VMware Fusion 3 to Debut by End of October

on October 12, 2009

vmware_fusion

In the ever leap-frogging world of desktop virtualization for the Mac, VMware has announced that it will make its next hop (I won’t venture to say who’s ahead at this juncture) by the end of October…or the 27th, if you go by its blog. So in just a few weeks, version 3 of Fusion will be available for mass consumption. Some of the announced features are as follows.

The big news, of course, is Snow Leopard optimization, where Fusion jumps onto the 64-bit bandwagon. This should bring some interesting performance boosts to those who use virtualized environments heavily. As a regular Windows VM user (by necessity) I’m really looking forward to this!

fusion3-64bit

If, on the other hand, you’re a Windows user stuck in a Macintosh machine, you’ll be glad to know that Fusion 3 is the first to support Windows Aero and Flip 3D features found in Windows 7. From my perspective, this is cool, but when I run Windows in a VM, it’s bare bones, and just for the program or two that I require. But I’m sure this capability will make some people quite happy. Read More about VMware Fusion 3 to Debut by End of October

Parallels 4 Released Today: How Does It Compare to Fusion?

Judi Sohn on November 11, 2008

From The Apple Blog:

Virtualization software has come a long way since the days of Virtual PC on PPC Macs. Microsoft’s Windows-enabling program was more of a parlor trick than fully functional software. These days, Parallels Desktop version 4.0, available today for purchase, makes running a virtual machine more of a pleasure and less of a chore.
Earlier this fall, VMWare Fusion, the primary competitor of Parallels, released version 2.0 of their software. VMWare’s updated product added DirectX 9.0c and Mac OS X Leopard Server support, features which gave it a significant edge over the 3.0 release of Parallels. Parallels Desktop 4.0 evens the field, introducing both DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.1 support, and the ability to run OS X Leopard Server.

Read about the rest of Parallel 4’s new features, as well as a head-to-head comparison of the new Parallels vs. Fusion 2.
Personally, I’ve been happy with VMWare Fusion 2…is it worth taking a look at Parallels 4?

How-To: Mac-ify Your VMware Unity Windows

Bob Rudis on November 7, 2008

Even with CodeWeaver’s generous giveaway of CrossOver Mac the other week, there are still times when one has to use a virtualized Windows environment to get work done that just cannot be performed within OS X properly. In talking with other VMware users, I realized that not everyone may hack their hosted Windows environment as I thought they might and wanted to offer some relief to those who are forced to toil in “that other” operating system.
As most OS X users know by now, VMware’s Fusion product makes it very easy to work with Windows programs without appearing to leave OS X via its snazzy Unity feature. Unity mode essentially masks out the Windows desktop and just presents Windows “windows” directly to the user as if they were OS X windows. The trouble is, those windows do not look like they belong on your spiffy OS X desktop at all. Take for existence this Internet Explorer window:

While it is nigh-impossible to make Windows programs as functional as ones built for OS X, you should not, at the very least, have to put up with ugly windows on your Desktop. To beautify your Unity windows, head on over to StarDock’s web site and grab a copy of WindowBlinds. This initially free program lets you skin your Windows experience to suit your style. You will need to download WindowsBlinds in your virtual machine or copy it to your virtual machine post-download. Once the installer is in your virtual machine, double-click on the executable and let it do its work. When asked to choose a style, select “Leo” (I can’t imagine why it’s called that).
Read More about How-To: Mac-ify Your VMware Unity Windows

Drink coffee with your mouse

on January 25, 2007

What goes better with computing than a good cup of Joe to keep the geek firing strong during those late night sessions?  What if you could get a mouse that doubles as a working coffee mug?  You could mouse away and sip at the same time.  Who thinks up these things?

Mug_mouse

(via uberGizmo)

Why is Macromedia adding Items to My Shopping Basket?

Om Malik on July 28, 2005

Dan Gillmor discovered that Macromedia was putting stuff in the shopping basket which he did not order. They call it convenience, and it is everything but. I hope they fixed this glitch. One of Macromedia employees has been in touch and is working on getting it fixed. The company just emailed me and said they are fixing the problem.