May 6, 2008
Fusion 2 beta is here
Posted May. 6, ’08, 5:37 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Windows
It’s no secret that I’m a VMware Fusion fanboy. That’s why I was pleased to see that the folks behind one of my favorite tools haven’t been resting on their laurels. For virtualization products, it’s easy to simply maintain. While not really virtualization as we know it now, Virtual PC is a perfect example. It hit a really usable state, the competition dropped out and the improvements stopped. That’s why this current competition between Parallels and VMware is so great for the consumer.
Fusion 2 beta was revealed today. It’s got some key new features that might be able to entice a few Parallels users. First up is vastly improved multiple display support. Fusion now properly represents the two physical displays as two displays within the virtualized Windows.
Secondly, it’s now easier to switch from other Windows on the Mac options including direct importation of Parallels files, Boot Camp partitions, and Virtual PC files too. I know the very latter option was one of the more frequently asked about features for these products. Anybody that’s needed Windows on Mac for a long time has one of those files sitting around gathering dust. The Boot Camp feature is new in that you make a new virtual machine file rather than just using the existing partition. That allows for the resume and suspend features, but I’ll personally stick with the current mode.
Also new is the shader support added to the 3D portion of Fusion. DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2 is supported, meaning more games. I’m curious about the performance and whether some ardent Boot Camp users might have a real alternative. I don’t want to get my hopes up before I get my hands on it (which I plan on doing very soon).
Finally, Fusion has a improved virtual machine library, a better preference interface, and many other small improvements. The big question you probably have is how much this is going to cost for current Fusion customers. The answer is nothing. It’s free for all current users. Good on you VMware. Check out the 2.0 page for videos, information and download.
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Does DirectX 9 mean Aero will work now is Vista, or is that still a no go?
I've been pretty happy with Fusion but one thing still bugs the heck out of me - I can't use the Command key as the Windows Control key except for a few known combinations (i.e. Ctrl+C, etc.). The option to swap these keys for common combinations is definitely better than nothing but it's annoying that it doesn't work for all, as it does in Parallel. While I used to be a Windows person, having now gotten very used to using the Command key it's pretty jarring to have to swap to using the Control key again when switching to my XP Virtual Machine. This is pretty minor stuff but this would mean so much to me.