VMware Launches Fusion 8 and Fusion 8 Pro With Windows 10, OS X El Capitan and Cortana Support

[deviant]

I purchased VMware 7 on July 13, 2015. I emailed them to ask if I could get a discount on upgrade to 8 since I just bought 7 at the full retail price ($80). They said anyone who purchased 7 after July 29 would get 8 for free. Since I was a little before that they gave me 50% off, so just $25 to upgrade. Not bad!

Email their customer service and maybe they will help you out.

yeah.. nope. i'll be fine without their customer service

 

[MrGimper]

Interesting quick performance comparison posted on the VMware forum....

https://communities.vmware.com/thread/518602

 

[Traverse]

Has anyone upgraded from 7 to 8 on a retina MacBook Pro?

Are there any noticeable difference? Any speed or fluidity increase for general office work? I'll upgrade now if there is any real world improvement. Shutdown times in VMWare Fusion 7 are terrible.

Interesting quick performance comparison posted on the VMware forum....

https://communities.vmware.com/thread/518602

Are you using VM7? Do you notice any real world benefit?

 

[MrGimper]

Are you using VM7? Do you notice any real world benefit?

I didn't publish the tests above. However I have found Fusion 8 to feel slower than Fusion 7 in the real world. In fact I think Fusion 8 is slower than the Fusion 8 preview! Parallels 11 appears to be much faster/smoother in real world use.

I have a topped-out 5K iMac with an additional 29" super-widescreen monitor. Running Fusion 7 in fullscreen using both monitors I could stream a video fullscreen on the 2nd monitor from a windows server, and run Visual Studio and web browsing on the iMac screen all with no issues. With Parallels 10 and 11 it's a little smoother but not much. Fusion 8 however stutters like anything. The video is choppy, the browser stutters. Hoping I've done something daft, but considering VMware virtualisation is part of my day-to-day job going back to the days of Workstation 1 and GSX server, I hope not!!

 

[Traverse]

I didn't publish the tests above. However I have found Fusion 8 to feel slower than Fusion 7 in the real world. In fact I think Fusion 8 is slower than the Fusion 8 preview! Parallels 11 appears to be much faster/smoother in real world use.

I have a topped-out 5K iMac with an additional 29" super-widescreen monitor. Running Fusion 7 in fullscreen using both monitors I could stream a video fullscreen on the 2nd monitor from a windows server, and run Visual Studio and web browsing on the iMac screen all with no issues. With Parallels 10 and 11 it's a little smoother but not much. Fusion 8 however stutters like anything. The video is choppy, the browser stutters. Hoping I've done something daft, but considering VMware virtualisation is part of my day-to-day job going back to the days of Workstation 1 and GSX server, I hope not!!

Thanks for the feedback! I don't have a Retina iMac, but 7 ran slightly slower than 6 on my system. *Sigh* I guess I'll wait. So far, I've had no issues with W10 on VMWare Fusion 7.

 

[MrGimper]

Thanks for the feedback! I don't have a Retina iMac, but 7 ran slightly slower than 6 on my system. *Sigh* I guess I'll wait. So far, I've had no issues with W10 on VMWare Fusion 7.

Bear in mind you can trial Fusion 8, I'd give it a go. Make a copy of your existing VM to keep it safe and copy out your existing Fusion.app.

Install the trial and give it a go. Note that to use DX10 and some other features you'll need to upgrade your VM to hardware level 12, hence making a safe copy first.

 

[Nde]

What is better, Fusion 8 or Parallels 11?

It's hard to compare. Like Coke vs Pepsi. I have been using Fusion since gen 1. I get my free, just a phone call to my VMware Sales person. Well, not actually free consider we spend millions on ESX license keys every year.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

VirtualBox

Thanks, I was replying to the posts assertion that this kind of software costs this much...in the sense that VirtualBox is this kind of software...

 

[cheesyappleuser]

I am seeing conflicting reports on this.

It didn't work in your case and http://www.howtogeek.com/226510/how-to-use-your-free-windows-10-license-after-changing-your-pc’s-hardware/ agrees with you too.

However, the official Microsoft FAQ says otherwise:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ndows-10/5c0b9368-a9e8-4238-b1e4-45f4b7ed2fb9
(Search for 'retail' on the page to bring up the relevant question)

I am confused! Can't really try it out as I got one Macbook only now.

Sorry for the late reply.
I read the FAQs, and this is very strange. Ironically, I called to Microsoft to know if there was any chance of using my key after upgrading, and they told me what I already posted.

I believe the best thing is not to use that key anywhere else, and keep the existing setup.

 

[MrGimper]

Interesting comparison review:

http://www.tekrevue.com/2015-vm-benchmarks-parallels-11-vs-fusion-8/

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Interesting comparison review:

http://www.tekrevue.com/2015-vm-benchmarks-parallels-11-vs-fusion-8/

Does Parallels support other operating systems like Linux or even older versions of Windows (3.1, Win98)? Early on, that's why I went with Fusion. I haven't kept track of Parallels since then much, but I'm thinking of getting a newer version and that review pretty much says stick with Fusion to me.

 

[dyn]

It does but VMware has better support (it supports more and it works better, more reliable).

 

[mattonthemoon]

While i hate the yearly upgrades i have to give real world performance and responsiveness to Parallels 11.

I have always *wanted* to use fusion, as i wouldn't mind installing it on my other machines, but that was more of a 'nice to have' feature; but the performance hit in day to day emails, spreadsheets, (non gaming) related tasks, Parallels has always seemed more fluid even using the retina display, and when comparing Fusion 8 and Parallels 11 on my machine, both VMs with the same specs, i just can't get used to the choppiness that Fusion brings.

 

[XW61982]

If you install Windows 10, even if in Fusion or any VM, make sure you go to Network part of the Control Panel and go to Advanced settings and turn off sharing updates accross the Internet. If you don't do that little change then you could hit your Internet bandwidth limit that most ISPs have now.

Microsoft wants to make you Internet connect part of a Torrent sharing botnet! You have to Opt-Out the Network panel settings.

SATCOMER, thanks for bringing this up! The feature you are talking about is called Windows Update Delivery Optimization it is designed to help users get updates faster. this feature is enabled by default in Windows 10 Home and Pro editions. On Windows 10 Enterprise and Education the feature is also enabled, but only for the local network.

I believe one can set this up to deliver updates from PCs on a local network, especially if there is a server in it.
I am not aware of any ISP in the USA that is currently enforcing bandwidth caps.

Cheers!

 

[satcomer]

SATCOMER, thanks for bringing this up! The feature you are talking about is called Windows Update Delivery Optimization it is designed to help users get updates faster. this feature is enabled by default in Windows 10 Home and Pro editions. On Windows 10 Enterprise and Education the feature is also enabled, but only for the local network.

I believe one can set this up to deliver updates from PCs on a local network, especially if there is a server in it.
I am not aware of any ISP in the USA that is currently enforcing bandwidth caps.

Cheers!

Well thank you for that marking spin! However most ISPs in the USA have bandwidth limits that a lot of streaming boxes ate pushing their limits to the edge!