VMware Fusion for Mac Released
VMware, the creator of native x86 virtualization in the late ’90s, has released their first consumer-directed product for Mac users. VMware Fusion allows OS X users to run virtual machines with support for over 60 Operating Systems. You might be thinking, “well Parallels Desktop does this too, what of it?”. I learned of Fusion’s remarkable features and advantages while participating in their conference call this morning.
Main VMware Fusion Features
Fusion was built from the ground up in OS X’s native programming environment, Cocoa, and as such Fusion benefits from speed increases and lower memory overhead. Fusion puts less strain on your computer than any other virtualization product at this point. The use of Cocoa in development gives Fusion a more native Mac application feel with customizable toolbars.
VMware Fusion supports running different VMs at the same time. Granted that you have a decent amount of RAM in your system, you can run Windows Vista and Ubuntu side-by-side within OS X. However it should be noted that while there is substantial Windows Vista support, Aero graphics is not included in that.
In addition to running multiple VMs simultaneously, you can provision multiple virtual processors within a VM as well as run 64-bit OSs, assuming you have a 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo or Xeon processor. Essentially, Fusion seems to be the most complete platform for Mac users when compared to Parallels Desktop.
Drag-and-drop between a VM and OS X works flawlessly, although you cannot drag-and-drop files directly from one VM to another. However, there are also shared folders that come in handy in this situation.
During the conference call VMware made sure to tell us about Fusion’s seamless, automated installation procedures. Rather than having to go through every Windows XP dialog during installation, such as deciding how you would like to format your drive, Fusion takes care of all the nitty-gritty details for you. After installation, VMware Fusion can also install necessary drivers for Windows. As an example, the iSight camera in an Apple MacBook Pro works fine.
Transferring and managing your VMs is a trivial process with each VM contained in a single file, should you want to move it to another Fusion-bearing Mac, et cetera.
Unity
Unity is essentially VMware Fusion’s equivalent of Parallels Coherence - a feature that lets you run Windows apps as if they were Mac apps. That is, you don’t have to have the full Windows desktop present at all times. However, Fusion’s implementation in Unity is more realized with the Windows apps working fine in conjunction with Expose and the dock, without needing to have the Windows task bar present. At the moment, Unity only works with Windows and not Linux or anything else.
Thoughts
VMware Fusion retails for $79 starting today (not including $20 MIR), finally giving users a choice instead of just defaulting to Parallels. But is it worth it? I would choose Fusion over Parallels Desktop just for Fusion’s speed enhancements. Working with Cocoa was a smart move that will definitely be noticed with users not overloaded with RAM like I am. In a screencast, Fusion was shown running on a MacBook Pro with 2GB of RAM while simultaneously running a Windows XP VM and a 64-bit Ubuntu VM without any apparent slowdowns.
On the other hand, if you have a Mac Pro with 16GB of RAM, Fusion can support that as well, allocating up to 8GB of physical RAM to each VM. I was thoroughly impressed with Fusion and I have been using Parallels Desktop for over a year now. If I get VMware Fusion running anytime soon, I will attempt to run a few comparison benchmarks between a Windows XP VM in Parallels Desktop and a Windows XP VM in Fusion to see if there are any discernible performance differences.
Certainly one to consider, and great timing!!! Am just in the process of considering whether to upgrade to latest Parallels or not.
Think this will be worth a look :-)
I think my favorite part of Fusion is how clean the install is. It doesn’t have to add any devices to the network section in system preferences. That was one of the things I disliked about Parallels.
Really looking forward to your comparasion tests.
Ive been using TinyXP on parallels, but even then I experience lag on my MBp C2D
Great write up Paul. I use VM Ware on my Macbook and Parallels on my MacPro. Both have strong points but I find VMware a bit more reliable for my LT use. As always great job Paul.
I’m definitely a Fusion person. I found Parallels slowed down all the time, especially when resuming the VM. Fusion is ready for action the second the progress bar is done.
Is Parallels not a Cocoa Apps, what is it written in?
Do you see VMware as being as innovative of a company as Parallels? I have been using VMware on my PC for years and have always thought it worked but was never amazed by what it could do. When Parallels came out with its OS X software, all of a sudden very innovative an neat ideas began to emerge. Do you think the OS X VMware team will be more innovative than their counterpart Windows/Linux team, or are they just copying what has already been done to position themselves in the right market?
So can this one do the DirectX buisness? Being able to play some XP only games will bring a smile to my face… ok so I bought a Mac but like PC games- I know I was an idiot!
@Adam only DX8.1 at the moment.
I’ve used VMWare in various version quite a bit. It’s really very impressive.
Sounds great, so far. There are a few down-sides - DX 8.1 isn’t too flash though - DX 10 is core to vista and DX 9 has been out for some time (read: years) now - most modern games require it out-of-the-box.
For the cross-over user, looking to run some ‘doz only apps, it will be great. DX 9.1 support would make it “the” killer VM platform for the Mac.
@ Paul: Thanks. DX8.1 did things like Hitman 2, which was 2002, so five years behind- but a good start nevertheless.
I’m a month long Mac switcher and I’ve been using Fusion for some heavy lifting and happy to report it’s actually faster than my Dell XPS2! I think I’m here for good.
I have been using parallels for a year now, but i have heard so much about VMware today, i think I have to give it a look, and i think the unity Idea is genius, we really need that
Speaking more from a corporate perspective rather than a consumer perspective, I can say that one of the greatest things about the official arrival of Fusion (I’ve been using it since the private “Friends and Family” release last October) is that it completes VMware’s virtualization platform–you now have the ability to run VMs that are portable across Windows, Linux, and OS X with very little or no changes whatsoever. As someone who designs, implements, and supports VMware-based virtualization environments (but I do not work for VMware), this is a major selling point and will, I think, open the door to more Macs in corporate environments. Of course, I have been known to be wrong before! :-)
Good initial coverage, Paul, and I’m looking forward to future articles.
Funny old world - just got sent a copy to review :-)
Can Fusion import my existing Parallels images? That would be uber cool.
My big frustration with Parallels has been an inability to get Ubuntu running inside. I figure maybe VMWare has been doing virtualization for a while and can possibly do a better job . . . I like speed, too!
-danny
Paul: if you haven’t used the software and are only on a conf call about it, why write a review?
@Ethan - this wasn’t a review, more of a stating of features/news post. With my reviews I always add a “Review:” prefix to the post title.
I am trying to run Battlefield 2142 (PC version) using Fusion but as soon as I open the game up the window flashes black and returns to the windows screen. Any ideas about what might be causing this?