Pat Lee from VMWare sat down with me to share the latest news on the VMWare Fusion 2.0 beta. Among the big new features: the ability to run 10.5 Server as a virtual machine. Check out the interview after the jump, and check out the VMWare blog for some 10-screen virtualization fun. There's a feature demo available on YouTube, and if -- after you've taken all of that in -- you're dying to get in on the beta, head to the public beta release page for more information.
Posts with tag fusion
WWDC '08: VMWare Fusion
VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1
VMware has just announced VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1, the first beta of the second iteration of their very successful virtualization product for the Mac. As you'll recall Fusion allows you to run a host of OSes on your Intel Mac including, but not limited to, many flavors of Windows.
The above video gives you a tour of Fusion 2.0 Beta 1's top new features, including:
- Multiple monitor support (up to 10 displays!)
- Improved networking and printing
- Support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2 (this is experimental, and it might not work on your Mac)
- A refined UI for settings and VM management
Slimming down Windows for virtualization or Boot Camp
What madness is this, a post about installing Windows? Well, actually, the folks over at VMware's Team Fusion link to this handy Lifehacker guide to trimming down Windows XP to the bare essentials. Obviously this is of interest to anybody running Windows on a Mac, particularly on a portable with limited hard drive space. So if you should find yourself needing to tread on the dark side (whether in Boot Camp, Parallels or Fusion), it's worth a look. Besides, as I always say, the less Windows the better. It's just a shame you have to build it yourself on a machine running Windows with the Windows utility nLite and can't simply download a pre-built virtual machine.
Show floor video: VMWare demos virtualization of Mac OS X Server
At a booth tucked away in an uncomfortable corner of the South Hall, VMware is showing a preview version of Fusion with virtualization for Mac OS X Server (on Apple host hardware only, naturally) running smoothly. We are heading back to VMware to get a more thorough video walkthrough of the app when the crowds thin a bit, but here's a little clip to whet your appetite (after the jump).
Continue reading Show floor video: VMWare demos virtualization of Mac OS X Server
VMware Importer makes migrating from Parallels a snap
In our post yesterday on VMware Fusion 1.1 we mentioned that VMware had also included a beta of their new Importer application. However, after using it tonight, I thought it was worth a separate post of its own, because it makes migrating from Parallels to Fusion incredibly easy. The amazing thing is that I converted an old Parallels 2.5 WinXP VM which Parallel's 3 itself had not been able to import successfully!
Basically, when you start the Importer it gives you a window in which to drop the Parallels .pvs file (just Win2000, WinXP, Win2003 Server or Vista at this time). It asks you where you want to save the new Virtual Machine and a few minutes later, boom it starts right up in Fusion -- no muss and no fuss. For me the amazing thing was that I had previously tried to import the same image into Parallels 3 and it failed. So basically the upshot is this: if you're running Parallels, but you'd like to give Fusion a try, the barrier to entry has now dropped to next to nothing (besides the hard drive space).
I bought Parallels for my Intel Mac as soon as it was released,but given my experience with Fusion (especially with the downloadable appliances), I think VMware has a convert. I fully recommend giving it a try. The VMware Importer is a free download. It's also supplemented by the VMware convertor which will create an image of a working PC that can then be imported into Fusion as a VM.
VMware Fusion 1.1 released
Even though Leopard ships with Boot Camp, lots of Mac users still get their virtual groove on with VMware Fusion, and its super-slick window display tool Unity. Today VMware announced Fusion 1.1, an upgrade that sports some cool new features and improvements:- As expected, the upgrade now supports Leopard
- Better 3D graphics via the "experimental support" for DirectX 9.0
- Full Vista and XP support
- A beta version of VMware Importer, a tool that allows users to quickly import virtual machines (including Boot Camp)
- Overall better speed and performance
Lee says that, unlike Boot Camp, it's not necessary to shut down your Mac and reboot into Windows every time you want to get to a Windows app. Instead, just use the Unity tool to co-mingle your Windows and Mac apps right on the same screen.
On the other hand, if dual-booting is your thing, you can always use Importer to create a virtual machine.
The upgrade is free for existing customers. If you're ready to try it out for the first time, snag a free 30-day evaluation from the company Web site or purchase it for $59.99 with a $20 rebate (US only).
CNET Labs benchmarks Parallels and Fusion virtualization products
Whenever two options are presented, it is often a smart move to weight the pros and cons of each and make a decision based on your needs. If you need to push Windows in a virtualization environment, Daniel A. Begun at CNET Labs has benchmarked Windows Vista running in both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. The short of the long? If you really need to push Windows, do it in Boot Camp if at all possible. If Boot Camp is out of the question, VMware Fusion was the winner in heavy duty, multimedia tasks by a landslide, due largely in part to its support of multiple core processors (Parallels, as of this writing, only supports one core per CPU). On the flip side, however, Parallels Desktop is the only virtualization product that supports 3D gaming right now, but as a Parallels owner, I'll still vouch for running your games in Windows via Boot Camp.At the end of the CNET Labs day, both apps still have their pros and cons. Begun hails Parallels Desktop for being the more usable and intuitive of the two (and during my initial tests of both before deciding to buy, I agreed), though I had a much easier time getting non-Windows OSes installed in VMware Fusion (to this day, Parallels Desktop still won't install Ubuntu, and I have received no response as to why). Still, the moral of this particular story is that if performance is at the very top of your virtualization shopping list, VMware Fusion is, at least for now, the reigning champion. Check Begun's full article for more details on the tests and how they were performed.
VMware Fusion set for August 6th release
Running Windows is something that most people need to do at some point, that's a fact. Luckily for us Mac users running Windows on Intel Macs is much better than emulating Windows on PPC Macs (I still shudder when I think back to my Virtual PC days). This is because instead of having to emulate the processor architecture, as well as run the software, it is possible to 'virtualize' Windows on Intel Macs. This means that Windows runs in its own little space on your Mac's Intel chip (that's a gross over simplification, but you get the idea).My virtualization app of choice, VMware Fusion, is finally entering the home stretch of its beta. VMware told our friends at Ar Technica that the final version of Fusion will be available for purchase on August 6th for $79.99 (you can preorder it up until the 5th for $39.99). VMware Fusion builds on VMware's rock solid virtualization technology and wraps it up in a pretty Cocoa shell. Check out all Fusion's features here.
Ask TUAW: iDVD, iTunes, Parallels and more
This week on Ask TUAW we've got a bunch of questions about iTunes, some prospective switcher questions about virtualization and personal finance packages, and an iDVD query. As always reader suggestions are most welcome and questions for next week should just be left in the comments. Now without further ado, let's turn to it...
VMWare pricing announced
VMWare offers the Windows-on-Mac alternative to Boot Camp and Parallels. This week at WWDC, they announced that their product Fusion will be shipping at the end of August 2007 for $79.99US (pre-order pricing is available at $39.99US for a single license). We've written about Fusion several times here at TUAW. VMWare recently released Beta 4 of Fusion, which product manager Pat Lee called the first "feature complete" version, though there may be another beta release before the final product ships in August.
Remember when all we had was Virtual PC? Those were the (agonizing) days, my friends.
[Via Infinite Loop]
VMware Fusion Beta 4 now available
Recall that very cool video we posted showing off VMware Fusion's new Unity feature? Now you can try it on your very own Mac. VMware Fusion Beta 4 has just been released and it includes Unity. It also includes:- Better support for booting off of Boot Camp partitions
- Better performance
- UI tweaks
VMware Fusion is free while in beta, and no release date has been specified.
Thanks, Marcus.
VMware Fusion Beta 2 now available
VMware, the top banana in the virtualization market though relative new comer to the Mac, has just released Fusion Beta 2, their Mac virtualization client. Fusion, much like Parallels, allows you to run Windows (and many other operating systems) on your Mac just like you would any other application.
Fusion Beta 2 adds some interesting features:
- Support for DirectX8.1 on Windows XP virtual machines (DirectX is Microsoft's APIs for multimedia applications, i.e. games that use graphics acceleration).
- Snapshots of virtual machines: take a snapshot of one of your virtual machines, and you can always recover to that point in time.
- Support for Vista (both 32 and 64-bit flavors)
- Much better networking: including seamless switching between Airport networks and support for up to 10 virtual network interfaces (very cool, if you ask me)
Update: It is true that Fusion Beta 2 is available now, but it was also available a few weeks ago! I am the victim of a poor memory and a tardy PR email. However, now is a good chance to check Fusion if you haven't (see how I saved this post from irrelevance? That's the mark of a pro blogger).
Macworld 2007 Show Floor Showoff: VMware
Virtualization is the new black in the Mac market these days. I got a chance to talk with Pat who is the product manager of VMware for the Mac (aka Fusion). VMware is the granddaddy of virtualization, and a 'big deal' in that space. Pat gives us an overview of what VMware is trying to do with Fusion and a glimpse at their software philosophy.
If you would rather view this view in QuickTime an iPod video formated version can be found here.
VMWare Fusion beta round up
Virtualization on the Mac is heating up, and Parallels isn't the only company with some stakes in the game. VMWare, the Juggernaut of the virtualization world, has been running a private beta of their Mac client, Fusion, for awhile now. They point to a few bloggers' thoughts on the product in a recent post to the company's blog. Some people aren't too thrilled with the simplifed 'wizard' setup that Fusion exposes to the user. They want to be able to tweak more settings, though I imagine the typical OS X user will just want to get Windows (or another OS) running as soon as possible.
It seems to be quick, versatile, and fairly solid in beta. I'm hoping to get my hands on the client myself and put it through its paces, but there is no denying that this is an exciting time to be a Mac user.
VMWare's Fusion begins private beta
Some beta testers that we won't name for their own protection have let us know that VMWare is now ready to take Parallels to task in the desktop virtualization market with Fusion.
What is Fusion? According to the private beta site... "Fusion is the codename for a new VMware desktop product for Mac that will enable Intel-based Macs to run x86 operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris, in virtual machines at the same time as Mac OS X. It is built on VMware's robust and advanced desktop virtualization platform that is used by over four million users today."
Fusion boasts the following features and benefits:
- Ability to create and run a wide variety of x86 operating systems on OS X without rebooting. You can easily create virtual machines and run multiple operating systems simultaneously on Mac OS X. In addition, you can download and run any of the 300 virtual appliances available on VMware's Technology Network.
- Easily share files between OS X and guest operating system. You can simply drag and drop files between OS X and virtual machines to easily share files between the two environments.
- Access physical devices from the virtual machine. You can access physical devices such as CD ROM drives, video cameras, iPods, printers and high-speed disks from the virtual machine.
- Leverage Virtual SMP capabilities to gain additional performance improvement. You can assign more than a single CPU (on supported hardware with Intel Core Duo CPU) to gain additional performance for CPU-intensive workloads.
- Consolidate onto your Mac: If you need a PC to run specific applications that are not supported on your Mac, you can consolidate onto your Mac by running the PC environment in a virtual machine. In addition to space savings, consolidating onto your Mac reduces hardware, power and cooling costs.
- Safely evaluate software in isolated virtual machines: You can evaluate non-OS X applications safely on your Mac by running them in an isolated virtual machine. If the application crashes or corrupts the system, your Mac is not affected.
- Run over 300 virtual appliances: You can download any of the over 300 virtual appliances - preinstalled and preconfigured applications packaged with an operating system in a virtual machine - available from VMware's Technology Network. Setting up a wiki or blog server has never been easier.
- Fusion supports all Intel Mac hardware, including the new 64-bit Mac Pro and iMac.
- Your virtual machines can have multiple virtual processors, taking advantage of the Intel Core Duo chips in today's newest Intel Macs.
- Fusion supports high-speed USB 2.0 for a huge range of devices. Even devices that do not have drivers for Mac OS X will work in a virtual machine.
- Simply drag and drop files and folders in and out of your virtual machines to transfer your data.
