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| VMware Fusion | 
 enlarge | From: Smith Micro Software Inc.
Category: Software
List Price: $79.99
Buy New: $49.98
You Save: $30.01 (38%)
New (21) Used (3) from $49.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  175 reviews
Sales Rank: 4
Format: Cd
Platforms: Mac Os X, Macintosh
Media: CD-ROM
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.3 x 1.5
MPN: VMFUSMBX2
Model: VMFUSMBX2
UPC: 717103140372
EAN: 0717103140372
ASIN: B000UK3GVA
Release Date: August 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New Sealed!! Fast Shipper!!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent option for running Windows on your Intel Mac June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is inevitable that any review would have to compare VMWare's Fusion and Parallels at least a bit. Both provide the capacity to partition your drive and install Windows rather seamlessly. I used Parallels until v. 2.5. The paid 3.0 upgrade 'broke' something on my Mac Pro and I could not get Windows to launch again. It was a known issue for some small subset of users but no fix was ever forthcoming. So I switched to Fusion.
At the time Fusion was just releasing a public beta and it didn't have nearly the feature set of Parallels but for me it worked without issues and my preferred use pattern didn't require any 'missing' features. It did eliminate a very important limitation of Parallels at the time which was limited to 1.5GB RAM and one core. With Fusion I could assign multiple cores and 4GB of RAM so my intended use of some Windows only 3D graphics programs and the additonal resources allowed by Fusion were needed. As time has gone on, with several updates to v.1 which both added features and provided fixes for issues discovered by users, Fusion is maturing into a solid and feature rich solution for Windows on Mac.
There is now a beta for v.2 beta 1 and it seems rock solid to me. Included features are true multiple display support, experimental support for DirectX 9.0 with Shader Model 2, virtual printing support, integrated import of Parallels Desktop, Virtual PC VMs and Boot Camp partitions. Version 2 will increase the utility of the program yet again with needed abilities and will be a free upgrade for registered users of v.1. Can't beat that!
The great value of Fusion is that I can launch Windows in one Space (on Leopard) in a Full Screen mode and have a complete, effectively native speed copy version of Windows available at the flick of my mouse. I'll leave it running for days with no memory leaks or any untoward behavior. The new version is probably the best option for gamers although, with a Mac Pro you could easily just install Windows on a different hard drive and have it run natively without the small performance hit of virtualization which is imperceptible to me.
Another aspect of the Fusion business model is support. The forums are very vital with a greater developer presence than I found on Parallels. Solutions for issues are almost always discovered. Yes, you should know if you get into any software that there might be 'issues.' I can enthusiastically endorse Fusion as I've only run into one small problem which was subsequently solved by an update within weeks. I run it on a Mac Pro and a second copy on my MacBook Pro and have a perfectly working solution for Windows on Mac even though I'm running the new beta. VMWare seems to develop with a little more attention to stability and feature bloat isn't preferred over solid utility. You can also download virtual machines of many Linux distros and Unix systems which are ready to go. Just download them and run them.
I thoroughly endorse Fusion based on my personal experience of some duration.
 Decent Product, Horrible Support June 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Purchased this product to replace Parallels. I had some difficulty installing on my MAC and finally had to figure it out myself since their customer support is non existent! Basically they do not want to hear from you once you've purchased the product.
Great product for the Macbook June 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
About 6 months ago I bought a Macbook, but still continued to run various Windows applications on my PC. Although Mac versions of some of these applications were available (such as for Quicken), I really did not want to have to pay for the same software twice; in addition, the Mac versions of Windows applications don't always work as well. So I resigned myself to switching between my two computers--until I discovered VMware Fusion.
I downloaded a 30 day trial version from the company's website, and was so impressed that I bought it from Amazon (cheaper than buying directly from the company).
Installation on my Macbook was painless and simple. Please note that besides this software, you also need a Windows installation disk since you are creating a virtual PC on your Mac.
Now I can install and use Quicken, Palm Desktop, Garmin Training Center and other Windows programs on my Mac with ease. I can have my virtual PC occupy a portion of the screen or the full screen. I can also have Windows applications sit in my dock if I want to. But usually I just minimize my Windows desktop to my dock and maximize it when I need it.
I bought this product rather than Parallels Desktop (which I have not tried) based on the reviews.
If you are looking for an effortless way to install and run Windows programs on your Mac, look no further. This software does the job nicely. It makes so much more sense to buy this single software program than to to start buying the Mac equivalent of Windows programs, especially since the Mac equivalent often does not work as well.
VMware Fusion Rocks June 4, 2008
Easy to install, easy to use. My only complaint with my Mac is that I cannot run certain work-related windows programs. Not anymore! Fusion works like a champ. No noticeable lag in performance...no errors. I highly recommend this program.
It has worked so far June 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I installed this product on an iMac running Leopard. I had been using boot camp, but that is not nearly as convenient as clicking on the Fusion icon on my toolbar and running Windows XP in as a virtual machine.
I purchased it as a CD rather than as a download, and I did not have as easy an installation as others indicated. It installed from my CD fine, but there is a more recent version than the CD I received that can be downloaded for free. I did finally get it downloaded and installed, but it cost more time than I would have liked.
When I installed it, I already had a Boot Camp partition. So I used that for one virtual machine and also set up a normal virtual disk based virtual machine and installed Windows XP on both of them. For my purposes, I could not tell the difference in their functionality or performance - so I deleted the Boot Camp partition and only use the virtual disk based virtual machine - which uses less disk space. If you search around for it, Vmware's web site lists the pro's and con's of a Boot Camp partition vs. virtual disk based virtual machines.
I now run Windows on my Mac whenever I like. Moving back and forth between Windows and OSX is as easy as moving the mouse. Prior to Fusion, I ran Windows only when absolutely necessary because of the need to reboot - I have two applications that will not run under OSX.
All-in-all, the product seems to work as advertised and for the cost - buy it and then forget Boot Camp. You will find a glitch or two - but then you ARE using a computer. Also remember that you will have to set up your normal Windows virus and spyware protection on your virtual machine.
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