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VMware Fusion Player 10, 11 or 12 -where to get?

macstatic

macstatic

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 21, 2005
2,052
175
Norway
I've just registered with VMware to get their free Fusion Player so I can run older Mac apps within MacOS 10.9, 10.6 etc. on my MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra) Mac (which I'll upgrade to 10.14 if I find that running older 32-bit apps works fine within one or another VM setup).
The problem is that once registered and downloaded the installer I find out that it needs a minimum of MacOS 12 or 13, and I'm trying this out on MacOS 10.13.6 High Sierra.
Is it still possible to get older versions (10,11 or 12) of Fusion Player? I couldn't find any info about this on their website.
 
I think I've found the answer to my own question:
According to this VMware forum thread you need Fusion 11 in order to run it on MacOS 10.14 Mojave.
But apparently (the free) Fusion Player only arrived at version 12 which I see has a minimum requirement of MacOS 10.15 Catalina. Earlier versions that work MacOS 10.14, 10.13 etc. are all the commercial "VMware Fusion" (not "Player").
As for the previous free version I haven't been able to figure out if it's still possible to get Fusion Player 12 (in case I ever upgrade to MacOS 10.15 -haven't looked into that yet).

So basically all this rules out me getting to use the free Fusion Player, and I probably need to get back to figuring out how to use MacOS with Virtualbox.

UPDATE: Sorry Bogdanw, I read your reply after posting mine.
But it looks like they don't have a free option for my OS version.
 
But that's the notes for version 13 (the current version).
However, you gave me an idea -keeping min mind that Fusion Player 12 was the first "Player" version, I tried to find release notes for Fusion 12.x along with download links, expecting a combined Fusion and Fusion Player installer.
Here is the Download VMware Fusion page. Select version 12, and from then on you can download the various sub-releases as well -scroll down the page to get the actual download button).

And here are the version 12 release notes. Select the different sub-versions from the left side to compare. It seems Fusion Player was relased as version 12.0 where it says among other things:
System requirements
  • Hardware
    Mac models that support macOS 10.15 Catalina and newer version.
  • Software
    macOS 10.15 Catalina and newer versions.



    What's new
  • Free Product for Personal Non-Commercial Use
    Fusion Player (previously Fusion Standard) is now free for personal non-commercial use.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I have no way of trying it out (to see if it's a combined Fusion/Fusion Player) installer and to actually try it out as a virtual machine) as I'm still on MacOS 10.13.6, but if you (or anyone else reading wants to give it a go) you have the links above. I don't know which Fusion 12.x stops supporting MacOS 10.15 but it should be in the release notes.
Screen Shot 2023-02-07 at 19.44.34.png
 
Last edited:
OK, I managed to get MacOS 10.15 running from an external USB drive, and once booted into that drive I tried to install Fusion 12.0.0. (expecting the installed to be a shared Fusion/Fusion Player 12 installer), and although the installer worked in MacOS 10.15 it didn't accept the free license I received for Fusion Player 13.
Either I need to download a different version 12.x which specifically states that it's for both VMs, or the version 13 Fusion Player license won't work for version 12.
Screen Shot 2023-02-08 at 10.43.27.png


Screen Shot 2023-02-08 at 10.43.15.png
 
My list of saved links for VMware Fusion 12 (macOS 10.15)
Code: 
https://download3.vmware.com/software/fusion/file/VMware-Fusion-12.1.2-17964953.dmg
https://download3.vmware.com/software/fusion/file/VMware-Fusion-12.1.1-17801503.dmg
https://download3.vmware.com/software/fusion/file/VMware-Fusion-12.1.0-17195230.dmg
https://download3.vmware.com/software/fusion/file/VMware-Fusion-12.1.0-17163065.dmg
https://download3.vmware.com/software/fusion/file/VMware-Fusion-12.0.0-16880131.dmg
 
Thanks for sharing those links!
After posting the screenshots (posting #6) I realized that there was also a "Get a free license key" button which I completely overlooked
So I booted back into MacOS 10.15 and gave it a second go, expecting to get a free version 12 license. Unfortunately pressing that button only opens up the web browser on the current (version 13) VMware Fusion Player register/login page meaning you'll only get a version 13 free license.

If anyone know how to get a version 12 license today, please do tell how!
 
Thanks, SahinaTom.
I've contacted them and hope they have a solution for those of us who can't use MacOS 12 or 13.
 
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Today I received a reply from VMware where they gave me a Fusion Player 12 license in addition to the version 13 license I already have! :)
That means I can use it with MacOS 10.15 (Catalina) which might work out although I haven't quite decided on which OS to go for in the end.

As for a license for versions 11 and 10 (so I can use it with MacOS 10.14 (Mojave) and 10.13 (High Sierra) ) but was told they were not able to provide a license for those as they were "end of life" products.

I haven't yet had a chance to try it out (I don't have any ISO file ready) but I did go through the license and installation process:
Screen Shot 2023-02-10 at 21.49.09.png

Screen Shot 2023-02-10 at 21.49.26.png

Screen Shot 2023-02-10 at 21.51.05.png

Screen Shot 2023-02-10 at 21.51.12.png
 
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"App Store links and mas-cli Id's for macOS Installers from Lion to Ventura" https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...acos-installers-from-lion-to-ventura.2378889/
My way of creating DMGs for VMware from installers, example for Mojave
Code: 
hdiutil create ~/Desktop/1014.dmg -size 8g -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J

hdiutil attach ~/Desktop/1014.dmg -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/InstallMojave

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/InstallMojave

hdiutil detach /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Mojave

hdiutil resize -sectors min ~/Desktop/1014.dmg
 
A little update...
I finally got round to trying out Fusion Player 12 (I booted from an external USB drive with MacOS 10.15.7) and this time had everything ready for installing Windows 7. The installation was very easy -much easier than installing Windows directly on the machine (i.e. a dual-boot Mac) and having tried it out briefly it appears to work well too. I haven't done any extensive testing, and this was from an external hard drive installation as well, so I expect it to run even better on an internal SSD.
 
macstatic said:
A little update...
I finally got round to trying out Fusion Player 12 (I booted from an external USB drive with MacOS 10.15.7) and this time had everything ready for installing Windows 7. The installation was very easy -much easier than installing Windows directly on the machine (i.e. a dual-boot Mac) and having tried it out briefly it appears to work well too. I haven't done any extensive testing, and this was from an external hard drive installation as well, so I expect it to run even better on an internal SSD.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
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