Skip Links

Network World

  • Social Web 
  • Email 
  • Close

(Comma separation for multiple addresses)
Your Message:

VMware pushes virtualization technology for Macs

VMware’s Fusion lets users run traditional PC applications and OS X applications simultaneously and share data between virtual machines.
By Jennifer Mears , Network World , 01/09/2007
  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print

VMware continues to push its virtualization technology for Apple systems, using the Macworld Conference & Expo this week to show off the software that lets users run Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris alongside the Mac OS X operating system on a single Intel-based desktop.

VMware formally introduced the software, code-named Fusion, in August at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. More than 70,000 people have registered to download the software since the public beta was made freely available in December, VMware executives say.

VMware Fusion is expected to be generally available by this summer, when pricing also will be announced.

VMware leads the x86 server virtualization market, but has not had an offering for Apple computers because of their use of IBM’s PowerPC chips. Last year, however, Apple made the switch to the Intel chipset for its systems, opening the door for VMware to bring its virtualization technology to Mac users.

Typically, users needing both Mac and PC applications have to run separate physical systems, but VMware’s Fusion removes that necessity. Fusion enables users to run traditional PC applications and OS X applications simultaneously and share data between virtual machines.

In addition, VMware’s virtual SMP capabilities mean that users running Macs with dual-core processors can allocate multiple CPUs to various virtual machines in order to boost performance. Other features in Fusion include the ability to access physical devices from any virtual machine even if those devices don’t have drivers for OS X, and the ability to support VMware’s virtual appliances, pre-configured virtual machines that include an application and an operating system and span everything from security to load balancing to network management.

VMware Fusion will compete with similar offerings from companies such as Parallels, which was the first to bring x86 virtualization capabilities to Macs. Parallels recently released a third beta of its Parallels Desktop for Mac. The update adds USB 2.0 support; better support for Boot Camp, a new feature in Mac OS X that enables Windows XP to run on Macs; and the ability to launch Windows applications directly from Mac OS X.

  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print

Partner Content

Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling

Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.

Download whitepaper

Dell's SMART Approach to Workload Automation

Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.

Download whitepaper

Workload Automation Cost Savings 2 Minute Video

A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member.  See how in this 2-minute video overview.

Go to video

Comments (1)
Login
Forgot your account info?

How to make VMware for Macs even betterBy Anonymous on June 8, 2007, 8:30 amAlready using Parallels, but find it clunky overall. Giving this beta of VMWare a spin. Re: VMware pushes virtualization technology for Macs. The one thing...

Reply | Read entire comment

View all comments

Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a NetworkWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.

Videos

rssRss Feed