VMware Fusion Version 1.0, Build 51348 released!

How does VirtualBox compare to these commercial alternatives? It doesn't have "coherency mode" and whatever it's called in VMWare, but besides that?

cool. although i'll only be running windows on my mac if its a last resort

Wait if you're thinking of buying

If you're thinking of buying Fusion, wait until some more people have posted their reports of the 1.0 release. In fact, you might want to wait until the 1.1 release.

I've been using the RC1 for a few weeks and while it's stable and hasn't crashed, the coherence/Unity mode isn't bug free. Additionally, there are often a few moments of lockup (when quitting Fusion, for example; new programs can't be launched for around 20 seconds even though Fusion no longer appears to be running). This is on both a 2GB MacBook and a 2GB iMac C2D.

I've reported these bugs but was brushed aside, with the support staff saying they're unique to my systems. From what I read, the 1.0 release only fixes a handful of "major" bugs to do with crashes, and applies some new artwork.

Also, if you buy in the UK, be aware that you'll be taxed for VAT but you won't be told about this additional charge UNTIL AFTER you've clicked to place the order. I complained about this, which is illegal in my country, but they never replied to me.

Has the graphics acceleration gotten any better?

other said:

How does VirtualBox compare to these commercial alternatives? It doesn't have "coherency mode" and whatever it's called in VMWare, but besides that?

Click to expand...

I've never used VirtualBox but I can say that the Unity (coherence) mode of Fusion is pretty impressive. Program windows from the Windows virtual machines really do appear as program windows on OS X, complete with Dock buttons (although this is a little buggy in RC1 of Fusion and they stick around after the program has quit). Note that only Windows apps have Unity. Linux or Solaris doesn't.

That said, it's not perfect. The windows are laggy/glitchy when dragged around. This might just be issues with the RC1 release, however.

I use Unity mode to run DRM crapware such as the BBC's iPlayer. I can run WMP11 in a window on the desktop, while browsing or using other OS X apps.

Good times.

this means nothing to me until i get my macbook with leopard on it at the start of november.

r-sparks said:

Also, if you buy in the UK, be aware that you'll be taxed for VAT but you won't be told about this additional charge UNTIL AFTER you've clicked to place the order. I complained about this, which is illegal in my country, but they never replied to me.

Click to expand...

That did irritate me, there was zero indication of it and 17.5% isn't just an extra few pennies.

Missed the pre-order deal

Damn! I was going to buy it on the 50% off pre-order deal and didn't realize it was ending so fast.

Oh well.

other said:

How does VirtualBox compare to these commercial alternatives? It doesn't have "coherency mode" and whatever it's called in VMWare, but besides that?

Click to expand...

virtualbox is a good choice if you only have tu run windows apps once a week on your mac or if you do not have enough money to buy parallels or fusion.
in my opinion parallels user interface is better because of the smartselect feature and coherence, which works pretty well. vmware fusion has unity ("same" as coherence) but fusion didn't work very well in my tests.
as far as i know parallels allows to use less than 2 gigs of ram for all virtual machines and you can only assign one processing core to a virtual machine.
as i bought a quadcore mac pro with 8 gigs of ram, i'll be happy if fusion becomes stable, because it could use more ressources to do work faster.

Did anyone else notice the iMac?

Is it me, or does the iMac shown on Fusion's page (http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/) look a lot like some images I've seen (http://i17.tinypic.com/4y9xhlk.jpg) of the iMac rumoured to be released tomorrow?

nja247 said:

Is it me, or does the iMac shown on Fusion's page (http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/) look a lot like some images I've seen (http://i17.tinypic.com/4y9xhlk.jpg) of the iMac rumoured to be released tomorrow?

nick

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it simply looks exactly like an apple cinema display on the vmware fusion page.
i don't think that apple's new iMac will look exactly like the ACD

nja247 said:

Is it me, or does the iMac shown on Fusion's page (http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/) look a lot like some images I've seen (http://i17.tinypic.com/4y9xhlk.jpg) of the iMac rumoured to be released tomorrow?

nick

Click to expand...

That's Apple's Cinema Displays.

Edit: Maybe I should reload the page before replying to posts. I was really late.

stormdrums said:

virtualbox is a good choice if you only have tu run windows apps once a week on your mac or if you do not have enough money to buy parallels or fusion.

Click to expand...

Is that simply because of cohesion/unity, or is there something else?

I am kind of interested in the DirectX 8.1 support. I wonder if I could use Project 64 in a virtual machine. Has anybody tried?

has there been a general consensus which is better? vmware or parallels?

My experience with Parallels has been pretty good so I'm looking to see some major reasons for switching to Fusion before trying it out. I've not installed the latest version of Parallels since I'm not prepared to try beta software for production data but v3 works fine for me at the moment, although there are a few niggles.

At the least I'd like to know what the performance difference is between them on a C2D MacBook Pro.

Already a beta ?

If I understand correctly, Parallels is already working on Desktop 4.0, is that what the mentioned "beta" is about?

...

Is it me, or is time going really fast? Parallels only released Desktop 3.0 two months ago! (Or was it three?)

It is nice (and necessary) that companies work on updates and improvements, but soon we'll have to pay a new licence every 3 months for bug-correction and obvious improvements, going from Desktop 35 to Desktop 36.
I'm still on Desktop 2.0, I did not feel like paying yet again 6 months after my initial licence, for features which should have been included.

other said:

I am kind of interested in the DirectX 8.1 support. I wonder if I could use Project 64 in a virtual machine. Has anybody tried?

Click to expand...

Hah, I like the idea of emulating within an emulator....

I’ve used both VMware and Parallels and own both and I kicked Parallels to the curb as soon as VMware hit RC1. I‘ve since stopped having Kernel Panics and related network issues. VMware in RC1 does have some system slow downs at times, but remains stable and I’ve really come to prefer it. All it really needs to be perfect is some of Parallels VM management features and its the perfect product.

rodti said:

Hah, I like the idea of emulating within an emulator....

Click to expand...

VMWare isn't an emulator though.

I think the story headline is mis leading and needs changing. This is not Parallels 3.0 Beta, this ended just over a week ago, i was a tester on that program and it was a private beta.

This is a public beta of Parallels 3.xx, so really the story headline needs changing to avoid confusion.

cool, some competition

eenu said:

I think the story headline is mis leading and needs changing. This is not Parallels 3.0 Beta, this ended just over a week ago, i was a tester on that program and it was a private beta.

This is a public beta of Parallels 3.xx, so really the story headline needs changing to avoid confusion.

Click to expand...

ahAH, I understand better now, I obviously got confused, indeed...

Thanks for the explanations
No need anymore to be all wired against the software world, I can be zen again...