VMware releases Fusion 3 for Mac with full Windows 7 support
VMware on Tuesday released its latest virtualization software, Fusion 3, offering Snow Leopard optimization and full support for Windows 7, including Aero.
The new version of VMware Fusion 3 offers more than 50 new features, including greater support for graphics-intensive games in Windows. It is available for $79.99, or at an upgrade price of $39.99 for existing users.
The virtual machine software allows Macs with Intel processors to run the Windows operating system simultaneously within Mac OS X.
Features highlighted by VMware include:
Optimized for Snow Leopard. VMware Fusion 3 leverages Mac OS X Snow Leopard?s advanced architecture with a new 64-bit core engine and native support for the 64-bit kernel to deliver an even better Windows on Mac experience.
CPU usage running Windows Live Writer on Windows 7 x64
Ultimate Windows 7 Experience. VMware Fusion 3 is the FIRST virtualization product for the Mac to provide the full Windows 7 experience, side-by-side with your Mac, complete with Windows Aero and Flip 3D. Run 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 -- it is your choice.
Only VMware Fusion 3 Supports Windows Aero with Flip 3D
Switching Made Easy. VMware Fusion 3 makes it easy for users to bring their entire PC to their Mac in a few easy steps ?- wirelessly or with a simple Ethernet cable -? allowing customers to protect investments in existing Windows software, and to keep using the programs they still need all for the same low price.
Leverage Apple?s Bonjour for the most Mac like way to migrate your PC to the Mac
Best-in-Class 3D Graphics. VMware was the first to provide virtual 3D graphics and is the first to support Windows Aero in a virtual machine on the Mac. VMware Fusion 3 is also first to support DirectX 9 Shader Model 3.0 3D graphics and now adds support for OpenGL 2.1 for Windows virtual machines to enable more Windows applications and games.
Run Windows Apps, The Mac Way. VMware Fusion has been designed from the beginning to make it easy to run Windows apps like Mac apps. VMware Fusion 3 makes it even better with the "Always On" Applications Menu that banishes the Windows Start menu from your Mac and let?s you find and launch Windows apps like Mac apps, even when VMware Fusion is not running. Cycle through open Windows apps with " command ' ", quit individual Windows applications with "command q", and use Dock Exposé with Windows apps.
Kick the Windows Start Menu to the curb with the new "Always On" Application Menu
Maximum Performance. Finely Tuned. Building on the proven reliability and performance of VMware Fusion 2, the new 64-bit native core engine and 4-way multi-core SMP make VMware Fusion 3 perform even better. In addition, many smaller refinements increase overall performance from better disk and graphics performance on Snow Leopard, improved 2D interactive performance, faster scrolling in Windows applications, faster to enter Unity view, improved application launch times and much more. VMware Fusion 3 is finely tuned to make Windows run even better than before on the Mac.
VMware Fusion 3 is now available for purchase and immediate download. For more information, visit the VMware official site.
The new version of VMware Fusion 3 offers more than 50 new features, including greater support for graphics-intensive games in Windows. It is available for $79.99, or at an upgrade price of $39.99 for existing users.
The virtual machine software allows Macs with Intel processors to run the Windows operating system simultaneously within Mac OS X.
Features highlighted by VMware include:
Optimized for Snow Leopard. VMware Fusion 3 leverages Mac OS X Snow Leopard?s advanced architecture with a new 64-bit core engine and native support for the 64-bit kernel to deliver an even better Windows on Mac experience.
CPU usage running Windows Live Writer on Windows 7 x64
Ultimate Windows 7 Experience. VMware Fusion 3 is the FIRST virtualization product for the Mac to provide the full Windows 7 experience, side-by-side with your Mac, complete with Windows Aero and Flip 3D. Run 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 -- it is your choice.
Only VMware Fusion 3 Supports Windows Aero with Flip 3D
Switching Made Easy. VMware Fusion 3 makes it easy for users to bring their entire PC to their Mac in a few easy steps ?- wirelessly or with a simple Ethernet cable -? allowing customers to protect investments in existing Windows software, and to keep using the programs they still need all for the same low price.
Leverage Apple?s Bonjour for the most Mac like way to migrate your PC to the Mac
Best-in-Class 3D Graphics. VMware was the first to provide virtual 3D graphics and is the first to support Windows Aero in a virtual machine on the Mac. VMware Fusion 3 is also first to support DirectX 9 Shader Model 3.0 3D graphics and now adds support for OpenGL 2.1 for Windows virtual machines to enable more Windows applications and games.
Run Windows Apps, The Mac Way. VMware Fusion has been designed from the beginning to make it easy to run Windows apps like Mac apps. VMware Fusion 3 makes it even better with the "Always On" Applications Menu that banishes the Windows Start menu from your Mac and let?s you find and launch Windows apps like Mac apps, even when VMware Fusion is not running. Cycle through open Windows apps with " command ' ", quit individual Windows applications with "command q", and use Dock Exposé with Windows apps.
Kick the Windows Start Menu to the curb with the new "Always On" Application Menu
Maximum Performance. Finely Tuned. Building on the proven reliability and performance of VMware Fusion 2, the new 64-bit native core engine and 4-way multi-core SMP make VMware Fusion 3 perform even better. In addition, many smaller refinements increase overall performance from better disk and graphics performance on Snow Leopard, improved 2D interactive performance, faster scrolling in Windows applications, faster to enter Unity view, improved application launch times and much more. VMware Fusion 3 is finely tuned to make Windows run even better than before on the Mac.
VMware Fusion 3 is now available for purchase and immediate download. For more information, visit the VMware official site.
Comments
Would love to see a review. I'm torn between bootcamp/ VM for Win 7.
Ditto. When I get the new machine next month I'm not sure which "windows on mac" SW would work best for me...
Epic fail launch, really.. they should have at least made sure people could order the product.
Because looking at what i have been able to gather so far it looks like this can be the best of both worlds.
But it won't run everything. Is there a Fusion demo? If it runs Colin McRae DiRT then I'm buying, Windows 7 doesn't work in bootcamp yet in my 27".
Except when you go to their website to buy an upgrade, you can put it in your cart, and view your cart, but there is no checkout button. Tried it with Safari and Firefox, no go. Their website is non-functional with Safari anyway. Can't login. At least for me.
I purchased it just fine. It is downloading now. Mine was an upgrade.
Maybe you should try again. I am running the latest Safari.
Except when you go to their website to buy an upgrade, you can put it in your cart, and view your cart, but there is no checkout button. Tried it with Safari and Firefox, no go. Their website is non-functional with Safari anyway. Can't login. At least for me.
I purchased the upgrade earlier today using Firefox...
Well dont know about you guys but im thinking that this may finally shut all the "you cant play games on a mac" haters out there.
Because looking at what i have been able to gather so far it looks like this can be the best of both worlds.
doesn't matter
i've seen the PC game revenue trends for the last 20 years or so and they aren't pretty. last year was 50% less than 2000, but it probably doesn't include WoW. the way consoles are today, PC gaming was probably a fad that will go away or we'll have a few games a year released
Crossover games runs the Steam and other games well, without a copy of windows stealing ram and CPU at all.
But it won't run everything. Is there a Fusion demo? If it runs Colin McRae DiRT then I'm buying, Windows 7 doesn't work in bootcamp yet in my 27".
Really? I have a 27" Imac I'm hoping to put Win 7 on - a search for "bootcamp windows 7" has results where people have it working but usually the audio-in is a problem, does it just not work at all for you?
Well dont know about you guys but im thinking that this may finally shut all the "you cant play games on a mac" haters out there.
Because looking at what i have been able to gather so far it looks like this can be the best of both worlds.
After reading VMWare forum I don't think you can play decently modern games.
Well dont know about you guys but im thinking that this may finally shut all the "you cant play games on a mac" haters out there.
Because looking at what i have been able to gather so far it looks like this can be the best of both worlds.
With the existing GPU on Macs, you still can't play games, except with a $2500 Mac Pro.
The GPU on an iMac will not be able to drive a 27" gracefully during an intensive game session
After reading VMWare forum I don't think you can play decently modern games.
Macworld has done a First Look.
Final first look impressions
Overall, I’ve been impressed with VMware Fusion 3’s performance during my time with it. Creating new virtual machines was simple, performance was good even on a mid-range iMac, and the ability to use Aero effects and run 3D games in the virtual machine was impressive. The new Virtual Machine Library screen eases the management of multiple virtual machines, and the built-in update tool will make it easy to keep up to date with future releases.
I’ll have much more to say about VMware Fusion in an upcoming review, where I’ll take a look at Fusion’s performance in both Leopard and Snow Leopard, and see how it compares with not only its predecessor, but also with its two main competitors in the virtualization market—VirtualBox and Parallels.
http://www.macworld.com/article/1434...firstlook.html
Wine Review also has Review on Fusion 3. However, I am not sure this is hands-on. http://wine-review.blogspot.com/2009...e-windows.html
Before paying for Fusion or Parallels, or using Bootcamp which is often inconvenient (having to boot into a separate partition) you should all really check out Sun Microsystems free open source option Virtual Box. It's available at www.virtualbox.org. I have been using it with XP on my Snow Leopard Mac and fell in love with it. I am now using it on an XP host at work with a Win 7 EE guest for testing. Check it out.
Does VirtualBox have DirectX 9 shader 3.0 support? If not, then for those people who need that for things like games, etc, VirtualBox is not an option.
Does VirtualBox have DirectX 9 shader 3.0 support? If not, then for those people who need that for things like games, etc, VirtualBox is not an option.
And I don't believe VirtualBox works with a BootCamp partition. I like having the option of booting into Windows if I have to.
- Jasen.
Crossover games runs the Steam and other games well, without a copy of windows stealing ram and CPU at all.
But it won't run everything. Is there a Fusion demo? If it runs Colin McRae DiRT then I'm buying, Windows 7 doesn't work in bootcamp yet in my 27".
PC Pro UK have provided a workaround to get Windows 7 in Boot Camp running on the new 27" iMac.
(edited to add "in Boot Camp", to avoid any conFusion - arf!)
Plus I don't think VMWare have escaped the PC mentality. Their install notes suggested sharing the Documents folder with all content in it and installing anti-virus to protect your content. No ! Bad dog ! No biscuit !
I switched to bootcamp and am much happier with a fairly stable Vista install. Before you laugh, with no software running except AVG and Office and no files kept in there, it starts up quite quickly. The Mac can see any data in the Vista partition and I move files from Mac to PC using iDisk. I hear Snow leopard allows the Windows side to see the Mac side so, when Fujitsu one-day release drivers for the ScanSnap, I'll be curious to see how that works.