Can I run VM Fusion on my MacBook Pro 2012

[GhostHackNinja]

can I use this software to run OSX Snow Lepord?

[scott28tt]

The latest version of Fusion supported on Snow Leapord is 5.x, which was no longer supported by the end of August 2014.

VMware Knowledge Base

[wila]

Hi,

Your question isn't completely clear.

Scott's answer is about running VMware Fusion a macbook pro that runs on Snow Leopard.

I am unsure that that was your question.

If your MBP runs a current version of macOS then you can use that to install VMware Fusion ( the system requirements are here: System Requirements for Fusion )

As for running Snow Leopard as a guest OS, yes that certainly is possible.

But you'll have to find official install media of Snow Leopard (and that might not be as easy)

--

Wil

[GhostHackNinja]

Yes this is what I’m looking to do.

my machine: MacBook Pro 2012

OS Version: Catalina.

my goal: to use VM fusion to fully run OSX Snow Leapord And use legacy Adobe products That I have copies of.

[dempson · Accepted solution]

You need to find a copy of Snow Leopard Server.

The standard (client) version of Snow Leopard is not licensed for use in a virtual machine, and VMware Fusion will reject it. (This includes all variants: full install or upgrade, single or family pack, and model-specific grey-backed Snow Leopard DVDs). You must have the Server edition, each copy of which came in a retail box with a DVD and paperwork that had a unique licence key. The licence key must be entered during initial setup of the OS.

Apple was selling Snow Leopard Server via phone call to their store for many years after it was superseded (priced the same as retail Snow Leopard, about US$19 when I bought my last ones, which was a lot cheaper than its original price of US$499), but they finally stopped selling it a few years ago. You probably need to find one on the second hand market, or somewhere like Amazon where copies might still be listed. Prices have gone up considerably since Apple stopped selling Snow Leopard Server.

The differences between the Server and standard (client) editions can mostly be ignored: if you aren't using the server features, most of them can be turned off. The initial setup is the main difference, as it asks several questions relating to server features.

[ColoradoMarmot]

What's the hardware configuration of that machine?  It may struggle to run it at acceptable performance.