VMware launches Fusion 4 with 90 new features including Lion support
VMware on Wednesday announced the new VMware Fusion 4 virtualization software for running Windows on a Mac, packing more than 90 new features including a design built specifically for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.
VMware Fusion 4 is available now for a promotional price of $49.99, and is optimized for today's multi-core Macs, as well as the newly released Lion operating system, VMware said.
"Enhancements to VMware Fusion 4 make it a breeze to run Windows and Mac applications side by side on a Mac," said Pat Lee, director, client product management, VMware. "Offering full integration into Apple OS X Lion, VMware Fusion 4 builds on our proven, award winning platform to provide an easy, fast and reliable way to run Windows applications on a Mac."
Key features in VMware Fusion 4, as highlighted by VMware on Wednesday, include:
Built for OS X Lion - The company said VMware Fusion 4 is designed to provide the best Windows experience on OS X Lion. Users can add Windows programs to Launchpad, experience them in Mission Control, view them in full screen or switch between them using Mac gestures.
Better Performance and Faster Graphics - VMware Fusion 4 is said to have been engineered to run Windows and Mac applications side-by-side with incredible speed and reliability. As a 64-bit Cocoa application, it is optimized for today's multi-core Macs and reportedly delivers 3D graphics up to 2.5-times faster than previous versions of Fusion.
Even More "Mac-like" Experience - VMware Fusion 4 enhances the way Windows programs run on a Mac. From the brand new settings menu to the redesigned virtual machine library and snapshot menu, users are said to have even more Mac-like experiences when running Windows programs.
Lion Squared - VMware Fusion 4 now supports OS X Lion in a virtual machine, allowing users to run OS X Lion, OS X Lion Server, Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server and Mac OS X Leopard Server in virtual machines.
VMware also touted the migration assistant of VMware Fusion 4, which it said makes it easy for users to transfer their entire PC to a Mac. This allows users to access Windows programs and files from their PC directly on their Mac.
Availability and Pricing
VMware Fusion 4 is available until the end of the year for a promotional price of only $49.99. The suggested retail price for VMware Fusion 4 is $79.99. Customers who have purchased VMware Fusion 3 on or after July 20, 2011 are eligible for an electronic upgrade to VMware Fusion 4 at no additional cost. Volume pricing for corporate users is available from select resellers and vmware.com/vmwarestore/.
VMware Fusion 4 is available now for a promotional price of $49.99, and is optimized for today's multi-core Macs, as well as the newly released Lion operating system, VMware said.
"Enhancements to VMware Fusion 4 make it a breeze to run Windows and Mac applications side by side on a Mac," said Pat Lee, director, client product management, VMware. "Offering full integration into Apple OS X Lion, VMware Fusion 4 builds on our proven, award winning platform to provide an easy, fast and reliable way to run Windows applications on a Mac."
Key features in VMware Fusion 4, as highlighted by VMware on Wednesday, include:
Built for OS X Lion - The company said VMware Fusion 4 is designed to provide the best Windows experience on OS X Lion. Users can add Windows programs to Launchpad, experience them in Mission Control, view them in full screen or switch between them using Mac gestures.
Better Performance and Faster Graphics - VMware Fusion 4 is said to have been engineered to run Windows and Mac applications side-by-side with incredible speed and reliability. As a 64-bit Cocoa application, it is optimized for today's multi-core Macs and reportedly delivers 3D graphics up to 2.5-times faster than previous versions of Fusion.
Even More "Mac-like" Experience - VMware Fusion 4 enhances the way Windows programs run on a Mac. From the brand new settings menu to the redesigned virtual machine library and snapshot menu, users are said to have even more Mac-like experiences when running Windows programs.
Lion Squared - VMware Fusion 4 now supports OS X Lion in a virtual machine, allowing users to run OS X Lion, OS X Lion Server, Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server and Mac OS X Leopard Server in virtual machines.
VMware also touted the migration assistant of VMware Fusion 4, which it said makes it easy for users to transfer their entire PC to a Mac. This allows users to access Windows programs and files from their PC directly on their Mac.
Availability and Pricing
VMware Fusion 4 is available until the end of the year for a promotional price of only $49.99. The suggested retail price for VMware Fusion 4 is $79.99. Customers who have purchased VMware Fusion 3 on or after July 20, 2011 are eligible for an electronic upgrade to VMware Fusion 4 at no additional cost. Volume pricing for corporate users is available from select resellers and vmware.com/vmwarestore/.
Comments
What is up with the 1:1 aspect ratio in the window?
Fusion 4 was going to be a definite purchase for me, but now I'm not sure. No expansion in Linux support, no upgrade pricing, and no academic discount. $50 for a minor upgrade so it plays nicer with Lion is a bit steep.
This.
Fusion 4 was going to be a definite purchase for me, but now I'm not sure. No expansion in Linux support, no upgrade pricing, and no academic discount. $50 for a minor upgrade so it plays nicer with Lion is a bit steep.
It's cheaper than Parallels, though.
Fusion 4 was going to be a definite purchase for me, but now I'm not sure. No expansion in Linux support, no upgrade pricing, and no academic discount. $50 for a minor upgrade so it plays nicer with Lion is a bit steep.
Why do you think it doesn't allow a vm for Linux? I run Ubuntu, and all the possible Mac OSs as well as XP, Vista and 7. Why not visit the VMWare web site and see for yourself?
It's cheaper than Parallels, though.
If you already have VMware Fusion, you can switch to Parallels 7 for less than to upgrade to VMware Fusion 4. Switching to Parallels 7 will cost 29.99 versus the upgrade to VMware Fusion 4 which is 49.99. I am not sure what I will be doing yet...
Here's the link: http://www.parallels.com/ca/products...p/vmwareoffer/
What is up with the 1:1 aspect ratio in the window?
Total the choice of the write of the article. You can make the VM screen any size and obviously full, screen too. However in Lion VM there are some possible limitations. I am running the dev beta so I better upgrade to the full version to check that out. Free trial is here for anyone interested: http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/overview.html
If you already have VMware fusion 4, you can switch to Parallels 7 for less than to upgrade to VMware fusion 4. Switching to Parallels 7 will cost 29.99 versus the upgrade to Fusion 4 which is 49.99. I am not sure what I will be doing yet...
Here's the link: http://www.parallels.com/ca/products...p/vmwareoffer/
That is some pretty stupid marketing isn't it?
It is a bit of a CPU hog so I would consider v4 after I read some reviews, to see if the "64bit support", "Better Performance and Faster Graphics", amount to something tangible.
If you already have VMware Fusion, you can switch to Parallels 7 for less than to upgrade to VMware Fusion 4. Switching to Parallels 7 will cost 29.99 versus the upgrade to VMware Fusion 4 which is 49.99. I am not sure what I will be doing yet...
Here's the link: http://www.parallels.com/ca/products...p/vmwareoffer/
Something to consider, Parallels or VMWare is almost always included in those seasonal $49 Mac bundles by MacHeist, MacUpdate, and the like.
Wonder if there's a way to fool it into running Tiger Server (and thus Classic)?
No I doubt it as it would require emulation of PPC.
Sweet. Tried Fusion 3 on Lion and had nothing but trouble. Sticking with Snow Leopard on 2nd machine to run it. Also my Quark 7 will NOT run on Lion but does on SL. But may run Lion now as a VM and have everything.
Been using Fusion 3 on Lion for weeks, no issues whatsoever.
I hope VMWare doesn't go the way of Parallels and start to ridiculously bloat their software in a futile attempt to force Windows and Mac to "feel" like one, and I'm not talking about about Unity. The reason I like VMWare is because I can use a Windows OS and a Mac OS as separate stable OSes.
Just turn off those features then, or use VirtualBox...it's free.