Questions about VMware tools

[yfx01]

Has the VMware fusion 13 arm version abandoned support for windows? VMware tools have not updated the support for Windows guest for so long.

[Technogeezer]

I don't work for VMware, so this is my opinion.

It's not been abandoned, IMO but there are times I think it doesn't get the attention it deserves. They spent time and money to deliver the TPM feature, 2D graphics driver, and the vmxnet3 network driver for Windows 11 ARM.

Fusion depends on pieces developed by other parts of the VMware behemoth, which may not have the same priorities as the Fusion team. In particular, VMware Tools come from the same group that does the tools for ESXi and Workstation. It's my opinion that the fault lies with that team that's dragging their feet on building an ARM version of the tools for Windows. 

Fusion 13 has only been out a month and a half with official support for Apple Silicon, so it's not surprising that an update hasn't hit yet (considering the holidays).. But they had well over a year of a Tech Preview releases prior to the Fusion 13 release to develop and test a VMware Tools implementation for Windows 11 ARM. That's a shame on VMware. 

[vaxman]

> Fusion 13 has only been out a month and a half with official support for Apple Silicon, so it's not surprising that an update hasn't hit yet (considering the holidays)..

It is very surprising.

> I don't work for VMware

The organic knowledge you post on here is greatly appreciated. VMware Inc. should contract with you to deliver a list of recipes of which Linux distributions/configurations work and which Windows 11 ARM configurations work, then develop a directory on vmware.com of known good working ISOs for those operating systems that appear in the Install window on Fusion 13->.1<-

> so this is my opinion

Just know that CISA published an advisory last month claiming older versions of Fusion can no longer be safely used (due to a CVE that hit 9.3 out of 10) [VMSA-2022-0033]. To avoid an Internet-connected Fusion HOST from becoming infected/ransomware'd, an update to the latest Fusion 12 or even newer Fusion 13 is required, along with the requisite update of macOS itself to either Monterey or, if you are unlucky enough to have a recent Intel-based Mac that supports it, Ventura. These later versions of Fusion reportedly do not use VMware's more performant hypervisor and, instead, rely on the macOS hypervisor in Monterey or Ventura, thereby eliminating the only remaining competitive advantage that Fusion had over Parallels. I truly believe the only value left in Fusion is to help legacy customers while they transition away from VMware and to serve as a local environment for those using Intel-based Apple computers to work on VMs for deployment to non-Apple hardware (vSphere, ESXi, Workstation). As for support of ARM-based Apple computers, VMware should obviously not have released a product without in-guest tools and known good operating system configurations to choose from in the VM creation tab. Again, you can apologize for them, but ultimately they need to hire you and the other guy on here who are spending time to come up with solutions to help their customers recover from false marketing claims of "support" for Apple Silicon. Could Fusion catch up to Parallels? No, it would require more investment than they have demonstrated a willingness to make. Someday Parallels will be in the same spot Fusion is in --now that the "heavy lifting" in these products is being done by macOS itself, all that's left is the much easier to maintain instrumentation/packaging and there are already open source efforts underway to provide that (assuming Apple doesn't release their own toolchain to help sell machines with more cores). As far as Microsoft is concerned, I can't imagine why they wouldn't release a version of Windows 11 ARM with an installer and drivers that support installation as a macOS AppStore app --it's a great way to sell Windows licenses, and Microsoft is under intense pressure to do that right now.

[Jerry_G]

Technogeezer, thanks for all your help.

The newly revealed lack of multiple monitor support with Fusion is very disheartening and sad.

I have to believe that a significant number of all computer users need or want to use more than one monitor. Isn't that why Macs and PCs support multiple monitors. Isn't the point of Fusion and Parallels to allow Mac users to have a PC on their Mac when they don't need a full fledged physical PC?

I am a Mac user. Have been for many years. I need a PC for only one application. It's for my business. And it requires two monitors. 

I think it was a huge mistake for VMWare to release Fusion 13 ARM without full tool support. No copy/paste with a Mac. No file sharing. Etc, etc. Fusion 13 isn't a release. It's still an incomplete beta. 

Without Technogeezer's manual, I could never have gotten W11 for ARM installed to test and at least have internet connectivity. But with a proper release, I should have been able to install it without the need for a manual, as with previous versions of Fusion and with Parallels.

Now, with the news that multiple monitor support is a thing of the past, Fusion becomes absolutely useless to me. I'm angry at myself for wasting so much time testing Fusion when Parallels functions perfectly, on both my Mac Studio M1 Ultra and my Intel iMac, and allows me to do my work. I'm quite happy to pay for my two subscriptions to Parallels because it works and it works very well.

All traces of Fusion have been removed from both my computers. I will never again waste my time with VMware products. I hope VMWare comes to their senses some day and provides Mac users with the respect and support they deserve. Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy a completely functional and beautifully working Parallels.

[gringley]

I think that is a good guess that the VMware Tools team is dragging its feet.  I realized that VMware has a "Fling" for ESXi on ARM, and oddly enough the fling team notes in their blog that they now have Windows 11 Tools support - from the Fusion Tech Preview!  They cannot use the SVGA driver though.  So that makes me realize that at least at this point, ARM is not a priority in VMware so who knows when the tools will be fixed?

[ColoradoMarmot]

Don't confuse ARM tools with Intel tools.  The intel tools are kept current for supported guest operating systems.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Argh, I hate that the forum won't let you edit reply.

I was going to also say that ARM tools for fusion are a valid complaint.  We were all very disappointed when Fusion 13 came out without full support.  Honestly, I'd rather have seen another tech preview even if it meant missing the date...better management of expectations.

[yfx01]

It's hard to believe that after so long, a semi-finished product has been released and sold on the market. I've seen several users on Twitter ask when there will be better graphics support, but the answer is uncertain. Maybe they don't know when they will have complete support internally.The experience is extremely bad.It is recommended that users who often need to use Windows guest should use Parallels.