Following the technology preview announced in May VMware has released version 7 of its desktop virtualization platform for OS X: Fusion.
This new release, that comes in the normal and Pro flavours, introduces the extended support for OS X 10.10 Yosemite that will be released this fall, in order to natively leverage all its new features alongside with an all new set of optimizations for the last generation of Macs computer.
Among the new features introduced from this release we can list:
- Advanced Haswell processor features, including AVX2 inside a virtual machine
- A new virtual webcam, making it easier than ever to use your webcam with Windows applications
- An updated, virtual USB controller with support for XHCI 1.0
- A new approach to video memory that enables the VRAM limit to be specified per virtual machine
The amount of VRAM configured is not limited by the VRAM available to the host.- The ability to specify a preference for the integrated or discrete GPU
On recent Mac Book Pros that contain both GPUs, this can result in increased battery life for lightly used virtual machines.- VMware Fusion Pro is more efficient than ever with wake-ups reduced by over 60% for lightly used virtual machines.
- OS X Yosemite can now be used inside a virtual machine.
- VMware Fusion Pro now shows the status of each virtual machine in the library list view. This is particularly useful for power-users working with many virtual machines.
- Improved support for Retina displays, including changes to Unity mode and the ability to control how Fusion scales when moving between Retina-class and standard density displays.
- Direct sounds from virtual machines to a specific audio device on your Mac.
- Per-virtual machine shortcut keys make jumping quickly between operating systems a breeze.
- Improved support for Ubuntu 14.xx etc < New Linuxes here.
The ability to access virtual machines running on VMware vSphere, VMware ESXi, and VMware Workstation directly from VMware Fusion Pro including:
- Remote display, keyboard, and mouse control
- Ability to select media for CD, DVD, floppy devices, including files on your Mac
- Ability to power virtual machines on and off and configure the network they connect to
- Ability to move virtual machines from your Mac to a remote location by dragging and dropping
- Ability to move virtual machines from a remote location to your Mac by dragging and dropping
- See the state of your remote server with at-a-glance health summary based on Activity Monitor
VMware Fusion 7 is available for download and purchase starting from today, you can read the Release Notes here.