VMware Fusion is a virtual machine software product developed by VMware for Macintosh computers with Intel processors. Fusion allows Intel-based Macs to run x86 and x86-64 "guest" operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris as virtual machines simultaneously with Mac OS X as the "host" operating system using a combination of paravirtualization, emulation and dynamic recompilation.

Overview[link]

Fusion, made possible by the Apple–Intel transition, marked VMware's first entry into Macintosh-based x86-virtualization. Fusion utilizes Intel VT present in the Intel Core microarchitecture platform. Much of the underlying technology in Fusion is inherited from other VMware products, such as VMware Workstation, allowing Fusion to offer features such as 64-bit and SMP support from the first beta version onward.

Fusion 1.0 was released on August 6, 2007, exactly one year after being announced.^[2]

System requirements[link]

• A 64-bit capable Intel-based Mac
• 2 GB of RAM (4 GB or more recommended)
• ATI Radeon x1600, Nvidia GeForce 8600M or better graphics hardware required for Windows Aero support
• 750 MB free disk space for VMware Fusion
• 5 GB free disk space for each virtual machine (10 GB or more recommended)
• Mac OS X 10.6.7 or later

Features[link]

Unity view creates a seamless desktop environment between Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X applications. It optionally hides Windows' start menu and taskbar and runs the Windows applications directly from the dock in OS X. Further, users can drag and drop files between Windows and the Mac, and use familiar Mac keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste between Windows and Mac applications. It is (almost) fully compatible with Exposé.^[3] Fusion windows that are covered by other Fusion windows don't redraw when switching to Exposé, causing visual anomalies. This feature is later made available in VMware Workstation 6.5 Beta, which is designed to be run on Windows/Linux platforms.

DirectX 9.0 is supported through dynamic recompilation to OpenGL instructions in Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 virtual machines. Hence, users can play supported games through Fusion or run applications which require 3D graphics.^[4] VMware Fusion 3 has DirectX 9 Shader Model 3 and OpenGL support.^[5]

32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems are supported by VMWare Fusion. ^[6] Over 60 operating systems are supported, including Windows Vista, Windows XP, Linux, and Solaris. Additionally, VMWare Fusion 2.0 adds support for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 (Leopard) as a guest on a Mac OS X host. Additionally, Fusion 2.0.1 added experimental support for un-released developer builds of Mac OS X Server 10.6 (Snow Leopard) – presumably for software developers with Apple-granted access to pre-release builds of Snow Leopard. There is also support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 Boot Camp partitions: a user can use his Windows Boot Camp partition, eliminating the need for two separate Windows installations. In addition, VMWare Fusion offers support of up to 8 GB of memory on guest 64-bit operating systems, and up to 16GB of RAM on Mac Pros and Xserves. ^[3]

Snapshots enable users to save a stable state of the guest operating system to disk, allowing users to quickly return to their virtual machine without the need of rebooting.

Shared Folders allow the mounting of folders from the host operating system to the guest operating system.

Extensive hardware support is built into VMWare Fusion. For networking, there is support for wired and wireless networks, in NAT or bridged mode (albeit, erratic availability with wireless interfaces)^[7]. There is access to physical devices from the virtual machine (i.e. read and write CDs and DVDs) as well as access to USB 2.0 devices such as video cameras, iPods, printers, and disks at full speed^{[citation needed]}. Firewire support is still missing in the latest version, although a workaround exists by mounting the device as a shared folder ^[8].

Support for multiple CPUs (SMP) or multicore CPUs is built into VMWare Fusion. Fusion also allows the user to assign up to eight CPUs to one virtual machine to gain additional performance for CPU-intensive workloads ^[9].

Portability. Virtual machines created with VMware Fusion can be used with other VMware products and vice versa, and are compatible with other VMware virtual appliances.^[4]

VMware Fusion 2.0 was released as a free upgrade on September 12, 2008.^[10] New features in this release include:

• Multi-display support – enables the use of up to 10 additional displays by guest operating systems
• Virtual Machine conversion – allows the conversion of Parallels Desktop and Microsoft Virtual PC virtual machines to VMware
• Support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2^[11]
• Application sharing between Windows and Mac – users can set certain files to launch with specific Mac or Windows applications
• Folder Mirroring – allows select folders to be accessible on both the host and guest operating system
• Keyboard and Mouse shortcut mapping
• Snapshot improvements – multiple snapshot support, in addition to creating automatic snapshots at set intervals
• Improved CPU resource utilization
• Support for 4 processor virtual machines
• Mac OS X Leopard Server virtualization support
• Improved Linux support

VMware Fusion 3.0 was released as a paid upgrade on October 27, 2009. Some new features in this release include:

• Optimization for Mac OS X 10.6 clients, including full 64 bit process support
• Full support for Mac OS X 10.6 Server clients
• Improved PC Migration Assistant
• Improved support for Windows 7 virtual machines, including full Windows Aero support with Flip 3D and Aero Peek
• Support for DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL graphics libraries ( v2.1 in XPDM drivers, v1.4 in WDDM drivers )
• Improved VM disk and graphics performance under Mac OS X 10.6 clients
• New "Always-on" Applications Menu provides enhanced start menu functionality in the Mac OS X Finder
• Improvements to Virtual Machine Library window
• Automatic software update functionality
• Improvements to Copy and Paste, Drag and Drop functions on Windows and Linux virtual machines

VMware Fusion 4.0 was released as a paid upgrade on September 14, 2011.^[12] Some new features in this release include:

• Optimization for Mac OS X 10.7 clients, including support for full screen Windows programs, gestures and integration with LaunchPad and Mission Control
• Updated user interface
• Support for Time Machine compatible snapshots
• App Unity feature allows you to integrate Windows programs into Mac OS X 10.7 by adding them to Launchpad, searching them using Spotlight or accessing them directly from the Mac applications folder
• Improved resume function
• Support for virtual machine encryption
• Up to 2.5x faster OpenGL and DirectX 3D graphics performance on Mac OS X 10.7 clients
• New VMware Fusion Learning Center feature

Version history[link]

This section requires expansion.

See also[link]

• Comparison of VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop
• Comparison of platform virtual machines
• Desktop virtualization
• Platform virtualization
• List of VMware software
• Virtual disk image

References[link]

External links[link]

• VMware Fusion official website
• VMware Fusion 4 at VMware Store