VMware Fusion 4 [Old Version]
-
Erik R
> 24 hourIve had great experience using Fusion at work, tied to Windows Server, running Windows XP Pro, for business related purposes. It has given me very little problems, and most of the problems are either windows related or a program on windows, like Quickbooks. Ive used parallels in the past, and it worked ok, but it took over my Mac system, installing different network settings that were almost impossible to change. I noticed after trying to configure either Parallels or Fusion to connect to a server as part of our network, Fusion connects easier, at least with my personal experience. I dont have any info in terms of using Fusion for games/3D performance. But if you are a business user who needs to be productive, connect your Mac to your Windows Server/Network, and have a rather easy setup, Id recommend Fusion.
-
Matthew Keefe
> 24 hourAfter using VMware Fusion for a few months it has become a regular tool in my web development tasks. A few of the reasons I enjoy working with Fusion is:
-
Marcia
> 24 hourGreat option when you have a Mac and want to still be able to enjoy some Windows programs. Now you dont have to miss anything. Its possible to have it all.
-
airfoil
> 24 hourA long time user of VMware Fusion 3.x, I was hoping all would be well with my upgrade to OS X Lion. In fact it was seamless. But then VMware immediately had their Fusion 4.x offering to take advantage of tighter integration of your Windows 7 client. I took the leap of faith in VMware products, and upgraded to Fusion 4.x, and the whole thing went without a hitch. I had read prior to instalation of version 4, that version 3 had to be put in the trash, which I did, simply by dragging the version 3.x app from the /Applications folder into the trash. Then I inserted the instalation disc into my iMac, and to my surprise, version 4 comes with a specific icon to push if you are upgrading from version 3. After the rapid instalation took place, I booted my existing clients, and was relieved to see everything was intact, and Fusion 4 recognized that VMware tools needed to be updated on the client, and proceeded to perform that upgrade without any surprises. Everything was seamless, and just worked the first time. Now my client machines are treated as simply another desktop in Lion, when I run them full screen, which is my normal habit. This means you can use the swipe gesture to get to your Windows clients. Could not be more simple. Ive yet to run into any issues, which is more than I can say for OS X Lion, which, as well known breaks many older applications built for pre-Intel macs.
-
R Pooran Prasad
> 24 hourCan it get better? I dont know if it can :) Best tool I have used so far. So nicely it integrates windows apps inside dock, launching windows app, toggle between apps is so intuitive.
-
J. Underwood
> 24 hourInstalled without a hitch. Win 7 installed just fine too.
-
Dr. Oliver S. De Peyer
> 24 hourAlthough this version is long since superceded (were now up to version 7!), VMware Fusion has stood me in good stead over the years and let me run many other OS on my Macs, including Windows 7, Linux and even Blackberry OS10. The updates to the higher versions didnt cost much either. You need as fast a disk as you possibly can though to run it (and the actual VMs) from though. Fusion can often seem sluggish but that is down to the disk access involved, not the software or your Mac. I got my set up running much faster using Velociraptor drives on the Thunderbolt port for instance; Firewire doesnt really hack it.
-
W. Geoffrey McAuliffe
> 24 hourThis pertains to Fusion 4.1 on a recent MacBookPro. The program does what it is supposed to do but I cant help thinking BootCamp would work just as well and I may uninstall Fusion to see for myself. It takes at least 30 seconds for Fusion to start running Windows7 and I have to double click twice to get anything to run. Even after increasing installed RAM to 8 and allocating more to Windows some things are slow, especially video. It is easy to screw up the display if you click the wrong icon on the bar. Tech support from Fusion is not bad but not great either, depends on who you get, assuming you call during support hours, 6a-6p west coast time. There is NO written documentation nor is there a PDF on Fusions website. When I suggested they write up something I got silence. You can wander through Fusions online database if you have some time to kill but some of the answers I found there were wrong. Like I said, try BootCamp first.
-
anshumans
> 24 hourVMWare Fusion 4 is a great product. Easy to install and setup, and the performance is great. Im running it on my 2 month old Macbook Pro 15, and barring games, I can run all the Windows-based applications that I used to, including heavy hitters like Visual Studio 2010. Conducting VM management is a breeze (taking snapshots, deleting snapshots, reverting to a previous snapshot, etc). The best feature is the Unity view, in which Fusion will actually run your Windows apps in their own windows on OSX and even place them in the Launchpad window. This allows a more seamless experience, and is really handy if you plan to only use Fusion to run a handful of programs. The other really nice feature is that within the Windows VM, you can access all your files on your Mac, so transferring/sharing files between your Mac and your Windows VM is really easy.
-
Orderman
> 24 hourExcellent software!! I installed Win 7 in my new iMac (Lion 10.7.2) in about 20 minutes. It starts quickly and works seamlessly. Ive been a computer professional for 20 years and I am very impressed!!
