Mac Reviews

VMware Fusion For Mac Review 2024

Unarguably, VMware Fusion is undoubtedly the best virtualization software for the Mac. This is not only limited to Fusion for mac, its sibling Windows app VMware Workstation is the perfect emulator for Windows and Linux. Unlike other Virtualization software, VMware Fusion for Mac is an app that you buy once and can use forever. If you are an IT manager, developers, music producer or graphic artist, VMware Fusion remains the best virtualization software on a Mac.

Virtualization- What is it about?

Virtualization is all about running Windows, and Windows apps, from the macOS itself. This invariably means that you are running both operating systems (macOS and Windows) at the same time. Besides, you can run your Windows apps on the Mac desktop right alongside all your normal Mac apps.

Virtualization is not the same as Bootcamp

Running windows on MacBook can not only be done by virtualization, but there is also Bootcamp. Bootcamp is Apple’s ideal solution to running Windows on Mac. Boot Camp Assistant partitions your Mac's internal hard drive or SSD (in newer models) so that you can install Windows on your mac alongside macOS itself. Bootcamp assistant is located in the Utility folder under the Applications folder.

Unlike virtualization, it is presumed that Boot Camp will allow you to run Windows and Windows apps at full speed, using all the processor power and memory built into your Mac. One main advantage VMware Fusion has over Bootcamp is its flexibility and Simplicity. Unlike Bootcamp, VMware Fusion allows you to run windows app on your Mac without shutting down your laptop. VMware Fusion does not allow you to lose access to the Mac side of things while Windows is running or lose access to Windows apps when logged on your macOS.

VMware Fusion 13 for Mac

Unlike bootcamp, VMware Fusion for Mac allows you to emulate other operating right in macOS at same time. This means you can side-by-side run any operating system ranging from Windows, Linux, Ubutun, Android on macOS without having to reboot the device. Not limited to the operating systems alone, you can also use applications specific to the Windows on your macOS Desktop.

Windows 11 on Apple Silicon Macs with VMware Fusion 13 Pro

One feature that will thrill you is its Unity View Mode. The Unity View mode allows you to hide the Windows desktop so you can run Windows apps just like Mac apps. Windows apps can Open directly from Dock or a Spotlight Search. To run this function, you need to install the VMware Tool.

Support for the latest Apple Silicon Chip

With the new version of VMware Fusion 13 available for Macs, you can install Windows ARM on M1/M2 Mac. Fusion is the virtualization software that is up-to-date with Apple updates. Be assured that your VMware Fusion won’t crash no matter the update from apple.

Powerful Graphics

The graphics of VMware Fusion is what fascinates a lot of users. Despite being an amazing virtualization software, VMware Fusion also supports GPUs with new Apple technologies such as Metal Graphics and other technologies such as DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.3. Fusion allows up to 3GB of vRAM per VM which means you can run any Windows Game on your macOS.

Powerfully Virtual Machines

The edge Fusion has over all other virtual machines is that it supports the use of multiple processor cores when running on recent iMac Pro and MacBook Pro models, and Apple's Metal graphics system. This makes it very fast and responsive. Also, you can use the Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro to control Windows apps. A lot of virtualization software hasn’t gotten to this stage yet. If all you do is use the Windows version of Excel or some Windows-only software like CorelDraw, VMware Fusion makes things easy by automatically setting up your Windows system so that you can print to your Mac-connected printer.

If you are more of a developer or a software engineer, you will want your Windows system to be more isolated from your Mac host, and VMware makes this easy for you. Unlike its competitors, VMware Fusion expects offers printer-sharing options and other integration features (which has to be enabled manually).

Versions and Cost

VMware Fusion has two versions namely: Basic and Pro. The Basic version costs just $80 (with a $50 upgrade price). The Basic version of VMware Fusion lacks the developer-level fine-tuning tools which are present and active in the Pro version. The Pro version costs only $160 (with a $120 upgrade price). The basic version of VM Fusion works on all the Mac devices “you own”; the Pro license works on three different Macs (irrespective of the owner). The Pro version integrates closely with VMware's vSphere cloud-based hypervisor for multiple virtual machines (VM) across a whole enterprise.

Running Windows on Mac is only the beginning, Fusion makes it very easy to run virtually any Operating System and app on a Mac. VMware Fusion for Mac lets you choose from hundreds of supported operating systems and run it seamlessly side-by-side with your macOS. VMware Fusion is a Virtual Machine for IT pros, developers, businesses and every Mac user.

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