VMTN Blog

VMware often adds features during the beta cycle. You should always keep an eye out if a certain beta release doesn't yet include your heart's desire. The Fusion team has just released Beta 2 of Fusion 2, and has added what looks like a whole version's worth of features over Beta 1. Multiple snapshots, my favorite, barely even makes the highlight reel, because they've gone and built on top it a feature called AutoProtect,with  Time Machine-like automated snapshots in case you get into trouble. A summary really wouldn't do this release justice -- just click through and read the whole thing. My Mac ♥ VMware Fusion.

Link: VMware: Team Fusion: Safer, Stronger, and More Seamless: VMware Fusion 2 Beta 2 Now Available.

The VMware Fusion team is proud to announce VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 2.

This latest public beta, a free download, builds on VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1, adding the Unity 2.0 suite of Mac-Windows integration features, new ways to protect and manage your virtual machines with multiple snapshots, and a garage full of power tools for technical professionals.

And as previously announced, VMware Fusion 2.0 will be a free downloadable upgrade for all VMware Fusion 1.x customers.

For current students, prospective university students, or academic faculty and staff, VMware has made it easier than ever to purchase VMware Workstation or VMware Fusion at an academic discount.  Visit http://vmware.com/go/academicstore for up to 50% off the commercial list price for these award-winning VMware products. 

By the way, here's more on the VMware Academic Program if you're interested. More places for academics to virtualize coming soon...

The winners of the My Switch to Fusion video contest were announced. Very nice. Check out the new Switch to Fusion page for more switchy goodness.

For those of us in the US of A, happy fourth.

Link: Virtual Leopard Server, Uncaged: Virtualized Mac OS X Leopard Server on VMware Fusion 2.0.

 

As you many of you may recall, at Macworld in January, we gave you a preview of Mac OS X Leopard Server installing and running as a virtual machine on Mac OS X. 

Well, in honor of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, currently in full-swing in San Francisco, the VMware Fusion team is excited to announce that Mac OS X Leopard Server will be our 61st supported virtualized operating system, and will be available in VMware Fusion 2.0’s next beta (get the current beta here). 

I was all set to talk about the My Switch to VMware Fusion video contest. Over at the Team Fusion blog, Pete has posted some of the incoming videos -- I'm not sure I have a favorite yet.

But tonight we released VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1 -- and announced that 2.0 would be a free upgrade  to all registered users.Link: More Displays. More 3D. More to Love: VMware Fusion 2.0 Public Beta 1 Now Available | Team Fusion.

The VMware Fusion team is proud to announce VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1.   

This public beta, a free download, boasts a handful of industry firsts for Mac virtualization, including true multi-display support for virtual machines and experimental DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2 3D acceleration.

And after I watched this demo video, I knew that I'd need to post the Switch to Fusion videos later, because you should watch this one now. I laughed out loud after display # 4, and there were plenty of monitors to go.

Go visit

• VMware Fusion 2 Beta 1 home
• Blog post: More Displays. More 3D. More to Love: VMware Fusion 2.0 Public Beta 1 Now Available | Team Fusion
• VMware Fusion Beta Program community and download portal

Are you a switcher? No, not a switcher from PC to Mac, a group that includes Yours Truly, but that's a story for another time. Are you a Mac user that has switched from another method of running Linux or Windows on Mac (Boot Camp, Parallels, etc.) to VMware Fusion? If so, are you interested in switching to brand-new MacBook Air, with a copy of VMware Fusion included? Then we should talk.

Team Fusion is launching a something new: a "My Switch to VMware Fusion" video contest.

• To win the MacBook Air, you need to make a one minute video. The beauty of owning a Mac is that this is not hard. They've got a certain structure they want you to follow, so that all the videos will  work well strung together. In return, they'll send you a t-shirt, a bumper sticker and will link to your blog if you have one.
  
• If you don't want to make a video, but you have a blog, then go to town and simply write about switching to VMware Fusion. (Again, there are guidelines -- it seems Pete, our Fusion marketing manager, is channeling Steve Jobs on the control freak wavelength, but I promise you it'll all look cool in the end all linked up together.) Anyway, do that and you'll get a shiny "My Mac Hearts VMware Fusion" bumper sticker and a nice link to your blog. And the best blog post gets an iPod Touch.

OK, VMware Fusion users (i.e., you out there reading this) have already shown that you're open to using the best product -- and Fusion rocks as far as I'm concerned, and I use it every day. It is your moral imperative to make the world a better place and share your wisdom with your fellow human beings. It'll just take a minute to post something. And you could win an iPod Touch or MacBook Air, or at least be tricked out with a t-shirt and bumper sticker.

How bad could that be? Enter the My Switch to VMware Fusion video contest today.

--jtroyer

VMware: Virtual Reality is a new group blog from VMware that covers virtualization technology and the virtualization landscape. Its motto: "Setting the Record Straight One Post at a Time." Mike DiPetrillo checks in after a hectic day at Macworld and gives us four reasons to switch over to VMware Fusion. (I was there and can vouch for the hectic crowded VMware Fusion booth! -jmt)

Link: The Chaos (aka Macworld) Begins | VMware: Virtual Reality.

Today was my first day in the VMware booth at MacWorld 2008. Man was it crowded! What a show so far with Jobs announcing 4 great new technologies (my Apple TV thanks you). What really peaked my interest was all of the people coming by and asking what made VMware Fusion so much better than Parallels for Mac. Ed Baig from USA Today even got me on film talking about this very subject. So here's my personal (non corporate marketing) rundown on why I think we're better than Parallels. For what it's worth I used Parallels for a long time since VMware didn't have anything on the Mac. I loaded up Fusion since I work for VMware and decided to give it a try. The points below are what got me to switch. Yeah, I know, you say I would have switched anyways since I work for the company. Not true. I'm a technologist and use what works better. Anyhow, here's the list. For what it's worth I used Parallels for a long time since VMware didn't have anything on the Mac. I loaded up Fusion since I work for VMware and decided to give it a try. The points below are what got me to switch. Yeah, I know, you say I would have switched anyways since I work for the company. Not true. I'm a technologist and use what works better. Anyhow, here's the list.

As you can imagine, the VMware Fusion team was pretty excited when Apple modified their licensing to allow Mac OS X Leopard Server to run in a virtual machine on Apple hardware.  This is something our users have asked us for and we were interested in seeing as well.

Today, we are pleased to say that VMware is able to virtualize Mac OS X Leopard Server on Apple hardware using VMware’s proven Mac virtualization engine. We will be demonstrating this achievement with our “Mac OS X Server in a Virtual Machine” Technology Preview , at our booth at the Macworld Expo, and with the group of screenshots below.

Important thing to note: we are NOT showing off a “hackintosh,” using a modified version of the Mac OS X kernel.  This is completely legit; we are installing Mac OS X Server directly from a factory-sealed Apple DVD onto a virtual machine running only on genuine Apple hardware. This is true virtualization.

Mac OS X Leopard Server is not modified to run on VMware virtual hardware and uses Apple’s proven and shipping Leopard drivers for USB keyboard, USB mouse, IDE controller, LSI SCSI controller, High Speed USB 2.0 (UHCI and EHCI) controller, Intel e1000 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter, and VESA video adapter. Sound is not working at this time, but we are working on it!

And since Mac OS X Leopard has moved to 64-bit, we are able to leverage VMware's proven 64-bit support to run Mac OS X Server at it's full potential, a feature that has been a VMware exclusive for more than three years.

It’s hard to express how excited we are to being showing this here at Macworld. While we can’t discuss specific product plans and release dates, we know that this is very important to Mac customers and will take this into account as we plan our future Mac products.

The one question we know we will get asked is will VMware support Mac OS X Server on non-Apple hardware. While this is only a technology preview today,  VMware works closely with Apple and respects their licensing policies and as such Mac OS X Server in a virtual machine will only be supported on Apple hardware per Apple’s license agreement.

Come by our Macworld booth and see Mac OS X Server in a virtual machine for yourself!  We’ll be demoing it all day, and distributing free evals of award-winning VMware Fusion !

The VMware Fusion team is proud to announce the release of VMware Importer Beta 2, for the importation of third-party Mac-based virtual machines to run using VMware Fusion. 

We're especially excited about this release, as users can now import virtual machines created with Virtual PC 7.0 for Mac!  Even though we live and breath Intel-based Macs here on Team Fusion, it's important to remember that Intel-Macs have only been around for a little under two years now.

That means there's a lot of Mac users out there using Virtual PC 7.0 on their trusty PowerBook, iBooks, G4 and G5 Towers, and more.  When it comes time to upgrade to a shiny new Intel-Mac, well, we on Team Fusion want those users to have a smooth upgrade process to the most seamless way to run Windows on a Mac.

VMware Importer Beta 2 allows for the importation of Virtual PC 7.0-based virtual machines with the following operating systems:

• Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
• Windows XP Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2003

VMware Importer Beta 2 also lets users import virtual machines created using Parallels Desktop for Mac 2.5 and 3.0, including:

• Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
• Windows XP Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Vista

Check out the VMware Importer Beta 2 landing page here, and give it a whirl! 

And, as always, users looking to convert a physical PC to run as a virtual machine under VMware Fusion can use VMware Converter Starter Edition to do just that in a snap.

Questions and comments are always welcome at the VMware Fusion community forums, where Fusion users come to talk Mac virtualization.

The VMware Fusion team will be on site at the Macworld Conference and Expo, starting Tuesday, January 15th, 2008, running through the following Friday.

If you're a fan of Fusion, a fan of the Mac platform, or planning on coming to Macworld, come check out our Macworld landing page.

Submit a "Favorite thing about Fusion" customer testimonial, sign up for our Macworld email list to stay in the loop on doings at Macworld and after, and grab a floor map with the VMware Fusion booth highlighted!

Hope to see you there!