Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #635 in Software
• Brand: VMware, Inc.
• Model: FUS3-ENG-M-CP
• Released on: 2009-11-04
• Platform: Mac OS X Intel
• Format: CD-ROM
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
VMware Fusion 3 is the Best Way to Run Windows on Your Mac.

Using a Mac doesn’t mean abandoning your Windows applications and devices. Ditch your PC and safely run your favorite Windows programs alongside Mac applications, while continuing to use your Windows-only devices on your Mac.

Move Your Entire PC with Ease

Effortless Migration – No Cable Required

Wouldn’t it be great if you could use your new Mac, yet have access to your old Windows PC, without the clunky hardware? Wouldn’t you like to make the most of your Windows software investment on your new Mac? With the built-in Migration Assistant for Windows, VMware Fusion 3 can convert your entire PC and bring it over to your Mac in a few easy steps, giving you access to your Windows applications, documents and other files – whenever you need them. Just install a simple application on your PC, connect it to your Mac with a cable or wirelessly, and VMware Fusion will guide you through the rest. You can now recycle your old PC and still have access to your old applications and files, directly from the Mac you love.

Windows with Mac Simplicity

The Mac Way

Designed from the ground up for Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard, VMware Fusion lets you run your Windows applications—side-by-side with your Mac applications—the Mac way.

Seamless Integration

Instantly launch your favorite Windows applications directly from your Dock or the Apple menu bar at any time. Easily switch between apps and minimize them to your Dock—just like you would with Mac apps.

More Mac-like than ever

VMware Fusion comes preloaded with new powerful built-in features to help you run Windows applications even more like Mac applications. The new always-on applications menu lets you access your Windows apps with a click – directly from the Apple menu bar, and the new resizable preview window lets you keep an eye on your virtual machines. The new full screen menu bar gives you complete control over your virtual machine and can be moved to any side of the screen to make guest user interfaces-- such as taskbars and menu bars-- more accessible.

Windows Powerhouse

Maximum Performance

With a highly optimized 64-bit engine, advanced memory and CPU management technology, run the most demanding Mac and Windows applications side-by-side at maximum speeds.

Advanced 3D Graphics

Play Full HD videos and run your favorite 3D Windows games better than ever with best-in-class OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3 graphics support — all without rebooting.

Ultimate Windows Experience

Get the ultimate Windows experience on the Mac and make the most of Windows 7 with Windows Aero and Flip 3D animations.

Displays Galore

Display Windows and Mac OS X applications any way you want: side-by-side on your main display, in full screen, or across multiple displays connected to your Mac.

Peace of Mind

Protect your Windows Investment

Make the most of your Windows software investment and Windows-only devices by continuing to use the applications and devices you need on the Mac you love.

We’ve Got You Covered

Automatic snapshots allow you to roll Windows back to a safe state if something goes wrong. For added protection, we’ve included 18 months of free email support (English only) and a 12-month complimentary subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus.

Company You Trust

Built by the undisputed virtualization leader, VMware Fusion has won over a dozen awards for its unparalleled excellence.

What’s differentiates VMware Fusion 3 from other solutions

VMware Fusion is designed from the ground up for the Mac and preloaded with powerful new features to help you run Windows applications even more like Mac applications.

Engineered in California, VMware Fusion is the best way to run Windows on your Mac.

VMware Fusion 3 is recommended for Home users, students and business professionals who are looking for the fastest, easiest and most reliable way to run Windows and Mac applications side-by-side on their Mac without rebooting.

Box Contains
VMware Fusion 3.0 Software CD
Link to over 10 Video Tutorial
Quickstart Guide;VMware stickers
18-months of free email-support (English only)
12-month complimentary subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus

Customer Reviews

Great but ensure you have enough memory
First....the positives:

After installing VMWare Fusion, I was really pleased at how easily it was all done. The system provides you with 3 options of installation - i.e windows from a CD, conversion from Boot Camp or import a copy of your PC. I installed Windows XP from an original CD and it was a complete breeze. You have a security option to decide whether you want to share all of your Mac data with windows or run an isolated process. I opted for the isolated option to protect my Mac data from the many PC viruses but then set up a sharing folder for the data I need to share with windows.

The settings are really useful and you can change how much memory or how many processor cores you want the Virtual Machine to use. You can also configure virtual drives if you want separate hard disk space and, although I couldn't assign my external USB partition as an actual drive, it worked fine as a virtual partition.

Now the not-so positives:

I am running this on a standard MacBook with snow leopard, a 2 GHZ dual core processor and 2 GB of memory. I assigned one core to the VM and left the standard allocation of 512MB of memory. Well, the first thing I noticed was that the virtual machine slowed to a crawl when I started running excel and Visual C++ at the same time. There was no real impact on my Mac apps so I changed the memory allocation to 1 GB each but that slowed it all down and it became such a pain I changed it back again. I need at least 4GB of memory if it is going to serve its purpose for me.

Verdict:

If you don't intend to use the VM and Mac Apps at the same time, and are happy to swap memory allocations, then it is perfect on any Mac.
If you want to run applications on both at the same time, ensure you have enough memory (2GB wont be enough).

UPDATE: I have now installed an extra 2GB of memory (now have 4GB in total) and it is superb !!. I have now upgraded my rating to 5 stars

VM Ware fusion V3
Under NO circumstances try and upgrade from V2 in Windows XP because once you have downloaded v3 you will be unable to access your new unlock code and access the upgraded version. As there is no quick support from their help desk, you will have to restore to V2 from backup to be able to use windows on your mac.