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abillings
Contributor
Contributor

Vmware Fusion on Lion (OS X 10.7)?

When is VMware planning on shipping support for Lion, OS X 10.7.

There are reports (http://roaringapps.com/app:61#post-31) that it isn't working well for people at all on development seeds. There are also reports that Apple is going to release very soon.

It has been nearly six months since the last Fusion update. The vmware tools are out of date for Unix support. When can we expect an update to address these issues and OS X support?

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abillings
Contributor
Contributor

I now see a Fusion update was released yesterday (though "check for updates" in Fusion says the older one is current).

Does this address OS X 10.7 compatibility?

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

No.  And given the in-flux state of 10.7, you won't see support until it's released.

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abillings
Contributor
Contributor

Well, that means that none of us using VMware Fusion for our actual jobs can update to 10.7 when it comes out.

That's kind of crappy support given that VMware has access to the 10.7 developer bits and could arrange to release the same day or next.

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MacsRule
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

abillings wrote:

Well, that means that none of us using VMware Fusion for our actual jobs can update to 10.7 when it comes out...

Considering the number of updates to any given Mac OS it takes Apple to work the more egregious bugs out, is it wise to update your Mac to the latest OS the day it's released if you're using your Mac for your actual job? I was amazed at how many things 10.6.5 broke when I finally upgraded from 10.5. Fortunately, that finding was from a test upgrade on a second drive in a Mac Pro and it took some experimenting to work out the best approach to upgrading. Indeed, remember the font fun with PDF's that came with 10.6.7?

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

1) You assume that Apple won't change things at the last minute.

2) Apple policy prohibits developers from advertising 'lion compatible' until it's released.

3) My post said "until it's released."  I would hope we'd see near same-day announcements, but to expect anything in advance isn't realistic given 1 and 2.

I have an encryption product that took 4 months to support 10.6 (and suspect it'll be the same for 10.7).  I want to upgrade day one as well (actually to get rid of that product and use the built-in apple WDE in Lion), but since this is my major production machine, I have to wait.  No major vendor (VMWare, Microsoft, etc) is pre-announcing support.

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abillings
Contributor
Contributor

Some of us ship software that has to work on OS X 10.7 *and* other machines on a regular basis. Knowing what VMware's support timeline is for 10.7 would help us be able to do our jobs. Silence is unprofessional.

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Mikero
Community Manager
Community Manager

Our software is more complicated than most, including our KEXT's, and the direct-hardware access we need to use things like VT.

Not to mention OpenGL, (which relies on the host, etc.) USB devices, displays, etc.

Lion introduces a huge change to how that (and more) is all handled.

As mentioned in this thread, we can't advertize support for Lion until it's released, but we're certainly not sitting on our laurels hoping things will 'just work' when it comes out.

It's also against our policy to discuss future product features or release dates.  As a very large software company, this is just how business is done.

So, our silence with regards to specifics and details is in actuallity the most professional thing we can do in this regard.

-
Michael Roy - Product Marketing Engineer: VCF
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abillings
Contributor
Contributor

I've worked for several large software companies. It certainly isn't how it is done in the industry, by everyone, to not discuss dates.

This just leaves us hanging. Given the speed at which Windows 7 SP1 was supported, I'm going to gather that we'll have to wait a quarter or so for Lion support.

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Mikero
Community Manager
Community Manager

I understand your position, but the point I'm trying to make remains: It's our policy, and we, as ambassadors of the company to the community, have to follow through with that even if some users may disagree with that decision.  It's a decision made by very intelligent people for a variety of reasons that are internal and not public knowledge.

Regarding Lion, however, let's look at the past for a moment:

Fusion 3 release: October 27, 2009, supported Windows 7 and 10.6

Windows 7 Release: October 22, 2009

OS X 10.6 Release: August 28th, 2009  (Apple released it ahead of schedule also)

Fusion 2.0.6 Beta which supported Snow Leopard: September 17, 2009

So, when 10.6 came out, we did our best to make sure a build of Fusion was made available that met our standards and passed through our cerfitication and QA gauntlet.   I think the turn-around time was pretty reasonable.

Hopefully we'll know more on Monday when The Steve takes the stage at WWDC as to when Lion will be released so that we can do our best to coincide with that.

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Michael Roy - Product Marketing Engineer: VCF
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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

It's absolutely typical of the industry to not release projected delivery dates until they are very sure that they'll hit them.  Given the continued instability in Lion, it's unreasonable to expect VMWare or any other company, to commit to a release date.  It's an accounting and SEC issue - making statements regarding future products can impact current earnings and create a liability should the date be missed.    My own (VERY large) employer, will show new products as 'technology previews', with the explict statement that such products may or may not be delivered, with or without specific functionality.  Once we know it's ready to go, then we'll announce a GA date.

And it's not like Apple's never changed something at the last minute either.

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ReggieSmith
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

  1. VMware certainly cannot advertise that they will support OS X 10.7 (Lion) on release date. Apple hasn't announced a release date for it and could change a few critical items in the code (bug fixes) prior to launch.
  2. VMware has to have a reasonable amount of time to run the final release build through QC to make sure there are no issues

Seeing as how the Fusion team works closely on this sort of thing I doubt it will be a very long time between release of Lion and official support from VMware is announced.

It is quite possible that Fusion will work fine with 3.1.3 on release date but since I use Fusion for work, I will wait for the official announcement of support. It's not like they are going to run out of copies of Lion like it's a new model iPhone, right? :smileylaugh:

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froos
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

I think you do well in waiting a bit after the release of Lion.

No matter how intriguing the new version may be, there is no doubt there will be bugs and 'undocumented features'. When you use your Mac for day to day productivity, one does well in waiting a bit.

So, I can imagine everyone likes to have Fusion support from day one, but the chance you will be busy with other problems, is still significant. 

A bit op patience can't hurt. Like you say, the downloads will not run out Smiley Happy

-------------------------------------------- https://www.vmguru.com --------------------------------------------
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1TallTXn
Contributor
Contributor

I'm running the Lion GM release and Fusion 3.1.3 is working. I've not seen any issues with it. All appears to function properly.

I've not at all tested everything, but at first blush, it appears to work.

I did have to reinstall Fusion. I'm not sure if this will be the normal case as I had some issues getting DP4 to work on this machine. LOTS of permissions issues. GM appears to have solved those (thankfully)

Of course we'll have to wait for Apple to officially release 10.7 and VMware to announce Lion compatability.

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

I too am running the Lion Developer GM with VMware Fusion 3.1.3 however I did not have to reinstall it and so far no issue with VMware Fusion.

The only Lion issues I'm having are finding a replacement for Rosetta or just ditching my older apps and other then that CUPS-PDF for Mac OS X is the only app that has had major issues with Lion in that it locks the system up for a considerable length of time so I'm not using it anymore until it's upgrade.

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1TallTXn
Contributor
Contributor

From talking to several other Devs, I'm the only one that had the serious permissions issues.

Further, it seems that the installs work easier/smoother on the the MBP 5,1 vs the 8,2 I'm running. Very strange.

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

There's lots of problems installing GM over DP4.  A clean install over 10.6.8 seems to the the fix.

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fherbert
Contributor
Contributor

I got the following message after upgrading to 10.7 GM. "cannot connect to the virtual machine blah blah blah". Fixed by changing permissions on where my VM's were stored. (I store my VM's on a separate partition). After ticking 'Ignore permissions on this volume' all worked fine.

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LMO201110141
Contributor
Contributor

I've been using Fusion through all of the Lion builds and have not had any issues, nor have I had to reinstall. 

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fherbert
Contributor
Contributor

I guess your virtual machines are not on a separate partition then. Thanks for adding your 2c worth, helps alot.

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