VMWare 1.1: The Full, No-Holds-Barred Review
Early last week, VMWare released the next iteration of VMWare Fusion. Although this was simply a point release (aka 1.1), it still brought along substantial features. For the uninitiated, Fusion is one of four several different methods of running Windows on a Mac.
I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but some of us unlucky Mac users are still stuck with arcane Windows-only infrastructures. So what’s new in this version, and is it worth $79.99? After using it for several days, I’ve reached a verdict, and a great way for all of you to save 25% on purchasing a license.
Growling With the New Cat
Yup, VMWare Fusion 1.1 is ready to run with Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard. In fact, the development team actually pushed the release date back to thoroughly test it with Leopard, according to a VMWare Marketing Manager I spoke with. I’m pleased to report that I did not find any glaring bugs; it was a silky smooth experience. In contrast, the previous version (Fusion 1.0) had several issues with Unity mode in Leopard, but we’ll get there in a second.
Improved Localizations
If you’re a French, German or Japanese reader, speak one of those languages or live in one of those regions, you’ll be delighted to know that VMWare has localized Fusion 1.1 for you. It’s all available as a single, convenient download.
Time for Some Games
I will admit, as I have in the past, that gaming isn’t one of my pastimes. Sure, I might hop onto a game of Counter-Strike or take a short flight in Flight Simulator, but that’s pretty much it. I tried some older titles and to my surprise, they actually performed much better than they did under Fusion 1.0. Of course, these virtualized games still can’t beat the raw power of Boot Camp, but it’s still a big improvement nonetheless.
The current release of Fusion supports DirectX 9.0, but without Pixel Shaders; most of the newer titles will run fine without shaders, but these beasts are the things that really bring the special effects and all that fancy lighting into a game. In other words, it brings life to a game. I think it’s fair to say that if you’re a gamer, you’ll want to stick to Boot Camp. Or buy a PC. Check out the VMWare Forums for more info on your specific game/application titles.
Hide the Windows Desktop
Face it, the Windows desktop ain’t the prettiest thing in the world. The Unity feature, as introduced in Fusion 1.0 now works in both 32 and 64-bit virtual machines, which might be important to some. Fusion 1.1 also displays the Windows Task Bar; apparently, VMWare says that this will help new switchers, who like the idea of using the Start Menu to find their applications.
iPhone and Outlook Can be Best Friends
The iPhone syncs up nicely with applications like Mail and Address Book on the Mac, but what about the PC? Sure, you can transfer data with Outlook, which requires a reboot into Boot Camp. Well, not any more, because you can now do it through Fusion 1.1. Think about it; you’re sending data between your iPhone to an app running in a virtual machine. How cool is that?
Want to thrash Parallels? Now you can!
The earlier versions of Parallels Desktop were awfully slow, which was one of the biggest factors that made me switch to Fusion. To make that transition much simpler, VMWare has introduced a beta version of VMWare Importer. As its name implies, this piece of software simply imports your Parallels virtual machines into Fusion. I really wished I had this feature earlier. It is in beta though, so make sure you have backups handy in case it turns foul.
After playing with the new virtual machine for several days, I’m glad I chose VMWare Fusion. The upgrade has certainly brought along a slew of useful features that I was hoping for, so on the whole, I’m pretty satisfied. But wait, I’ve just noticed something that could potentially sweeten the deal. VMWare is offering a $20 mail-in rebate (U.S. and Canadian customers only) for the purchase of Fusion 1.1, effectively bringing the price down to $59.99.
VMWare Fusion is a great piece of software for Mac users who need to run Windows. With the mail-in rebate, there really isn’t an excuse not to get it. You can download the VMWare Fusion demo and give it a spin yourself. Bulk licensing available.
What do you think of virtualization under OS X?
Four? What about Q, Darwine, and VirtualBox, all of which are free?
My bad I edited that in…
Also great tips Superdotman. Do any of the freeware VM apps offer any type of Directx/OpenGL/3D support? I think that is what really separates the pack, aside from the price.
I don’t think Q does, but its main draw is that it offers Windows emulation with a great interface even to those on PPC. I think Darwine can, if you copy over the relevant DLLs from Windows (Darwine Abstains from Running Windows; It’s Not an Emulator). If such is the case, people have done so using WINE (for Linux), and getting it to work on OS X would be a matter of converting the steps. I don’t know about VirtualBox yet.
If you guys could provide howtos on getting Darwine and VirtualBox to work, I think you’d be the first ones on the net to do so. You might get some Diggs that way. Everyone loves free alternatives to pricy options!
In some cases Wine/CrossOver trounces VMWare and Parallels because it uses the Mac to do the 3D work. The trade off is that sometimes it’s very difficult to get apps to work properly for example IE7 (yes I know Safari is better but I unfortunately have a requirement for for IE7 at work). Personally if you’re going to use Wine then I recommend getting CrossOver. It’s not free but commercial release of Wine but it is better than trying to build Wine because it doesn’t build that great on Mac OS X. CrossOver is still cheaper than VMWare and Parallels if you factor in the cost of Windows itself.
Q and VirtualBox aren’t capable of 3D but then VirtualBox was an internal app that got released to the public because they didn’t have a need for it. If you want simple virtualisation then VirtualBox is great but Q has issues I’ve found, namely that it can destroy your virtual machines if not treated delicately.
As to VMWare over Parallels it’s a tough call these days. In a corporate environment I’d use VMWare over Parallels but for your average user Parallels is just as good now (version 3 and above) as VMWare. There’s also more regular releases of updates with Parallels which makes it slightly more value for money in my opinion.
I just bought Fusion, and also own Parallels. Overall, Fusion just feels more solid and snappy. Particularly the Unity mode–it is WAY better/smoother/faster than Parallels/Coherence. However, there are about 5 features in Parallels that I’m sorely missing. Even though Parallels seems to be pokey and unstable a LOT on my Mac Pro, these little trivial things are making me pine a bit and consider switching back. I was hoping some in the forums might now how to recreate or access some of them.
1. Mac File Type Association. In Parallels I can double-click on a .VSD file in the Mac Finder and have it launch Visio from within the Parallels Guest machine. The net result is that Visio opens in Coherence as if it were just a Mac app having already opened the file I double clicked on. I tried associating the .VSD file on the mac with the …VMware/…/Applications/Microsoft Windows XP.app that Fusion creates. This results in a launch of Visio, but it does not result in Visio launching and opening the file that I double-clicked.
2. Default Web clients. In parallels, when I’m in email (e.g., Outlook 2003) and I click on a web link, it launches Safari on my Mac. This is great. Is there some way to do this in Fusion?
3. Integrated/Shared Folders. Parallels lets me map my Mac ~/Documents folder to replace the MyDocuments folder in my XP drive. Can this be done with Fusion?
4. Multiple Screen Support. In Parallels, in Coherence, I can move any Fusion/Unity window among my 3-30″ displays. Fusion seems to limit me to a single display. Is there someway to make it work across all 3 displays?
5. 2-directional DragNDrop from email. When I run Outlook 2003 in Unity mode, I can drop a file from the Mac in into the email window and the file gets added as an attachment (super cool). However, the converse does not seem to work. I cannot take an attachment in the Outlook 2003 window and drag it to the Mac desktop. Is there some way to make this happen?
Thanks for any pointers!
[...] might want to check out Marv’s excellent VMWare Fusion review while you [...]
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