Lion-Optimized VMware Fusion 4 Debuts with Over 90 New Features

[accessoriesguy]

rebuilt as a 64-bit Cocoa application, enticing! I like the reports on the performance gains, the only thing that could make this perfect is if i could also virtual machine Snow Leopard!

Then I would have all VM powers to my disposal! How much is the upgrade from 3 to 4? anybody know?

 

[chrono1081]

Having everything on 1 computer is the big advantage of running a VM with Windows. Having to manage 2 different computers is a pain.

Not to mention a Windows license + VirtualBox is cheaper than a Windows 7 laptop.

I have to use a Windows VM for work. I wouldn't want to use a separate laptop.

This.

Most students get Windows for free (myself included) and I would occasionally get a class that required the use of Visio, DirectX programming, or UDK, but my entire workflow for everything I do (which is a ton on a computer) is all on Mac. Virtual machines made the process of using Windows specific stuff effortless. One monitor would have OSX open and one would have Windows and I could effortlessly switch between them, drag and drop files between them, etc.

To the person KnightWRX is replying to, if you are paying more for Windows + a virtual machine your doing it wrong somewhere, you should be paying $200 max unless you are after a full version of Windows.

 

[PhatHo]

Answers

If you haven't already, check out the VMware Fusion twitter @ http://twitter.com/#!/vmwarefusion.
Answers from the developers directly to common questions in this forum.

 

[codymac]

Not a fan of the part where opening VM settings opens the VM window and closes the library window. It just seems goofy.

 

[mrfoof82]

Their icon is much better than Parallels IMO. Might make the switch down the road.

There's one reason some of us will never consider anything but VMWare: We need it for work. In the datacenter, it's trusted. There is known compatibility. I can pull VMs from existing production environments down to my Mac (barring certain limitations), and vice versa. I can put them up on cloud hosting solutions without any real worry.

Parallels is probably fine for home users, but the several times I played with it, instability ruled it out immediately. I won't consider anything outside of VMWare or Xen in the workplace (save for actual hardware domaining), and I've never considered the price of VMWare Fusion to be anything but reasonable (compare to $180 for VMWare Workstation on Windows, and muuuuuch more for server products).

 

[flat4]

Virtual Box is 0$. Parallels is 90$.

Love Virtual Box but there were some quirky things with it when hosting Some linux and windows vms. They may have fixed it but i need something reliable for my users so I had to go with a commercial one.

 

[TalonFlyer]

Upgrading from Fusion v.3

There is no upgrade path from Fusion 3 unless you have a subscription.

If you have a subscription then your new license key will be issued next week.

So, being impatient and not wanting to wait for my new license key, I am installing using a 30-day evaluation key for the next week or two.

If you purchased a subscription for Fusion before September 14th last year, then your subscription expired before this update and you will need to purchase the software again.

It has been almost two years since version 3 was released. So, subscriptions sold for the first 10 months basically became worthless. If this happened to you might be able to call and complain that you did not receive the upgrade you paid for and they might extend you subscription. I say might because I know some people have had this done, but it takes some tactful communications to persuade them to extend a subscription.

Let hope this version is worth the wait.

 

[ozaz]

Which sites should I keep an eye on for a comprehensive fusion 4 v parallels 7 comparison? I'm not really interested in speed or graphics performance. I mainly want to know which one will be least taxing on my MBP (which one will be best for battery life). Has one been significantly better than the other in this regard in previous versions? Also is one significantly better than the other when it comes to speed of suspend/resume operations?

 

[Justinf79]

So you carry two laptops around ?

Already have a windows license, I'd like to know where I can a Toshiba laptop for $50 ?

If you don't need to switch back and forth, you should just make a Windows boot partition on your Mac.

Also, Crossover can be pretty convenient too,
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover/

That sounds like WINE. I've used WINE to run some simple Windows programs directly in OS X.




So speaking of this new version of Fusion, does anyone know the max amount of video card RAM you can assign to a VM? Parallels is capped at like 256MB. :/

 

[Frado]

is it me or is this 4th version extremely slow? Can't even get to install windows xp within a day :/. Dont upgrade just yet

 

[Murphy2011]

Earlier in the thread, someone had asked if there are any average users on MR. I would say I probably fit that category, possibly the only one on the site. For that, please have patience with my question. I've only switched over to Apple when I bought the most recent MBP. I follow MR daily because I'm a big fan of Apple and OS now and I like to keep up with Apple news and try to learn other things Apple/OS have to offer. As such, I am curious if there are any benefits of virtual machines for the average, every-day user. From reading the thread, I clearly see the benefits of it for developers, testers, etc. I can't say I've missed Windows since converting over, but if there's a benefit to having Fusion, now sounds like the right time to buy with the promo pricing and $10 discount. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[chrono1081]

Apparently, all those artists were using the wrong software platform. When you need Windows to run a mission critical application, then Linux is NOT the right choice for you. Whatever ran on those Linux boxes probably would also have run on Windows or could have been written for Windows in the first place. Except for trying hard to not use what everyone else in the world uses was probably the only motivation for going with Linux in the first place, and that alone is not a good enough reason.

You're doing NOBODY a favor by adding unnecessary complexity to a system. Having to instal a VM to run a mission critical application only shows that you made a poor choice. In my book, VMs are only acceptable on developer machines or when you need to make sure that a client system meets certain security and quality standards.

Wow you really have a narrow way of thinking.

The reason you see Linux is because its much better than Windows at handling huge amounts of data (amongst other things). Programs like Mari, Houdini, and many other 3D modeling apps come out for Linux first, then go to Mac since its easier to port between the two, and then eventually make their way to Windows. My last job had some teams of artists in one part of the building and the ones stuck on the win boxes actually went to their bosses to ask for linux boxes so their projects wouldn't crash all the time. Management agreed and they all got linux boxes and they've been happy ever since.

I know you like Windows, and its good at many things, but its also not good at many things which is why people need to use different OS's. If you look at IT jobs in creative fields they want Linux and Mac experience, not Windows. Windows is not a perfect fit for everyone, if it was most everyone on this forum wouldn't be on a Mac. Not to mention its honestly more expensive to upkeep Windows machines.

I dread when people switch from Windows to something else because it means as a Windows technician, I'll lose my job.

Good thing we're not all you.

A lot of movie editing/artwork is done on alternative platforms. Breaking Microsoft's stranglehold on the industry would help bolster innovation some. They have turned the PC industry into a stagnant cesspool. You're preaching stagnation and immobility. "Hey it works on Windows only, use Windows!". Yeah, way to spur innovation and development.

This.

 

[Doc69]

Snow Leopard's license agreement doesn't allow it like Lion's does.

But is it possible, even if it would violate the user agreement?

 

[sh4ners]

promo code won't work for me. it says $49.99 but won't change once i enter it in. anyone else having this problem?

 

[psxguru]

promo code won't work for me. it says $49.99 but won't change once i enter it in. anyone else having this problem?

Just checked, the code is still active.

Try clearing/enabling your cookies or a different browser?

 

[dadama]

I've been holding out for another promotion in order to buy Fusion... Now I get the latest version and a double discount! Thanks for this.

Bought and downloaded!

Note: this worked for me only after I logged into my account. Wouldn't accept the discount until I logged in.

 

[iMAX386]

If it's for school then you were doing it wrong.

EDU version of Fusion (don't care about parallels) is $19.99. Many schools offer windows for free, or perhaps through MSDNAA. At the very least you could get a student copy (aka 'ultimate steal') which is Windows 7 for $29.99. I doubt you could find a laptop of any reasonable quality for $49.98.

Where do you find that? The VMware online academic store still listed Fusion4 as $49. You mind providing a link where you're seeing $19.99?

 

[Yay User Name]

Really...

True Lion support would be the ability to run Windows full screen in one space and do no more than swipe your fingers to switch from OS X to a full function PC.

 

[German]

There's full-screen mode. We just don't use the Lion API so that we can maintain backwards compatibility with 10.6

http://twitter.com/#!/VMwareFusion/status/114019483051503617

 

[Kebabselector]

True Lion support would be the ability to run Windows full screen in one space and do no more than swipe your fingers to switch from OS X to a full function PC.

Version 2 manages to do this easily. I skipped ver3 as i didn't need any of the 'new' functions. Just trying 4 for 30 days, just incase Virtual Box come up with a native Lion VM solution.

 

[maghemi]

I'd still like to know if any of these virtual machines yet have the performance to run games well.

 

[infomatique]

Why Run Lion In A VM On Lion

Why would you want to run a virtual machine running lion, if you're already running lion?

I do it to test various versions of software under development. Once the testing is completed the VM can be deleted.

 

[AidenShaw]

I do it to test various versions of software under development. Once the testing is completed the VM can be deleted.

You can also backup a VM just by duplicating the directory with its files.

Another very handy feature is "volatile" (or "non-persistent") VMs. A VM can essentially be marked as "read-only". When you boot and run it, any changes to the disks are stored in temporary files. You can test, experiment, install trial software, do anything from inside the VM.

When you power off, all of the temporary files are deleted - and the VM is reset to "virgin". Whatever changes you made are gone, and you start with a clean slate on the next boot.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Where do you find that? The VMware online academic store still listed Fusion4 as $49. You mind providing a link where you're seeing $19.99?

I misspoke. That was a promo price that I was thinking about.

 

[flat4]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Apparently, all those artists were using the wrong software platform. When you need Windows to run a mission critical application, then Linux is NOT the right choice for you. Whatever ran on those Linux boxes probably would also have run on Windows or could have been written for Windows in the first place. Except for trying hard to not use what everyone else in the world uses was probably the only motivation for going with Linux in the first place, and that alone is not a good enough reason.

You're doing NOBODY a favor by adding unnecessary complexity to a system. Having to instal a VM to run a mission critical application only shows that you made a poor choice. In my book, VMs are only acceptable on developer machines or when you need to make sure that a client system meets certain security and quality standards.

Wow you really have a narrow way of thinking.

The reason you see Linux is because its much better than Windows at handling huge amounts of data (amongst other things). Programs like Mari, Houdini, and many other 3D modeling apps come out for Linux first, then go to Mac since its easier to port between the two, and then eventually make their way to Windows. My last job had some teams of artists in one part of the building and the ones stuck on the win boxes actually went to their bosses to ask for linux boxes so their projects wouldn't crash all the time. Management agreed and they all got linux boxes and they've been happy ever since.

I know you like Windows, and its good at many things, but its also not good at many things which is why people need to use different OS's. If you look at IT jobs in creative fields they want Linux and Mac experience, not Windows. Windows is not a perfect fit for everyone, if it was most everyone on this forum wouldn't be on a Mac. Not to mention its honestly more expensive to upkeep Windows machines.

I dread when people switch from Windows to something else because it means as a Windows technician, I'll lose my job.

Good thing we're not all you.

A lot of movie editing/artwork is done on alternative platforms. Breaking Microsoft's stranglehold on the industry would help bolster innovation some. They have turned the PC industry into a stagnant cesspool. You're preaching stagnation and immobility. "Hey it works on Windows only, use Windows!". Yeah, way to spur innovation and development.

This.

Isn't pixar render farms run on unix or Linux?

I work in IT and having different vms for three versions of windows is great.

Vmware esx runs all our our mission critical servers so I like this technology