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lensv
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Mac OSX as a guest?

I've heard that Parallels now have support for OSX as a guest OS... Is this by any chans a possibillity in VMware Fusion?

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8 Replies
Jasemccarty
Immortal
Immortal

Probably not until Apple lets OS X run as a guest.

Jase McCarty

http://www.jasemccarty.com

Co-Author of VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center

(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach

Jase McCarty - @jasemccarty
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SvenGus
Expert
Expert

You mean Max OS X client (i.e., not only the server edition)? That is, machine-specific (retail was only for PPC) Tiger/Intel and/or machine-specific and retail Leopard client versions? (You can indeed run (Snow experimentally) Leopard server on VMware Fusion, currently, as in Parallels...)

Well, I recently wrote a hint here[/url] (great and very helpful site, BTW), but it looks like people had mixed (un)success with this (anyway, completely unofficial and unsupported... and, I would say, probably "semi-legal", as you essentially install a Mac OS X that you own from within your machine, but on another disk, which is only subsequently booted in a "foreign" environment, of which the installer doesn't know anything).

So, hey, Apple, besides this essentially only "academic" hint... what about letting us "power" (or not) users virtualize all your excellent Intel-capable OSes, from Tiger and upwards... ? Smiley Wink Smiley Happy

Of course, if Apple changed their licensing terms (IMHO, way too restrictive, and for no reason at all!), VMware could maybe also provide universally-capable Tools for Mac OS X VMs, compatibile both with Tiger - today they crash on a still unsupported Tiger - and (Snow) Leopard, Lion (?), etc.

P.S.: Well, don't take me too seriously: maybe I'm an idealist - but maybe also things could really be better than they currently are...

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bgertzfield
Commander
Commander

I've heard that Parallels now have support for OSX as a guest OS... Is this by any chans a possibillity in VMware Fusion?

VMware Fusion 2 already supports running Mac OS X Server as a guest OS. Parallels is the same; they only support Mac OS X Server.

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Jasemccarty
Immortal
Immortal

I wasn't clear when I said supports OS X.

What I meant was OS X Client, and not OS X Server.

Jase McCarty

http://www.jasemccarty.com

Co-Author of VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center

(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach

Jase McCarty - @jasemccarty
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coolio2004
Contributor
Contributor

.....But there is a script for installing client Leopard in german PC journal C´T #24,

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bgertzfield
Commander
Commander

.....But there is a script for installing client Leopard in german PC journal C´T #24,

And using such a script is definitely not supported by VMware Fusion. It may work, but Apple's very strict about us supporting any such workarounds.

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lensv
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

So, if I understand you right guys it is still only OSX Server that is supported as a guest OS (in Parallels as well as in Fusion?). The client version might work to install but it is not legal. Is that right?

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SvenGus
Expert
Expert

Sadly, this seems to be the current situation (and only Server 10.5+): Mac OS X client is completely unsupported as a VM (and might work or not).

Also, for example, the current lack of sound (and of VMware Tools for Tiger) makes it not so attractive to install the client version, even if it might of course be very interesting as an experiment (personally, I learned many things; previously, I had also tried to run a Tiger VM from a raw disk partition on the Mac, which worked - so to say... - exactly as a "real" VM).

Let's hope that Apple will realise - sooner or later - that many people want Mac OS X client virtualisation: it would also be quite logical, besides desirable...