
VMWare Fusion 3 is out (new features linked) - intranation
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10957
======
teilo
Got it. Booted my Mac into a 64-bit kernel. Win 7 64 bit ran painfully slow.
Rebooted to a 32-bit kernel. Win 7 64 bit ran as good or better than it did on
2.0., but it still took forever to get going the first time while it updated
VMWare Tools. It was fine after that.

So woop-de-doo for 64-bit host support. Pointless if it's so slow.

The VM environment is now split from the UI. Force-quit the UI and your VM
still runs in the background. Start the UI again, and you can access the
machine once more. This means that to kill an errant VM, you need to do it
from Activity Manager or the command prompt.

UI in the menu bar is a welcome update. In full-screen mode, there is now a
little bar on the top of the screen to access VMWare from the virtual machine.
No more pop-over system menu.

Unity is still slow compared to coherence on Parallels, but Parallels doesn't
support multi-monitors properly in Coherence mode, so VMWare still wins here.
XP is probably better due to accelerated GDI+. I'm guessing the Windows 7
video drivers are still WDM 1.0.

If you are expecting a boost in performance, you probably won't get it. I sure
don't notice one.

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Locke1689
I was part of the private beta for Fusion 3. I have had nothing but a good
experience with the new version. The UI has gotten much better and it seems
like it uses fewer system resources in almost every case. The 3D graphics
support is phenomenal for a virtual machine (I am also a virtual machine
developer).

I will definitely be upgrading (although private beta testers do get 25% off
purchase/upgrade price).

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intranation
So after downloading it and installing it (and waiting for my trial email), I
found out that:

\- It lacks headless mode; and \- It clobbers your 2.0x install completely.

If anyone wants to reverse the install like I did, you can still download the
2.0x series from here:
[http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/fusion_2_0_6/JUBiZCVka...](http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/fusion_2_0_6/JUBiZCVkamJAQGU=)

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eli
You can try before you buy: <http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-11004>

Though I'm curious if it's easy to revert back to 2 after installing the trial
for 3.

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neovive
Any comparisons available between Fusion 3 and VirtualBox 3?

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ralphc
It all seems to be about Windows. I run a bunch of Linuxes in VMs, and it
would be nice to have the Compiz desktop stuff to work in a VM.

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jpcx01
Version 3.0 seems light years better than 2.0. Doesn't seem to lock up my mac
instance any longer while booting.

~~~
jpcx01
Nevermind, its still slow as molasses. However... it no longer locks up my
mac. This is probably something to be celebrated. I don't mind if windows is
slow (for IE7 testing), but don't mess with my mac speed.

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epall
Nothing in there stood out to me. Does this upgrade cost money? Why would I
want to upgrade?

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antidaily
2 is especially slow for me. I'll probably upgrade just to see if it gets any
faster. Pretty sad.

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f00
If you're disappointed with the quality/performance of Fusion 2, why would you
pay more and blindly upgrade to 3 without actually knowing that it has
measurably improved?

Either way, please report back after the upgrade. The 'new features' list
isn't terribly compelling, but a genuine performance boost (on, say, a dual-
core MacBook Pro, not just an 8-core MacPro) would be.

~~~
eli
Free 30 day trial

<http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-11004>

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xal
Did anyone try any d3d games on it? Maybe the latest valve shooter or
something like it?

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mcav
Upgrade price is $40 (from v1 or v2); regular price is $60.

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sid0
Workstation 7 and Player 3 are out too.

/waiting for the mail with instructions to download...

