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VMWare has Fusion for M1 already available for download ( as a tech preview ), why is everyone saying they gave up on it?
blogs.vmware.com
desktop hypervisor Archives
Because a lot of people here don't know the difference between emulation and virtualization. They want Windows on M1, despite that fact that Microsoft doesn't support the configuration and it is likely to break licensing terms.VMWare has Fusion for M1 already available for download ( as a tech preview ), why is everyone saying they gave up on it?
desktop hypervisor Archives
But hey, that's probably all VMware's fault.
I'm sure VMWare will be releasing Fusion for Apple Silicon, where, for example, it will be able to run ARM versions of Linux. It is up to Microsoft whether the list will include ARM Windows 11--which is where any x86 emulation will lie.
You’re still off. Hypervisors are a key component of virtualization technology. It includes emulation for various computer components (like NIC emulation), but it does not include processor emulation.
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That's great but the complaints are coming from M1 mac usersYou can't beat FREE !!! ....Player Runs Windows 10 Pro perfectly, without Any Issue, whatsoever.
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Tried it, didn’t like it. Felt a bit feature restrictive to my taste.
And yeah “emulation”, although that is virtualising a CPU architecture through software.
They didn’t abandon anything cause they didn’t even bother spending much resources on trying, like releasing some sort of technical preview products.
I appreciate the integration into VMware “ecosystem”, but Mac is missing the Windows part from M1 forward. Frankly, those user groups are not nearly as big as what VMware would hoped for.
FWIW, best decision I made to smooth over my cross-platform life was to buy an inexpensive Windows laptop and connect via Microsoft Remote Desktop. The dedicated i3 PC runs circles around Fusion on my MBP.
I doubt that VMWare has much interest to invest in an x86 emulator for ARM (which would be a significant effort if you want good performance). Fusion has always been a bit of a niche product, although the Pro version is a great solution for certain development and admin tasks on Intel Macs. Their bread and butter are the server products.
I'm sure VMWare will be releasing Fusion for Apple Silicon, where, for example, it will be able to run ARM versions of Linux. It is up to Microsoft whether the list will include ARM Windows 11--which is where any x86 emulation will lie.
desktop hypervisor Archives
I'm pretty sure lots of us warned people to buy Intel Macs while they still can, because the M chips are going to be seriously hobbled for the foreseeable future as far as virtualization is concerned.
Here, I'll say it again: BUY INTEL MACS NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN. The 16" MacBook Pro, the 27" iMac, the Mac Pro, and a version of the Mac mini are still available with the far better Intel chips. Don't buy a M1 Mac if there is even a single Windoze program you need to run, because you won't be able to run it on Apple silicon.
The only feature I noticed missing from the free version was the ability to connect to ESXi servers. And while that's a problem for me, it's not likely to be a problem for most users.
I do suspect that VMWare will be doing x86 emulation at some point, but it'll probably be a few years. And I suspect Apple's Rosetta 2 is both too limited for the purpose and given Apple's track record too dangerous to rely on. After the stunt Apple pulled with Rosetta the first time (there's no reason we shouldn't be able to run PowerPC apps on modern macOS other than Apple arbitrarily dropping support for a working emulator) they're afraid to try.
I used to use Fusion extensively for a wide variety of purposes. But at some point around 4 years ago or so I was having so much trouble with it in terms of performance and stability that I gave Parallels a try (after abandoning IT for Fusion for *exactly those same reasons* several years earlier). I've found recent-ish versions of Parallels to be vastly more stable as well as much faster than Fusion. I never expected their position to flip-flop so dramatically. I don't even consider Fusion to be viable option anymore. I'm using Parallels to virtualize Mac OS as far back as SL (it can be done but is a complicated setup as Apple *really* doesn't want you to be able to use Snow Leopard) and various Windows versions from XP to 10. In many cases it's virtualizing critical education server functions (mostly for state-mandated test software, which requires caching for ESL and ASL files etc.) so it has to be on and working 100% of the year. Parallels does that all just fine (unlike Fusion did.) At some point Fusion also stopped supporting older Intel-based machines, regardless of their performance level. So I've got old MacPros running multiple virtualized instances (and multiple operating systems) simultaneously in Parallels without any performance or stability issues whatsoever while the nitwits who built Fusion said "nope, can't do that." 🤔
The real question should be: Will VMWare force users to pay for an upgrade to v.13 if macOS Monterey breaks Fusion v.12 just like how macOS Big Sur broke Fusion v.11. That was a nasty surprise when I upgraded to Big Sur only to find out VMWare Fusion won't work without a (paid) upgrade
That seems fair, and I am decently confident Apple will kill off Rosetta 2 much faster than what we’d thought about, given Apple completely cut off 32-bit support without any backwards compatibility.
With that being said, software emulating x86 will probably be the next decade of computing for quite some people.
On a performance basis Parallels is great. For support however, what a nightmare.
Google or forums are by far your best bet. Had an issue recently and I was waiting for days between replies on my support ticket. Annoying thing was in the first ticket I sent them I listed every trouble shooting step I took, only for the first reply to ask, "Have you tries this?"
To add insult to injury, my reply was replied to by somebody different who guess what.............Asked me to try something else that I'd already said I'd tried.
Tough room. VMware Workstation is literally mentioned as an example in the Wikipedia entry for Hypervisor. QEMU is as well, which has extensive CPU emulation. What word do you suggest to classify VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop?