Upgrade to Big Sur and can't run VMWare Fusion 11 Pro

[justinash]

Just upgraded to macOS Big Sur, and can't launch VMWare Fusion 11 Pro says version not supported. That is a ridiculous that I have to pay $99 to upgrade to VMWare Fusion 12 Pro when I upgrade macOS? Please advise.

[vskrobot]

Same question.

I wasn't expecting this from VMWare. I need to finish the work and I can't do this without upgrading to 12 and paying $99.

Thank you VMWare, for letting me down.

[justinash]

Agree. It's not like I am running a very old version of VMWare Fusion Pro that is EOL years ago. VMWare Fusion 11 Pro ran just fine on Catalina. I expected to be able ro run it on Big Sur.

[vskrobot]

I ended up buying upgrade for $99

[cbfw]

did it upgrade VM 11 OK and could you then run VM Fusion 12, your virtual OS and load all your files on the virtual OS system?

[scott28tt]

Only Fusion 12 is supported on Big Sur, as mentioned in these articles:

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2088571

https://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2020/09/fusion-12-now-available.html

Perhaps the free Fusion Player 12 will work for you. (link in the 2nd article)

[Wananavu]

I'm having trouble buying VmWare Fusion Player upgrades from the site.
after I confirm the version I want to buy, a page opens that says:

Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Size of a request header field exceeds server limit.
Cookies

what do I have to do? Where am I wrong?
Thanks

[scott28tt]

Try a different browser, or open a "private" or "incognito" window?

[Solidfox]

Same issue.

Also not able to launch VMware after upgrading to Big Sur. looks like upgrading to VMware 12 is the only option.

what would happen to the software pre-instilled on VMware 11.5 (which I bought less than a year ago) I’ve got windows10 and quickbooks preinstalled which files I can’t currently access.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Correct - Apple made massive changes which required essentially a rebuild of Fusion.  Check out the free Fusion player if it's for personal use.

[Solidfox]

Once upgraded to VMware12. Can you still use OK all software and virtual machines you had under VMware11 (without reinstalling)?

it would be a nice touch to have some sort of automatic warning note from VMware that version 11 is not compatible with Big Sur prior upgrading. This kind of surprises are not really appreciated.

Thanks

UPDATE:

Actually this is an easy one. Just download appropriate version of 12. Install. WMware will prompt you to upgrade the virtual machines and VMware tools. All preinstalled software and data are unaffected in my case.

[RockyBob]

This is terrible. I'm switching to Parallels!

[ColoradoMarmot]

Yup, the vm will prompt you to upgrade the virtual hardware and VMware tools.

[jh459]

I have Fusion 11.1.1 running on my Mac OS Big Sur 11.0.1

Aside from "I now have to buy an upgrade", as a home user only running Fusion to allow me to run windows apps, what version do I buy that is most compatible with what my needs are?

[scott28tt]

@jh459 
Click the COMPARE link here: https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion.html

Player is free for non-commercial use.

[Solidfox]

You need VMware Fusion Player if it’s for personal use.

[jh459]

TY......hopefully it is the best migration path from Fusion 11 and supports Big Sur.....appreciate the replies...

[orbit122]

This would make since if 11.5.5 did not run but it does. It's insane to blame this on Apple. No other app I use has had any problem running under Big Sur. Even apps from 5+ years ago. Not 1 app has complained about a change except Fusion. The changes to Big Sur have mostly to do with the way macOS secures boot drives and system files. The way applications interact with the system is largely the same. This is just a phony money grab by VMware. @VMware, don't expect me to pay again for a product I just purchased last year because you fell I should. Operating systems change and if I am expected to pay for an update every time they do I will just find a new product. 

The recommendation that I go and use a Free For Everyone product instead of the one I paid for is an insult to my bank account. Plus it is NOT the same product. Not even close!

[orbit122]

As far as I can tell 11.5.5 still works. I agree, this is quite ridiculous and the reasoning does not hold water as anything previous to 11.5.6 runs fine. You can still download 11.5.5 from your VMware account. If not let me know and I will get you a copy. 

[ColoradoMarmot]

No version earlier than 12 works on Big Sur.  Apple depreciated the API's that Fusion used, and it now leverages the built-in hypervisor framework.

Virtualization software has far deeper integration with the OS than almost any other application.  That requires significant development resources to be invested every time apple releases a new OS version, some more than others - and Big Sur was a big one.  VMWare isn't a charity, and that work has to be funded.  11.5 was a free upgrade from 11 for Catalina compatibility BTW - 11 was the last paid upgrade (for Mojave two years ago).