VMware Fusion 3 Virtualization Solution Now Available

[jb60606]

Windows 7 (RC) is definitely snappier for me in terms of graphics. I can't speak for gaming performance or anything like that, but I use several Java based trading applications that update market data and charts for about 200 stocks at high frequencies/intervals, and it doesn't stutter anymore. It also doesn't have to repaint the entire screen, or get jerky, when I move the Windows around.
Quad core support was a nice addition as well.

 

[one1]

My network adapter is continually dropping connection using 7 Ultimate and VM3. The machine cannot keep the adapter connected. I never had the issue on VM2 before the upgrade. It's almost impossible to use at this point with the adapter dropping every few minutes and sometimes a full restart of the iMac being required.

I fixed it.

VMWare sets by default that you use the Mac's NAT setting in Virtual Machine>Network Adapter, but the proper setting is actually Bridged>"your router".

Hope that helps someone.

 

[iLunar]

I've been using Fusion 3 with Windows 7 on my 13.3 MBP, and I have to say, it's been a pretty good experience so far. Fusion seems to fly, and I like the new UI tweaks. I miss having the menu bar come down, but the new floating window isn't bad.

Aero seems to be pretty fluid for only giving it 1GB of RAM. Overall, I'm pretty impressed.

 

[xendofnothing]

Will this work with Windows Authentication? If I upgrade my BootCamp partition with Windows 7, activate it, can I then use Fusion in addition to dual-booting from the Bootcamp partition? Or will Windows 7 not authenticate?

It's been working fine for me.

 

[xendofnothing]

One thing I will definitely say though is that Windows 7 64-bit is a screamer on my MBP Late 08, but with Fusion 3, it is a bit sluggish. I've heard Windows 7 32-bit is better. I'm thinking of mainly using it in Boot Camp and only using Fusion when I just need to jump in for two seconds.

However, being able to access the Mac drive in Windows with Snow Leopard is a big plus.

 

[Avro]

Anyone know if I need to buy 2 upgrade copies, one for my MBP and one for my MP or will one suffice?

One more question...can VMWare allow me to have 2 virtual machines running simultaneously? I'm not sure I want to upgrade XP just yet and wanted to get a full copy of Win7 and install a second virtual machine. Could both these machines be run in parallel?

Do you mean in parallel or simultaneously? It is pretty usual to have several virtual machines in VmWare. A couple of versions of Windows and perhaps a few Linux distros.

 

[dyn]

They removed or broke the headless functionality. Whereas in 2 I could launch my VM's at boot and have them available without having to login, I cannot do that in 3. It was also nice to be able to flip into and out of headless mode in the GUI, but that's gone as well.

That's the second big fail, and as I use my VM's for running Solaris x86 servers as well as Windows desktops, that was enough to push me into looking at VirtualBox.

I think you missed the following official document that explains how to use headless mode in Fusion 2 AND 3: http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-1201 That's your first fail.

The second fail is you're forgetting that Fusion is not and never was meant to be a headless virtualisation product. It is meant as a competitor to Parallels, to give normal users the opportunity to use Windows in OS X. Since they used the same code base as for all of their other products this also means they are able to do the advanced stuff and provide a lot of support for non-Windows systems (which VirtualBox and Parallels fail to do, they are not to be recommended when using stuff like FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, Linux, etc.). All in all, Fusion is a desktop product, if you want to do server tasks than use something like Server or ESX(i) as they are meant to be used that way. Bare in mind that you're actually using toiletpaper to write on.

Also, looking at the Fusion forums, there are a lot of folks having some significant issues with 3.

The most problems I see are related to issues related to buying the product. VMware already acknowledge they had a lot of problems because a lot of people want to buy Fusion 3. As a solution they gave away a trial key so people have the ability to keep using the product and try to buy it at a later time. There are not much other problems, just a few regarding people that have problems after upgrading (a lot of Windows problems) which mostly are easy to fix (uninstall VMware Tools, reboot, reinstall VMware Tools). If you take a look at a lot of reviews you'll see only positives one. People are really happy about it being faster and better FreeBSD 7.2 support (too bad VMware Tools fails to install as it does a uname -r and does not recognice 8.0-RC2 which uname -r returns ).

OTOH, VirtualBox seems to be running reasonably well. Performance is fine for my Window's VM, and I'm evaluating my Solaris x86 servers. I do seem to be running into a bug on the headless mode, but at least it's an officially supported feature and not likely to vanish at the whim of some company.

Yep, VirtualBox is a really great product but still needs a lot of work when compared to Fusion, Workstation and something like Parallels. As you said, the interface is really horrible but it also lacks quite a lot of features and things like speed and stability.

If you're looking at virtual machines, take a gander at VirtualBox, the pricing and upgrade pricing certainly are hard to match.

If you just want to run Windows from time to time without the necessity for 3D stuff than yes, VirtualBox is a great tool to use. If however you want to virtualise non-Windows stuff, have 3D support or do other nifty stuff than try Fusion or Parallels because VirtualBox simply sucks at these things.

 

[ae3265]

I think you missed the following official document that explains how to use headless mode in Fusion 2 AND 3: http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-1201 That's your first fail.

Wrong, I was using all that with 2. It was taken out in 3. Check the forums on VMware, they some out and admit that they took it out.

"The fluxCapacitor option was removed from Fusion 3.0 due to rearchitecting of the rendering engine; we did not have time to make sure that headless mode still worked. We realize it's something that some people find useful. In the meantime, force quitting the UI or invoking Fusion directly should work."

Which is not sufficient as I need my VM's to start on boot, which they cannot do with 3. And since VMware does not offer support for ESX/ESXi on Apple hardware, that's not an option. Though Xen might be...

Notice that this was only added after I brought it up on VMware's forums. And no, the nogui option on vmrun does not appear to be working, so invoking directly currently does not work.

"The second fail is you're forgetting that Fusion is not and never was meant to be a headless virtualisation product"

No, I'm not forgetting that. I'm not happy that they decided not to continue the feature. And I'm not alone.

"Yep, VirtualBox is a really great product but still needs a lot of work when compared to Fusion, Workstation and something like Parallels. As you said, the interface is really horrible but it also lacks quite a lot of features and things like speed and stability.

If you just want to run Windows from time to time without the necessity for 3D stuff than yes, VirtualBox is a great tool to use. If however you want to virtualise non-Windows stuff, have 3D support or do other nifty stuff than try Fusion or Parallels because VirtualBox simply sucks at these things."

Actually, I'm finding VirtualBox 3 to be quite a credible entry in the VM market. It does run Windows, Linux, BSD's and Solaris. While I will grant Fusion officially supports more OS's, I'm finding to real show stoppers in terms of performance or features. It's definitely fast enough and stable enough so far.

I don't think it's too far out there to suggest VirtualBox as an alternative. Considering the number of issues with 3 on the forums, and there are a lot, I also do not think it's too far out there to suggest that people who rely on things wait before upgrading from 2 to 3. And it's always good to look at alternatives.

In my case, VMware has still been a pretty big disappointment with Fusion 3. That may not be the case for everyone. But I am glad there are alternatives. If you are happy with the product, good for you.

 

[neteng101]

Has anyone tried Boot Camp + Fusion 3 VM with Windows 7? Wondering if there are activation issues if you boot to Boot Camp and then Fusion VM.

 

[SteelWheel]

Here's a funny question: I bought a Fusion 2 license about a year ago as part of one of those holiday promotional bundles. I never installed or registered it though--I had Parallels running on my MBP, and it was fine for my needs.

I just got a brand new Mini today though--the souped-up one with 4GB RAM. Figure I might as well install Fusion (and Windows 7) on this one and try it out. Can I get the $39.99 upgrade price? I was hoping to install Fusion 3, and then get prompted for the reduced price when the serial is recognized as one issued for the older version.

 

[dyn]

Wrong, I was using all that with 2. It was taken out in 3. Check the forums on VMware, they some out and admit that they took it out.

I did and they never said nor admitted they took out the option as you can clearly see from the document. They took parts of the functionality out of Fusion 3 due to a decision made by their management. That decision was actually based on the fact people were already having a lot of problems with it in previous versions and it is not officially supported (it's just a "hack" or "advanced feature" if you want to call it that way). Your citation reflects that too:

"The fluxCapacitor option was removed from Fusion 3.0 due to rearchitecting of the rendering engine; we did not have time to make sure that headless mode still worked. We realize it's something that some people find useful. In the meantime, force quitting the UI or invoking Fusion directly should work."

In other words: the functionality is still there but it is not entirely the same as in 2.x.

Which is not sufficient as I need my VM's to start on boot, which they cannot do with 3. And since VMware does not offer support for ESX/ESXi on Apple hardware, that's not an option. Though Xen might be...

They don't offer official support on Apple hardware but ESXi runs fine on a Mac Pro and probably the Xserve as well. Look around and you'll find a lot of people running it on white boxes such as the Mac Pro. If you need the official support this is obviously not gonna work.

Notice that this was only added after I brought it up on VMware's forums. And no, the nogui option on vmrun does not appear to be working, so invoking directly currently does not work.

I've seen it on the private beta forum as well, you're not the only one who brought it up.

Actually, I'm finding VirtualBox 3 to be quite a credible entry in the VM market. It does run Windows, Linux, BSD's and Solaris. While I will grant Fusion officially supports more OS's, I'm finding to real show stoppers in terms of performance or features. It's definitely fast enough and stable enough so far.

Yeah, I agree that VirtualBox 3 is a credible entry in the vm market. It moves a head slowly but steadily and if the other don't watch their backs they might get overtaken by it. I'm keeping an eye on it and stick with Fusion for the time being.

I don't think it's too far out there to suggest VirtualBox as an alternative. Considering the number of issues with 3 on the forums, and there are a lot, I also do not think it's too far out there to suggest that people who rely on things wait before upgrading from 2 to 3. And it's always good to look at alternatives.

I've been checking the forum quite a while the last week and nearly 90% of the problems are caused by the fact people did not read and do what the upgrade document tells them: uninstall the VMware Tools, upgrade to Fusion 3, reinstall the new VMware Tools. People reinstall the tools and everything works as it should be. Some problems really are genuine and most of them get solved too. There are also some questions, suggestions and license related problems (which should be solved by now). If you look at the forum do take a look at the topics itself and don't just skim the topic list.

In my case, VMware has still been a pretty big disappointment with Fusion 3. That may not be the case for everyone. But I am glad there are alternatives. If you are happy with the product, good for you.

Yeah, always good if there is some competition and it's always a good thing to look at what they offer. If product x works for you just use that instead.

Has anyone tried Boot Camp + Fusion 3 VM with Windows 7? Wondering if there are activation issues if you boot to Boot Camp and then Fusion VM.

Due to the nature of the Windows Genuine Advantage (the activation thing) this will be an issue with any virtualisation software. You need to activate Windows when using boot camp and you need to reactivate it once more when using it in Fusion/Parallels/etc. (the hardware changes and thus invokes WGA).

Can I get the $39.99 upgrade price?

If you bought Fusion 1.x/2.x prior to October 1 2009 you can upgrade to Fusion 3 for $39.99. If you bought it after that date you can upgrade for free. Check out the following blogpost for more information about the pricing:
- Come and Get It – VMware Fusion 3 “The Best Way to Run Windows on the Mac”
- Improved VMware Fusion Upgrade Portal Now Open For Business.

 

[ajbrehm]

In other words: the functionality is still there but it is not entirely the same as in 2.x.

It is clear that you don't understand the functionality or why people are missing it. So what's the point of arguing? Do you just need to be right?

Fusion 3 is annoying because now when I start it all my running VMs appear as open windows in front of me. I want to RUN several VMs at the same time, but I do not want to INTERACT with more than one. With Fusion 2 that was possible with Fusion 3 it is not.

I installed Fusion 3 and hated it because VMware removed one of the most distinguishing features. I reverted to Fusion 2.0.6 and everything is fine again. The next time I won't pay 30 quid for getting a major feature removed. (And I don't care if YOU consider it a major feature.)

 

[iamcheerful]

Simple Benchmarks Comparing VMware Fusion 3 & Parallels 5

Quick snippets from another forum ...
1) User shared simple benchmark (apparently objective testing)
2) User shared if it lags when in use (subjective testing)
3) User (moderator) commented on his/her personal experience

Just tested both VMware Fusion 3 and Parallels 5 .. here are the results

Windows Experience Index on Windows 7 Ultimate
Mac OS X 10.6.2
Processor 2.16 Intel Core 2 Duo

RAM Allocated to VM: 2GB
Processors allocated to VM: 2 core

VMware Fusion 3 / Parallels 5
Processor > 5.0 / 5.2
Memory > 5.0 / 5.2
Graphics Aero > 2.0 / 2.9
Graphics Gaming > 3.1 / 3.9
Primary hard disk > 6.5 / 6.6
Base score > 2.0 / 2.9

Both can work with Magic Mouse for scrolling and right clicks.

Source Link 1

Quote:Originally Posted by kawatsu
So parallels is better?
which one have more lags when u use them?
thanks

So far Parallels seems faster. Also affect the rest of the system less when booting up the VM.

Source Link 2

Quote:Originally Posted by crobin
So far Parallels seems faster. Also affect the rest of the system less when booting up the VM.

My experience is the exact opposite. Parallels boots up Win7 slower than VMWare.

Both clean installs I hope. It's not fair to use a migrated install and compare it.

/Dan

Source Link 3