VMware Fusion 1.1
VMware
Price: $79.99 (free trial, volume licensing available)
Pros: Easy installation, strong online resources and community, great Windows/Mac integration, freedom to use OS X or Windows as much or as little you like.
Cons: A copy of Windows adds to the price tag, can't launch Windows files from the Finder, separate trash can and recycle bin.
by Gerrit Dalman, Capt, USAF
You probably love your Mac, but being in the military, you just can't escape the need for a few Windows apps. Maybe you need IBM's PureEdge Viewer to finish a performance report or Microsoft Access to work on a database from work. With VMware's popular virtualization program, Fusion, you can do that and more without disrupting what you're already doing on your Mac.
The ability to install and run Windows is built in to Mac OS X Leopard in the form of Boot Camp, but with Apple's solution you can only run one OS at a time. That means quitting all your work and restarting each time you want to switch. Fusion, on the other hand, lets you run Windows simultaneously with the Mac OS on the same screen.
That means that if you're in the middle of watching your favorite episode of Firefly in iTunes and think of a perfect bullet for that awards package you've been working on, PureEdge is only a few clicks away.
There's really not much to Fusion from a user perspective, and that's a good thing. It installs in a snap and setting up new virtual machines is very simple, though you'll have to wait for the client operating system to install. Once everything is ready to go, a single window is your one-stop shop for managing and launching your virtual machines.
While it is eerie to hear the iconic Windows startup chime on an Apple computer, it does mean you're just second away from a whole new desktop. The Windows experience is very complete with Fusion. Keyboards, scroll wheels, two-finger scrolling, and the iSight all work fine in both environments, for example, so you still get the advantage of Apple's high-quality hardware offerings even when you're using someone else's software.
You can work with Windows in three ways: in a window just like any other application, full-screen on top of your Mac desktop (an option that works just like a monitor switch when used in combination with Leopard's spaces feature), or in the much-touted "unity" mode. With unity turned on, the Windows desktop and (optionally) task bar will fade away and you will be left with any open Windows windows behaving on your desktop just like the Mac ones. Aside from their XP or Vista appearance, you can pretty much treat them just like Mac OS windows – they appear in the application switcher, zoom around under exposé, and can even be minimized to the dock with animation! Unfortunately you can't move them around to multiple spaces and while the Windows "maximize window" feature respects the Mac OS menu bar, it will overlap the Dock.
Regardless of how you choose to interact with the alien system, performance is pretty impressive. When idle, the app draws almost no CPU and holds only a little system memory. You do have to allocate the RAM and processors before you startup the other OS, but even with just 512MB and one core, Windows XP is very responsive for normal office functions.
A stable and well-integrated Windows-on-your-Mac solution sure is a boon, but the fun doesn't stop there. For starters, not only do Windows apps look and behave like native Mac software, but Fusion translates most common keyboard shortcuts for you too, which means you don't have to stop and think about wether to use -W or alt-F4 to close a window. Just do what's natural on the Mac and Fusion takes care of the rest. It also bridges the gap with data. You can designate shared folders and even drag and drop files or copy and paste text and graphics between the two environments.
You can even make use of operating systems other than Windows. Say you always wanted to try that BeOS you've heard so much about, or are a real Tux fan and want to run Linux. With Fusion, that's not a problem. In fact, VMware offers a web-based interface for finding and downloading pre-configured free operating systems.
With all that's included in the box, Fusion amplifies one of the best arguments for convincing fence-sitters to switch: buy a standard Windows PC and you're stuck with Windows; buy a Mac, and your options are virtually limitless!
If you have a need or desire to run Windows applications along side your Mac desktop rather than in place of it, you must consider VMWare Fusion. It stacks up very well against the competition and is backed by a fantastic user and developer community. If you want to run operating systems other than Windows on your Mac, VMWare is hands down your best option.
If you're unsure about the benefits of virtualization over Apple's free Boot Camp, you can try Fusion out on your existing Boot Camp partition for 30 days free! Just sign up or their evaluation license and start your download.
System Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later
* Intel processor
* 1GB free disk space for each virtual machine
* 275MB free disk space for VMware Fusion
* 512MB RAM
*Windows XP (SP2), Vista, or another supported operating system