So in Windows 8 you have new keyboard shortcuts for accessing search (Win+Q), charms (Win+C), settings (Win+I), etc. Problem is that some of those collide with standard OS X mapping - for example Win+Q will close down VMware, Win+C will issue copy, etc.

You can add additional mappings into VMware. Use the Preferences panel to do that. Here you can see that I've mapped Win+Shift+C to Win+C. (OK, that assumes you use a Windows keyboard with a Mac, like I do. If you use a Mac keyboard, you're mapping Apple+Shift+C to Win+C.)