VMware Fusion is a latecomer to the Mac virtualization market, but it's a product that was worth waiting for. Fusion seems to be more stable than other virtualization products I've tried, with fewer crashes. Performance is good, with support for multiple processors. But, as is true of other virtualization products, graphics and video suffer from Fusion's failure to use the Mac's native video card.
- Runs Windows concurrently with OS X
- Can run multiple OSes
- Easy Windows installation
- Can use your Boot Camp partition
- Can use multiple processors for better performance
- Limited support for peripherals
- Doesn't support multiple displays
- Built-in backup is limited
- Requires an Intel-based Mac
- Supports a long list of OSes, including Windows, Linux, and DOS
- Supports 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Vista
- Runs Windows applications outside of the virtual machine's desktop
- Lets you drag and drop files between OS X and Windows
VMware's entry into the Mac virtualization market was long anticipated, and Fusion, its first product for this market, has been well received. Because Parallels beat Fusion to the punch, comparisons between the two products are inevitable. Which one is better? It really depends on your needs.
VMware's experience with writing virtualization applications really shows with Fusion. For the most part, Fusion gets out of your way and lets you run Windows (or another OS) with minimal interference. Fusion also provides a slightly more Mac-like experience than Parallels does.
Fusion appears to have a performance edge over Parallels, with support for up to two processors, and a more up-to-date graphics system, which supports most DirectX 9 applications. This means that Fusion should run many current Windows games, although by no means all of them.
Fusion does have its flaws. I've noticed that some of my peripherals won't work under Fusion. The important peripherals (keyboard, mouse, card reader, USB wireless connection) work, but my web cam doesn't. Fusion also doesn't support multiple monitors, a problem that admittedly won't affect a large number of users.
Of most concern to me at the moment is the inability of Fusion's Snapshot feature to make multiple backups of a virtual machine. Fusion currently supports only one backup image. To make a new backup, I must toss the previous one, something I'd rather not do.
These issues are the typical growing pains of a new product, and will most likely be resolved in future versions. In the meantime, Fusion is a good choice when stability and performance are important.
