIS test map 31 seconds
WinXPx64 VM in Fusion 3 on MacBook Pro (I like this setup; feels crisp and snappy)
1 processor core 1 GB RAM Start VM to WinXP Login 23 seconds Open Arc GIS test map 31 seconds
More processor cores/memory on MacPro seems to have no positive effect; at best, still only 1/3 the speed of WinXP on my laptop.
Opening Arc files is similar on all VM.
I believe ArcGIS ($$$) still uses only one processor - years after the introduction of multiprocessor desktops.
Also, was the VM originally created on the SSD, or was it created elsewhere and then migrated?
Answer:
Created on SSD: Win7 64 bit