VMware Fusion

VMware Fusion is backed by nearly a decade of proven, high-performance virtualization technology. As the winner of more than 100 awards for its industry-leading virtualization software, VMware is trusted by millions of users worldwide. VMware released a second beta release (Beta 2) for their VMware Fusion 2 product. VMware Fusion is a virtualization software for the Mac that lets you run other operating systems on the system at the same time OS X is running. VMware Fusion is a desktop application that lets you create and run virtual machines on your Intel-based Mac. You can also download virtual machines from the VMware Technology Network (VMTN) Website, which has a growing library of virtual appliances with a wide range of pre-installed and preconfigured applications and operating systems.

VMware Fusion has a final release of 2.0 after a few months of release candidates. Best of all, it’s free for existing users! VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1 multiple display support lets you get the most out of your screen real estate. VMware today unveiled VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1 , a free beta preview of the next major update to its OS virtualization software, which introduces many new features, including true multi-display support for virtual machines. In addition to using multiple displays, the beta also introduces experimental support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2, allowing users to run complex 3D software in a virtualized environment.

VMWare Fusion 2.0 is $79.99 for new users, and free for existing customers. VMWare offers a 30-day free trial, if you want to try it out before buying. VMware Fusion gives you the best of both worlds – your favorite Windows applications on your Mac! VMware should support DirectX 8.1 acceleration, then I’ll have to test with not too recent games. It’s OK, I have three or four of them, and they were not tested by developer team.

Virtual Machines are meant to be portable, so backing them up is easy as pie. At work, we have a Virtual Machines image burned to DVD so we can easily get it onto the many Macs that have been coming into the office lately. VMware said that Fusion 2.0 Beta 1 supports up to 10 monitors connected to a Mac. The VMware web site shows a video demonstration of Windows on 8 monitors connected to one Mac. VMware Fusion 2 also makes Windows even safer on the Mac, through automatic virtual machine snapshots, that keep Windows safe from bumps in the road, and an embedded, complimentary 12-month subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus. Power users will be happy that VMware Fusion 2 incorporates more of the raw technological power that VMware virtualization technology is known for, including multiple snapshots, the ability to add up to four virtual CPUs to a virtual machine, and newly added support for Mac OS X Leopard Server as a virtual machine.