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YoutubeWindows 7 on a Mac with VMware Fusion: Some Quick Tips
Lots of folks have been tweeting us at @vmwarefusion about how best to run Windows 7 on Mac in VMware Fusion.
The upshot is that Windows 7 is not yet a supported guest operating system in VMware Fusion (as opposed to the more than 60 guest OSes that are supported).
However, that doesn’t mean that it can’t run at all.
Windows 7 beta, both 32-bit and 64-bit, is not supported with VMware Fusion, but many VMware product features appear to work well today including Drag and Drop, Unity, and more. Based on commentary in our VMware Fusion forums, the best experience with Windows 7 beta with Fusion results from the following VMware settings:
- Use the Windows Server 2008 option to create your VM
- Disable 3D Acceleration (Sorry, no Aero support at this time)
- Disabled Shared Folders
We plan to support Windows 7 after it is released.
Please share your experience in the comments below!
Thanks for the pointers. I had installed 7 x64 with Vista x64 selected as the type without an problems, but switched it to 2008 and that seems to be working as well.
I must say that performance is much better than Vista was in VM. I can't wait to see the Aero interface in action though.
Posted by: Jeremy Heffner | January 17, 2009 at 08:48 PM
I'm running W7 on Fusion without any major problems, including shared files which seems to work OK
Posted by: KeithRB | January 18, 2009 at 04:32 AM
I've been running Windows 7 Ultimate in a VM for about a week now and it is working quite well. I mainly use it for MS Money, Office, and VPN connectivity to my office. I am also using shared folders with no issues. This is what Vista should have been when it was released.
Posted by: Keith Wedinger | January 18, 2009 at 05:11 AM
I have started testing Windows 7 since previous build - worked fine. Now with Build 7000 - still fine even with "Windows Vista" type and 3D on. Now downloading 64x version and will try.
As for now, having Office 2007 working on Windows 7 works perfect.
Posted by: Dmitry | January 18, 2009 at 06:49 AM
I installed Windows 7 Beta using the Windows Server 2008 option on my MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM. I'm using it with Office 2007 and a handful of other simple tools for server and network administration. So far, no real problems. I had installed and then deleted Vista since it seemed too slow. Windows 7 feels faster. I haven't launched my Windows XP Guest in 4 days since everything I need to do is working fine in Windows 7.
Posted by: John O'Shaughnessy | January 18, 2009 at 02:49 PM
Any timeline on when Aero support is coming? I am running the RTM and would really like to see Aero using the expensive video card I paid for with my 17" :)
Posted by: Fahd | August 14, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Please get aero working.
Posted by: Jim | September 17, 2009 at 01:29 PM
Windows 7 is officially out.. i still cant get my aero working... any idea on when Fusion 2 will support aero?
Posted by: Vijay | October 26, 2009 at 12:36 PM
I have discovered nirvana! I was able to figure out how to run Win7 with a WiFi connection to my network from within VMFusion :)
the trick seemed to be to inactivate my ethernet option from system preferences/network and then choosing the bridge option on vm fusion using airport
Posted by: ames | November 01, 2009 at 06:59 AM
I have just downloaded Windows 7 but it came in three parts: setup1.box, setup2.box and the Windows 7 Ultimate exe. I notice on your blog that you say to download the ISO product but I didn't know what that was when I downloaded my full version 7 so I just downloaded the normal product.. I don't know what to do but I am sure I don't want to waste $465. Can anyone help me with whether I can use the normal product rather than the ISO and if so, how I might add all the three parts together to enable VM Fusion to make a virtual machine. My apple is going at a snail's pace at the moment and I am worried downloading the three parts has affected the operation of my Mac. Please can someone answer this asap, please. Thanks Grace.
Posted by: Grace Sharon | December 16, 2009 at 11:49 PM
I am running Polar ProTrainer 5 on my VM ware virtual machine. Thus far I have been unable to download the information from my heart rate monitor via IR to the pro trainer software. Windows 7 does not acknowledge my USB IR dongle and I don't know any other way of connecting
Posted by: William H. Snyder | January 31, 2010 at 01:34 PM
I'm having trouble installing windows 7 as a virtual machine. I have a DVD image file and product key. The install starts and after a few minutes gives an error message "invalid product key". Not sure how to fix that???
Posted by: Bret Godwin | March 17, 2010 at 02:04 PM