MySoftwareOutlet: Software: VMware Fusion 2

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December 1, 2008

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Macintosh

Get the best of both worlds.

Moving to the Mac is easy.
Getting started is a breeze. Import your existing Windows PC with VMware Converter, or easily install a new Windows OS in a few simple steps with Windows Easy Install.

Graduate from Boot Camp.
VMware Fusion is the perfect complement to Apple's Boot Camp. No more choosing between Mac or Windows on boot; run Windows side-by-side with Mac OS X from your existing partition. And when you're ready, import your Boot Camp partition to reclaim extra space and enjoy great features such as Snapshots, AutoProtect, and Suspend and Resume.

3D for you and me.
Run 3D games, design software and other graphics-intensive apps with support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2 3D hardware-accelerated graphics.

Displays for days.
Use Windows applications across as many displays as you please--up to eight screens.

Mac to the core.
Built from the ground up for the Mac, VMware Fusion works the way you expect with customizable tool bars, Quick Look integration, searchable Apple help and more.

Airbags for your Mac.
Take snapshots of your Windows installation, and always have the option to roll back to a safe state in case of trouble. And with AutoProtect, automated snapshots let you easily go back in time to before problems occurred.

USB without limits.
VMware Fusion lets you use Windows-only USB devices on your Mac--from GPS receivers, to cell phones, PDAs and even Apple iSight cameras.

Keep the bugs away.
To keep Windows XP and Windows Vista on your Mac as safe as possible, VMware Fusion includes a complimentary 12-month subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus.

Maximize your Mac.
Take your Mac to the max by running virtual machines with up to four virtual CPUs, 8GB of RAM and with 64-bit operating systems.

Features:

Seamlessly integrate Windows applications with the Mac
Instantly launch Windows applications from any Mac file, the Dock and more
Run Windows side-by-side with Mac OS X without rebooting
Minimize Windows applications to the Dock
Use Expos� to switch between Windows and Mac applications
Import an existing PC with VMware Converter
Install new Windows OS with Windows Easy Install
Run Windows applications across multiple screens
Use Windows-only USB devices on your Mac, including GPS receivers, cell phones, PDAs, and iSight cameras
Run 3D games, design software and other graphics-intensive apps with support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2 3D hardware-accelerated graphics
Winner of more than a dozen industry awards

Customer Reviews: Read 42 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Works great! Run it full screen in new Spaces window. November 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I agree with the positive reviews, so I won't repeat them.

I use VMware Fusion 2 to run Windows XP Pro SP3 on my MBP. Works great, accept WinXP always loads into the "Administrator" account instead of the user account I set-up. It's really annoying to have to log-out from the Administrator account every single time I load WinXP just to get to my user account.

UPDATE: To fix this, in WinXP in the Run box, type 'control userpasswords2'. You'll need to change the default user to you personal account. Search Google for a more detailed explanation.

I guess my only complaint is that it seems a bit cumbersome to activate use of the CD-ROM in WinXP, which by default is deactivated so it can be used in OSX. Perhaps a quick shortcut on the desktop would have been nice. Or set up the CD-ROM to be used as a "network device".

5 out of 5 stars

Amazing, indispensable product for the Intel Mac November 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I just switched to an iMac after using PC's for many years, and VMware's Fusion has been a huge convenience for me. I have a few Windows applications (Quicken, Outlook for it's task functionality) for which I can't find acceptable Mac counterparts. Fusion allows you to run a fully functional Windows instance on the Mac, and it does so seamlessly. I actually run my Windows instance on a separate monitor, giving me access to fully functional Mac and Windows apps from one computer.

It seems that the Windows applications run a bit slower than they would on a native Windows computer, but not enough to be an inconvenience to me. I'm very happy with this purchase and would be using two separate computers if it weren't for Fusion.

5 out of 5 stars

Making Windows better than Windows November 26, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

It is great to buy a product and have all of your expectations exceeded. I have been pleased with the seamless use of Windows applications along side Mac applications. Crashes of Windows have been significantly reduced.

1 out of 5 stars

First program to crash my Mac in years! November 26, 2008
2 out of 7 found this review helpful

I'm a former software QA tester (alpha and beta) so I have quite a bit of impatience with companies that release software that doesn't work right out of the box on all sorts of machines. A good software company will test their software on multiple configurations. Obviously other users are reporting excellent results, but that doesn't mean everyone will.

I have used Parallels 3.0 since it came out and I was overall satisfied, but found it a little slow. Fusion 2.0 was released and I thought it would be a great way to get faster speed because that's what VMware was claiming and many users are reporting.

My biggest beef is the importation of existing virtual machines. I have Win XP on my Mac that I use with Parallels. VMware states that you can import from Parallels. One, the process of importation is NOT intuitive and is made far more difficult than it should be. Whoever designed this interface is not a Mac user.

Second, Fusion refused to accept the import stating that the virtual machine wasn't properly shut down. So I go into Parallels and make sure that XP was been completely stopped. Quit Parallels and go back to Fusion . . . oops, couldn't go back - first time in YEARS I saw the Mac gray crash screen. I have never seen it on my Intel Mac until now.

I'm fine with Parallels. I simply wanted to try Fusion because everyone said it was faster. Yes, I could call customer support, but I that should NOT be necessary. I don't have patience for this kind of baloney, especially on my Mac. It should work right out of the box, period. I have dozens and dozens of programs on my Mac and not one comes even close to being as big a pain as Fusion was in terms of installation.

Obviously many users have seen great results. I did not. Tread carefully or perhaps wait for VMware to release a major update.

5 out of 5 stars

Better than Virtual PC IMO November 25, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I have used older versions of Virtual PC and have found it lacking. So much so that I would never buy an upgraded version. So my comparison to VPC is dated. I will say that I have a very tech savvy friend who currently uses both Parallels and VMware Fusion 2 and he prefers the VMWare product by a small margin. This is a very stable platform that is a no brainer if you already own a copy of Windows. If you want an ultra cheap option you may want to try Wine. Google Wine for Mac and you will find it. It is simply a program that allows you to run many Windows programs without having Windows installed. When running a Windows app, it looks and feels like you are using a PC. Obviously there are some limitations, but for that price ($39) you may be able to live with it. They have many supported programs that have been fully tested and others that aren't supported, but still may work. I had one program that wasn't supported, but it runs beautifully anyway. However, if you want full featured PC results, you will need to get VMware Fusion 2. It is truly a great program.