VMware Fusion hits version 3.0
Want to run Windows side-by-side with Mac OS X on your Intel Mac? VMware Fusion just released a major update putting the software at version 3.0 and there's a lot of fixes and changes that make it worthy of checking out.
Those who have used VMware Fusion in the past know that it has had its share of hiccups with earlier versions, but most seem to have been ironed out in the latest release. Along with fixes, version 3.0 includes a performance boost making the overall experience more snappy and up to twice as fast when resuming from a suspended virtual machine. They also optimized it for Snow Leopard, utilizing the new operating system's advanced architecture with a 64-bit core engine and native support for the 64-bit kernel. The latest version also supports high-end 3D graphics using OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3, enabling gamers to play the latest Windows games on their Mac.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Probably the best thing about the latest VMware Fusion is the ability to share content in your Windows environment with what you already have on your Mac. This means that you can pull in images, music, and documents from folders in the Mac Finder into your Windows environment. Even better, you can open Windows files from the Mac Finder and have them boot up in Windows on VMware Fusion automatically. Another avenue of access is the always-on Applications menu found in the Mac Menubar that lets you start up Windows apps in VMware Fusion even when the program isn't running.
Launch Windows apps directly from the Mac Menubar
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)In our testing we loaded up Windows 7 on VMware Fusion and most everything worked as advertised. We found some graphics issues like strange graphical artifacts showing up onscreen in certain cases. But overall, we were able to run Windows 7 fairly smoothly and use many of the new features without incident. Overall, with the addition of more features to make switching between the two operating systems less of a hassle and the affordable price tag of $79.99, Mac users who need a Windows environment will appreciate everything VMware fusion has to offer.
Jason Parker writes software reviews and features for Windows, Mac, and iPhone. If he learned to dance, it would make him a fabled "quadruple threat," but we can't get him to do it. 
also the drivers from Apple arent the best... seen a few dips in my benchmarks on memory paging and graphics.
minor dips mind you but they are there.
As much as I hate to say this, I agree with you. I still boot up and mess around with my powerbook from 1991, SE from 87, etc.
I feel like it's the same as when people go "I'm glad I don't have a girlfriend! I just go out with my guy friends and have twice as much fun for half the price!" Well... yeah... but trust me there's something you're missing out on...
ps. Are we all running nuclear labs or do space travel so if our PC would fell....world would end immediately! Ever heard about backup software?? O wait....Snow-Leopard deletes files and accounts by default! Uppssss!!!!!!!
Mac is also extremely hackable. I can hack it, and Im 15. Wow. The only reason Mac users aren't inundated with viruses is because they have such a minute market share that most hackers ignore them completely instead of trying to rewrite code to hack them. Try telling this to your wonderful customer support.
Second, emulating NEVER provides enough speed. I run Windows Virtual Machine, and it sucks. See, I can bash Microsoft too. However, you can buy a hacked PC running Snow Leopard natively, with twice the stats as a Mac at half the price. The OS is fine, its basic and user-friendly, but so is Windows 7. Try figuring this one out, Apple.
Apple still get their parts from Intel, Nvidia, Kingston/Hynix/Samsung, Hitachi/Seagate/WesternD for their laptops, which is the same as Sony, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Acer, Gateway, etc and they do have their fair share of hardware issues (search for Macpro HDD clicking of seagate harddisk, Nvidia gpu laptop recall). Customer Support is also relative to your location (Where I was, Fujitsu-Siemen had to close their service outlet due to lack of people coming in for servicing despite being located at a super convenient place in the city).
Honestly. I get quite frustrated with peopel who try to do the "I could get an equivalent PC for half the price of a mac". The problem is there is almost no such thing as an equivalent PC. Sure there is if you're a PC user and you're only looking at spec sheet stuff like RAM and Processor cores, but if you're a mac user and you're going back the other way... there's just features that are incomperable."
Well then again those that can`t deal without windows can`t omit they can`t live without windows. Ego is so painful for these people.
I've been dealing with Fortune 500 companies and MAJOR colleges for about 3 years now..... I've seen 3 Macs in use, mostly as "personal computers" and NOT part of the college or corporate network.
OH! And hey! How 'bout that Mac Server!!!! Funny how we never HEAR ANYTHING from someone who's running a corporate network of 5000+ on an All-Mac Server. Does Apple even cater to those requiring Servers?? Or just Yuppies who talk out their A*S???
Try 3:
Home Premium
Professional
Ultimate
Each one is for different people.
Being able to boot 2 systems at once is awesome. I'm using Parallels at the moment and it's good enough, but there are a lot of things i really hate about parallels that I'm tempted to switch to VM Ware.
I was, and year ago after 4th deadly virus attack in 7 years i gave up. I was ALWAYS careful, ALWAYS double-triple protecting my information and yet I lost entire picture collection for past year, over 2000 pictures, music,movies.Over 500GB.... I switched to mac. I GAVE UP!Yes you can do whatever you want with your pc, overclock it, upgrade it, and so on, but it will give you a hard times nearly always.And you can switch to overpriced, inperfect technically mac and have no problems with it.And even if you have problems if you know how to describe it it will be fixed for free by greedy apple customer support.
And it isn't rocket science to upgrade your iMac if you want to.Of course it takes more time and little more sophisticated and sometimes impossible (try to upgrade GPU in iMac) but actually if you want you can do it. By the way there is a flip side of a high pricing for MAC: their prices stay relatively high even after a year or two after purchase.So if you want to upgrade, you need to sell old one and add a little to buy a never one.Try to do the same with pc..Right now, after getting used to mac I get annoyed when I have to deal with windows.It always takes more time and freeze way too much.
Will I use PC in the future? Possible.If it will be more stable then Mac, I definitely will.But it isn't now. I might try to work on linux,never tried, but why not?And about popularity: thank you,PC users for absolute majority of you out there,because that keep us,MAC users, in modest 5% rate compare to you and hackers all over the world just ignoring us.Let it stay this way.
In any case, this is one fast G3 iMac. The RAM makes it fly. It loads OS X Tiger in about 30 seconds. Amazing! I have a partition with Mac OS 9, with all my old games and software should I feel nostalgic. I have Virtual PC installed, with Windows XP. Can't boot into it, but it does the same thing Parallels or VMware Fusion does for a new Intel Mac. (Run Windows within Mac OS X.) Virtual PC performed a heck of a lot more impressive feat- allowing Windows to run on a PowerPC Mac. There was no competition for Virtual PC, which is proof of how neat of a trick Connectix (the original developer, to all you unschooled M$ fanboys) innovated. To run an x86 OS on x86 hardware is not in the same ballpark.
Anyway, it's pretty sweet having three completely different (and incompatible) operating systems running in the same iMac. I don't think any hackintosh can boot into Mac OS 9.
To all the Mac users running emulator software, as a fellow Mac user who has no choice but to run Windows virtually, if I could run it natively, it would be a better option. It's like using Classic instead of booting into Mac OS 9 directly. Slower, less features, less options. Sure, it's convenient, but it's not exactly difficult to select the startup disk and restart the computer. Little effort, and rewarding performance. Also, there is at least one free virtual option for Mac, called Q (if memory serves correctly.) Haven't tried it, but you can't beat the price!
There are currently no viruses for OS X, but it is not an impossibility in the future. Nothing is invulnerable. But Macs definitely have never had the same risks as PCs, even when there were viruses. I have no need to run AV software, which I used to do in the old days. If that changes, I will too. There's just no need at the moment, with the only current risks Trojans that come from pr0n website downloads and Bit Torrent pirated software. I am not at risk.
As to Mac users running PC software, there are a lot of new Mac users that came from the PC platform. They are probably more comfortable running their old software, and it does save money to keep the old apps. I use XP to run a cell phone software (one more reason I will be getting an iPhone any day now) and to run the software included with my embroidery machine. I also have to use AV software for my Virtual XP. (I'm not stupid!) I installed Google's Chrome browser, and Safari for Windows. That's everything so far, but I am thinking about sticking a few non-taxing, PC-only games on there, to see if they work. That's it.
- by kurazy November 1, 2009 4:44 AM PST
- I wish microsoft should have just monopolized the gamming word and word processing world ... would have blew mac out of this world, intel should have stuck with PC instead of mac
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- by FourLivesRemaining November 3, 2009 2:21 PM PST
- Do you really think that having one choice works for everyone? Let me tell you, it doesn't. Without Mac, Windows wouldn't exist at ALL. If Mac went away, where would M$ copy so many of their ideas? I wouldn't want to have to depend on them to innovate, it is simply not what they do best.
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(29 Comments)I just don't understand the kind of person who thinks everyone should have one option, the one THEY use. People who hate anything different or cool, and actually resent something they don't own or use. Don't want a Mac? Don't buy one. But I love my Macs, and why would you have a problem with that? I don't want you to buy a Mac. Macs are not for people like you. Nor is Windows for someone like me. Should I be forced to buy something I hate? Nobody should. Not me, not you, not anyone.
Intel is happy to make chips for Apple. Why wouldn't they be? Apple is the fourth-largest PC maker. That's good money. Intel doesn't care about your bias toward Windows. They live in the real world, where every paying customer is a good customer.
Competition is always a good thing in the marketplace. Without it, we may as well be living on the wrong side of the iron curtain, where people had one option- what the government said was okay. Not for me, please! Even a person such as yourself (I hope) should be able to understand why competition drives innovation.