Fusion (Mac) pre-sales questions

[Wingsley]

Hello!

I’m new to the forum.

I represent a small family business, and we use our computers in our office and residences.

OUR HARDWARE:

• Late-2012 iMac, 21.5-inch, Core i5 2.9 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, USB DVD drive (running MacOS 10.9.5)
• 2013 MacBook Pro Retina, 13-inch, Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD (running MacOS 10.9.5)

We have never tried to run Windows or any VMing software before. We are asking pre-sales questions about Fusion.

We would like to be able to use Fusion to run software on our machines that we would not otherwise have access to. The prime emphasis is on Windows, but we also would like to explore access to older Mac OS software as well. We were forced to upgrade the computers over the past 2 years because the previous machines were getting old and suffered hardware failures. Upgrading meant leaving some older peripherals behind.

WINDOWS NEEDS:

• Ability to run Windows 7 or later
• Ability to run MS Access (2010 or later), MS Publisher (2010 or later), Intuit Quickbooks (2014 or later)
• Ability to interface with DeLorme software (Windows-only; we have a DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 GPS receiver)

OLDER MAC OS NEEDS:

• Ability to run MacOS 10.6.8 and also Flip4Mac’s Windows-Media-in-QuickTime player (we have install DVDs for 10.6)
• We need access to an Epson Perfection 2400 Photo scanner(about 2005-6 vintage); scanner software not supported beyond 10.5, but runs on 10.6.8.
• We also need to run old Adobe software that we know ran on 10.6.8.

Is it possible to install older MacOS software and run it under Fusion? How far back can one go? We wanted to know if 10.4.11 would run, and 9.2.2 in Classic mode with it.

On Googling VMware Fusion today, we saw a link to Offers.com that presented us with links to “VM Ware Promo Codes”, presumably to buy Fusion at a discount price. Are these links bona fide?

[wila]

Hello,

Welcome at the VMware community forums.

First off, it might be good to know that there is a fully functional 30 day version you can install.

So you do not have to spent any money in order to find out if the software works for you.

After the 30 days, you buy a license to change the installed Fusion into an unlimited version.

Direct Download link to Fusion evaluation

* Can you install Windows 7 or newer? Yes

* Can run MS Access/Publisher/Quickbook? Yes

* Can you run DeLorme software? I don't know the software but this is where your 30 days eval are interesting.

* Can you run OS X 10.6.8 hmm technically yes, the problem here is that you need to get the license and software for it from apple. For Mountain Lion to be within apple license spec you need to run the server version. The client version (aka normal desktop version) is not allowed to be run in a VM.

Officially you can select a guest OS as far back as OS X 10.5, but when I look at the supported guest OS list, then Fusion 7 does not have OS X 10.5 on the list. In that case 10.6 is the lowest supported version.

Older Mac OS software from the PowerPC platform would need to run via rosetta that IIRC still is available in 10.6.

hope this helps,

--
Wil