Filed under: Software
VMware Fusion Updated to version 1.1.1
Although I am, and always will be, a devoted user of Apple products, the Macintosh and OSX, occasionally I find the need to do something that only the vagaries of Windows can accomplish. In the past, this required me to have a separate computer (a PC) with an install of Windows. Fortunately, with Apple's switch to all Intel all the time, I no longer need that other Windows PC and instead can use a "virtual" Windows PC running on my Mac with the help of a software product provided by Parallels or VMware.
In the past, I was a big fan of Parallels and used it exclusively. More recently, though, I have switched to VMware Fusion for my Windows virtualization needs. Nothing against Parallels, its still a great product, but I just find VMware a bit more "Mac-like" and easier to setup and use. If you agree and use VMware Fusion as well, head on over to their website because there's an update to the software waiting there just for you.
This update is, according to the VMware site: "a maintenance release that contains fixes for a variety of issues." What might these issues be, you may wonder? Well, if you really want to know, feel free to read the release notes. Or, if you decide to just "go for it" and not read the fine print, go here and download away.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steven said 8:19PM on 1-29-2008
It still doesn't do Spaces well... after switching to Unity mode, I opened Visual Studio 2005 and Outlook 2007, and when I moved Outlook 2007's window to another space and it started switching back and forth between the 2 spaces automatically, back and forth, like a person stepping from 1 foot to the other, unsure which one to walk forward with. I finally was able to close Outlook 2007 and then switch back to Single Window Mode, where things work much better.
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Neil said 8:36PM on 1-29-2008
Was there any real need for this post at all? It reads like a big advertisement and it's only telling us about bug fixes. Not all software gets a post like this on a tiny point upgrade.
Hmm...
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robdew said 9:39PM on 1-29-2008
Doesn't do Spaces well? I've never had a problem with it, including in full screen mode. They still don't support multiple monitors though.
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Will said 10:14PM on 1-29-2008
Until software makers universally give the option to receive email notifications (with no strings attached) when new versions are released, this kind of news will be welcome. The same goes for hardware manufacturers and their firmware updates.
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socritic said 10:22PM on 1-29-2008
Tried both, disappointed with parallels, work flow interrupted a lot over a few issues. Fusion has been fantastic since installation, i watch Netflix on explorer in fusion (mac is incompatible with the service ... what's up with that?) and use windows software. Using fusion is a breeze, OS react fast, hibernation and shut on/off is easy. (Macbook Pro 2.16, 3gb memory, Leopard)
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Donald Patterson said 10:26PM on 1-29-2008
Does anyone know how to move from parallels to VMware Fusion by importing the virtual machine set up in parallels?
I cannot make the VMWare importer (Beta) work.
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Brady J. Frey said 10:40PM on 1-29-2008
I've only been able to do it via the VMWare importer - they had a version you install on the windows side first which worked ok, then the new version which I've used without problems. Feel free to email me at brady at bradyjfrey.com and I'm happy to troubleshoot it with you.
mantis108 said 9:09PM on 3-21-2008
i just switched from Parallels 3.0 to VMWare Fusion due to issues with it always running out of video memory on every one of my systems after sitting idle for awhile (Parallels has no fix for this and aren't really even acknowledging it yet despite the fact that multiple people are complaining about in on their forums). I ran the VMWare importer to import the Parallels 3.0 VM I have and blammo -- VMWare happiness!
I haven't figured out yet how to get web links in emails (e.g. in Outlook) to open in my Mac-based Firefox browser.. anyone here tackled that yet?
mantis108 said 9:25PM on 3-21-2008
sorry, meant to mention a tip as well.. be sure not to run the importer from a network drive, only from a local drive on the mac, or it will fail. Also, you can't import flat hard disk files per the docs... good luck.
krye said 11:05PM on 1-29-2008
Let's not forget Linux. I'm working on building a digital photo frame out of an old laptop. I'll be damned if I'm putting Windows on it. I'm trying out openSuse 10.3 to see if it can do all the things I want. Fusion is great for trying it out before I do the actual install.
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apeguero said 11:19PM on 1-29-2008
Tried Parallels and found it stunk on Vista. Tried Fusion and it worked right away. Nice thing about it is that it recognized my Bootcamp Vista install right away. I had to call Microsoft to get the VMWare instance of Vista certified but other than that, cool program and I highly recommend it. Thanks for the update TUAW.
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daenney said 5:41AM on 1-30-2008
The issues I have with Fusion is that it only supports DirectX native, no OpenGL as far as I can gather, since a lot of OpenGL benchmarks under Parallels went just fine where as they achieved 0 result with Fusion.
So it's not only what you prefer but also about what you need.
I need raw power when working in Windows, my graphical stuff is done in Mac OS so I choose Fusion whereas my housemate uses Parallels since he uses some OpenGL enabled programs in Windows because he can't find a decent Mac-replacement.
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Adam said 9:07PM on 1-30-2008
This is not the update where you can run Leopard Server which I have seen in the MacWorld Video right ?
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Jaakko said 9:25AM on 1-30-2008
Unity mode still doesn't work correctly with dual monitors. It's a bit of a shame since this feature has been supported by Parallels for ages.
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koda said 9:46AM on 1-30-2008
hey guys, have you tried VirtualBox ? it's a free and opensource Virtual Machine that runs really good!
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Vinod Ponmanadiyil said 7:21AM on 2-19-2008
But VirtualBox does not do USB very well. I have no success connecting my iPhone or Windows Mobile on to the guest XP.
Genius Jones said 12:17PM on 1-30-2008
On my iMac, VMWare is also much faster than Parallels. I can't stress enough that everyone needs to be checking out Crossover, from CodeWeavers, as an alternative to VMWare or Parallels. It's built on the WINE project, and runs many Windows programs straight out of the box just like they were a Mac App. For example, I play Guild Wars on my iMac using Crossover and it works at full speed and behaves like a Mac App.
http://www.codeweavers.com/
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justin said 3:38PM on 1-30-2008
I really have no preference when it comes to virtualization – but how can a blog that calls themselves the ‘Unofficial Apple Web Blog’ write such a unfounded article. This ‘article,’ if you choose to call it that, wrote:
“Nothing against Parallels, its still a great product, but I just find VMware a bit more "Mac-like" and easier to setup and use.”
What is this base off of? I have used both, and if I had a blog I would say they are both easy to setup and use.
I’m pretty sure this statement is the same as saying to me, “no offense, but you are ugly” without even looking at a picture of me. I used to respect this blog but I agree with Neil – this article just seems like an advertisement and the writer should try and act more professional – either way it doesn’t matter to me you just lost one reader.
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Steve G said 3:49PM on 1-30-2008
Wow.. youre not going to lose my reads over this article like Justin up there.. but I was going to comment on the comparison with Parallels and the usability / "mac-like" statement. I am running trial versions of both Parallels and VMware right now and I think Parallels is far more "mac-like" and user friendly than vmware. VMware customer support wasnt too friendly when they found out i was just an end user as well and not a techie big wig that wants to deploy multiple copies
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Stan Kossen said 4:27AM on 2-09-2008
I started with Parallels, and I was positively impressed--until it froze up and I could no longer access my virtual machine.
I switched to VMFusion, and I have not had one problem with it. VMFusion has far exceeded my expectations.
As a relatively recent switcher to a MacPro (about a year), I still have certain PC applications that I'm used to using. They have functioned even better than on my old PCs.
Stan Kossen
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