Can Fusion be activated and deactivated as needed or is is an always on thing?
Let's differentiate between Fusion and a Windows virtual machine running under Fusion. Think of it like Microsoft Word. Word can be open without editing a document. Fusion can be open without a virtual machine being started.
What I think you're asking is whether the Windows virtual machine is running at all times. In which case, the answer is by default no. Fusion, like MS Word, only runs when you open it. But it doesn't really do much until you start (power on) the virtual machine. That by default is done by you.
Note that you can configure macOS to start Fusion when you log in. You can also configure a virtual machine to start automatically when Fusion starts. There are other more complex options if you don't want to be bothered with starting Fusion on your own or automatically if you want things running for you without going through manual steps.
Can Fusion be run from a desktop hard drive or does it need to be native?
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "native". I'm assuming that by "native", you are referring to something like Boot Camp which carves out a partition on your hard drive to install Windows.
The Fusion application, like Microsoft Word, is stored on your hard drive. A typical virtual machine is more like a Microsoft Word document. A virtual machine resides in a special type of macOS folder (typically referred to as the virtual machine's "bundle") that contains a set of files that represent the configuration and virtual hard disks of your virtual machine.
Your VM can be stored on any macOS file system. That could be your laptop's drive, or it could be an external drive formatted with a macOS Extended (HFS+) or APFS file system.
I am on a 2020 iMac with 8 gig of memory and current system software. Do I need to upgrade my memory?
I'm assuming that's an Intel iMac that can expand memory. When you run a virtual machine, you are adding 2-4GB of memory usage to your existing workload. Before doing anything I'd check the Memory tab in Activity Monitor in the Mac and see what the memory pressure graph is telling you. If it's consistently in the yellow or red at the present time, I'd expand the memory of the Mac. If it's green, you can install the VM and see what the memory pressure graph says. If that goes into the red zone frequently, expand the memory.
I will be running windows 10.
I need a very basic list of things I need to do to get up and running.
I'd try to build that Windows 10 VM with the default parameters. There will be plenty of disk space and memory for a print server.
Configure the VM to use bridged networking rather than NAT - that'll make it easy to find on the network.
If the printer is a networked printer, bridged networking will allow the Windows VM to easily find the printer. If the printer is a USB printer, you need to connect the printer to the Mac, and configure the USB settings in Fusion to connect the device to the virtual machine.
- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
