Beta version of VMware Fusion 3.1 is now available!

[mudaltsov]

The VMware Fusion team is happy to announce that the beta version of VMware Fusion 3.1 is now available!

The download link and release notes are available at the beta discussion community:

http://communities.vmware.com/community/beta/fusion

Note: as with previous pre-release versions, there are known and unknown issues. We recommend the beta version only for those who want to try the new and improved features and provide feedback to the development team.

Here are some of the highlights of the new version:

• More Powerful Graphics Performance for Games & 3D Apps: OpenGL 2.1 support for Windows Vista and Windows 7, DirectX 9.0 SM3 performance improvements, Windows Aero performance improvements, better OpenGL compatibility for modeling apps.

• Improved USB Support: USB "EasyConnect" makes it simple to assign a USB device to a virtual machine or your Mac and then remembers preferred settings for each USB device.

• Support for larger virtual machines: 8-way SMP support added, maximum virtual hard disk size increased from 950 GB to 2 TB.

• Improved Boot Camp Support: Improved disk performance for your Boot Camp VMs, better handling of disk configuration changes to avoid duplicate entries, option to avoid authentication dialogs when using a Boot Camp virtual machine.

• PC Migration Improvements: Migration status displayed on PC, now avoids port conflicts, guest account issues on Mac OS X now resolved

• User Experience Improvement Program: VMware uses information obtained through beta testing to improve the quality, reliability, and performance of our products and to plan our future development and testing. Participation in the program is voluntary and you can opt out at any time.

Please use the beta discussion forum for providing feedback and discussing any issues with the beta release. We look forward to making VMware Fusion even better with your help!

[eobet]

I downloaded this to see if the Solidworks bug had been fixed yet (it's been MONTHS now).

Even worse! Upon launch of Solidworks, Fusion reports that an OpenGL error has occured and won't display the model at all.

That's it, that's the final drop. Fusion 3 is a downgrade compared to Fusion 2 and Parallels is apparently faster these days anyway.

I'm now regretting that I ever bought it and I'm uninstalling Fusion to try Parallels instead and see if it handles Solidworks without glitches.

solidworks bug

[gwsat]

I have liked Fusion 3.x just fine. Maybe it's because my needs are simpler than are those of some of the rest of you. Also, I recently upgraded my 2.4Ghz Macbook Pro from 2 to 6 gig of RAM. Now, I am running Fusion 3.02 and Windows 7 in Unity mode and it has been terrific. For that reason, I am going to pass on becoming a beta tester for Fusion 3.2, despite my satisfaction with version 3.02. It appears that 3.2's new features wouldn't provide any additional utility for me. Further, the inevitable instabilities introduced in any beta program concern me. Thus, for the moment at least, thanks but no thanks.

[matthewls]

The release notes seem to be missing some sections, e.g. resolved issues.

Disk and video seem faster.

P.S. Parallels 5 "out of the box" speed didn't keep me using it. VMware Fusion 3.0x remains my preferred option. Hoping that 3.1 pushes further...

Unity seems faster too.

[Tony_Arnold]

Looks like another solid release! I've been playing around with the beta today, and while I can't play Star Trek: Online very well (never could) everything else seems to have a pretty noticeable jump in performance under the beta.

For everyone bitching about the speed differences between Parallels and Fusion: Try turning on the 'Hard disk buffering' option. From what I understand, this is the primary source of Parallels' speed-up - it's also going to chew through your memory like nobody's business. It certainly looks right now like 3.1 will close the gap between these products speed wise.

I use Fusion because it's reliable, and it's stable - I don't much mind if there's a small difference in speed so long as my VMs stay up (and they do under Fusion).

Great work guys - keep it up!

[gwsat]

Tony -- I agree that while Fusion 3.02 is not exactly a speed demon, it is very stable, but only if you have enough memory. The only real trouble with Fusion I have found is that you have to have plenty of RAM to get the most out of it. I assume that the new beta 3.1 version is a memory hog, too, but even if it does still require a lot of memory, if it is significantly faster than 3.02, that could be a big deal.

[Tony_Arnold]

I can't really comment on the RAM usage of the new version- I have 8Gb RAM in my MacBook Pro, and most of my VMs are set around the 2Gb RAM mark so I don't really notice problems of this nature.

3.1beta is faster, though so it's worth trying either way.

[gwsat]

Tony -- Thanks, I may try 3.1 out after all. I have 6 gig of RAM in my MBP, with 3 gig of the ram and one processor core dedicated to the Fusion virtual machine. Most of my OS X apps aren't very memory hungry so I wanted to give Fusion and Windows 7 as much RAM as I dared without starving my OS X apps. This setup has been working really well for me.

[gwsat]

Just tried to download the version of 3.1 without the McAfee antivirus app in it but the link was dead. Maybe I'll try again some other time.

[jtpadge]

At least one improvement so far. I am able to run Autocad Lt 2010 with accelerate 3D graphics enabled and the cursor is not erratic.

[db_white]

Took it for a test drive using an XP virtual machine and MystOnline -

Graphics are flaky - For no apparent reason, the game window suddenly minimized itself. When I right clicked to bring up the menu, only the "Close" item was enabled. Eventually, the window restored itself. Parts of the game were black-on-black. Plus, the backgrounds kept flashing between shadows that were too dark and shadows that looked like sunlight.

Audio had a noticeable glitch too.

FYI - The debug code eats memory like crazy - my 2GB virtual machine required 3+GB of real memory.

Let me know what information you need to chase this down.

[TheLoneVM]

Eobet, please check your private messages. Thanks.

[ajbrehm]

Did we get headless mode back?

I really hate it when I start Fusion 3 and all my running VMs spring into my face. I don't need to see all running VMs as windows on the desktop.

I am still on Fusion 2 because of this.

[ajbrehm]

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-12165

When I click on [releasenotes_fusion_31_b.html|http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadBody/12165-102-4-12442/releasenotes_fusion_31_b.html] it asks me if I want to download the HTML page.

What's wrong with using normal links?

[continuum]

just click the VIEW link - it is located left of the DOWNLOAD link




___________________________________

VMX-parameters- Workstation FAQ -[ MOA-liveCD|http://sanbarrow.com/moa241.html] - VM-Sickbay

[ajbrehm]

Ha, clever...

I clicked the name of the document and thought "view download" was the same link.

[dp_fusion]

I'm having no trouble with Rhino Cad, so I wonder how much of the problem is with the application vs OS X, Windows, and Fusion.

[gwsat]

I downloaded 3.1 Beta last night and installed it this morning. The installation was clean and easy. It took less than 10 minutes to accomplish. So far, Windows 7 and Quicken 2010 for Windows, which I have been running from my OS X Desktop with Fusion in Unity mode, is more sluggish than ever. At least it has remained stable so far. Can anybody recommend any changes to the settings I might make to speed up Windows apps?

[francis_carden]

I was on Fusion 2 for over a year and everything was AWESOME. I used to be able to run 2 VM's (both XP) on my 4GB MAC and both were lightening fast. I sung the praises of VMWARE to everyone.

However, I upgraded to 3.0 about 4 months ago and got hammered by performance issues. I can now run a single VM as fast as with Fusion 2.0 BUT if I start a second VM, that second VM runs like a dog (Task manager still shows 100% CPU). It crucifies me that I cannot start a 2nd VM unless I shut down the first and have rebooted the VM itself. Even if I shut down the first, the 2nd never speeds up until a reboot. It doesn't matter the order of which VM I bring up first from cold. The first VM is always lightening fast and stays that way throughout so it cannot be a setting, only a flaw somewhere in Fusion 3.

Frustrating. I haven't heard anything that might be in this Beta that would address this. If I did, I'd be tempted. I cannot risk having problems with the Beta AND slowness. I am really tempted to at least try parallels because I cannot live with this mess much longer.

How could I go from such an advocate to such a frustrated user in such a short time span. Sigh.

[ajbrehm]

I was on Fusion 2 for over a year and everything was AWESOME. I used to be able to run 2 VM's (both XP) on my 4GB MAC and both were lightening fast. I sung the praises of VMWARE to everyone.

How could I go from such an advocate to such a frustrated user in such a short time span. Sigh.

I hear you.

I wish they would release a version of Fusion 3 that simply allows you to run everything like it was in Fusion 2. While I still use Fusion 2 now, I fear changes in Apple's OS could at some point break it and then there would be no new version of it.

And how would I recommend Fusion to anyone? Fusion 2 cannot be bought any more, I think. And even if it was still available, how can I tell someone that Fusion is better than Parallels but make sure you don't buy the current version?

It's frustrating.

But apparently the number of users like you and I are too small to make a difference. In my case making headless mode accessible again would make me buy Fusion 3.