Making MacBook command-key the Emacs meta-key under VMware/Windows

Question

I can configure emacs under OS X so that the key nearest the space bar (the key labeled Command ⌘) is my Meta key by running

(setq mac-command-key-is-meta t)

How can I configure the same key to be the emacs Meta-key when I run emacs under Windows, and Windows is itself running in VMware Fusion? For some reason even if I run the above line on Windows-VMware, my Meta key remains the Option key.

Answer 1

VMware (and Parallels and Windows in Boot Camp) use the Command key as the Windows key.

Can you map the Windows key to meta in emacs?

Answer 2

To get Emacs on Windows to recognize something other than the Alt as the meta key is hard.

However, you can easily remap any keys on the Mac keyboard, including modifier keys, to be any other keys on the Windows keyboard via Fusion. I have my ⌘ key mapped to Ctrl on Windows. So one way to make the ⌘ key your meta key is to map ⌘ to Alt.

In Fusion 5, Select Virtual Machine -> Settings... -> Keyboard & Mouse. That will bring up a list of profiles you can select from, duplicate, and edit. Hopefully it's obvious from there; if not, consult the built-in help by clicking on the question mark on the lower right of the Keyboard & Mouse panel.