Can VMware Fusion use the Boot Camp partition, and is it the best?

[ShadowXOR]

I plan on using Boot Camp for gaming, but there are a few programs that are small I would want to run without rebooting into Windows, so I was thinking of getting VMware Fusion and had a few questions:

1. Will all changes done in Boot Camp OR in VMware Fusion be shared with each other, essentially can I work off of the same Virtual Machine?

2. Is VMware Fusion the best, when put against its competitors like Parallels, etc.?

3. Is VMware Fusion the one most used in a professional/corporate environment?

EDIT:

4. I will be running Vista Home Premium x64, and as well as XP in both 32 and 64 bit variations. Are there any limitations regarding any of those? And I think I heard VMware causes some problem with the Windows Aero theme?

Thank you very much for your help.

[louden]

You should try searching the forums...

[ShadowXOR]

You should try searching the forums...

If you're not going to help, don't post. You just bumped my thread. I know about the search function, it wasn't helping.

[VideoFreek]

1. Yes, and that is the major advantage of using Fusion in BC mode. You get the best of both worlds--the power of running natively when needed, as well as the convenience of running under virtualization. However, there are a few advantages to running in a pure virtual mode--there is a good sticky on VMWare's forum covering this.

2. There are dozens of threads covering the Fusion vs. Parallels vs. whatever question. Everyone has his or her favorite. Bottom line--they both work well.

3. Well, VMWare has been in the enterprise virtualization game for many years, and so Fusion (which is purely a desktop product) draws heavily on that heritage. This is what many people like about Fusion; although Parallels has what many consider to be a more polished interface, Fusion is liked for its techological underpinnings and is said to be faster (I haven't personally confirmed this).

4. I run XP Pro, Vista Ultimate and Win2K Server (all 32-bit) under Fusion, and all run fine. Can't help you re: 64-bit, however. Regarding the "Aero" graphical glitz, yes it gets turned off in virtualization because the virtual graphics adapter isn't up to the task, but I'm not aware that things are any different in Parallels--somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

[ShadowXOR]

Thanks a ton, I'm going with VMware.

EDIT: I'm on their forums but they use some pretty shoddy software, I'm trying to find the thread you mention about the advantages of virtualization but I'm not seeing it...

[Siron]

Parallels does not support 64 bit operating systems yet.
Alan

[VideoFreek]

I'm on their forums but they use some pretty shoddy software, I'm trying to find the thread you mention about the advantages of virtualization but I'm not seeing it...It's right here (http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2523).