VMWare Takes Wraps Off Fusion 2.0 Beta

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VMWare, the virtualization powerhouse that brought its Fusion software to Mac in late 2006, is now just about ready to roll its second major version of the program for OS X. Late this afternoon, VMWare sent over info and download links for a public beta of Fusion 2.0, and, I have to say, it’s looking hawt. More comprehensive DirectX 9 support for seamless PC gaming, insane levels of multimonitor support (ten screens!) and easy importing of Parallels, Virtual PC and even Boot Camp partitions.

Better yet, VMWare has announced that Fusion 2.0 will be free to all existing Mac customers once the final version ships. Of the three big updates, the monitor support is the big one. Parallels doesn’t support multiple displays for Windows, and the Fusion implementation looks nicer than multiple displays for most native PCs. Parallels can do Mac in one screen, Windows in another, but not Windows on two displays for the same virtual machine. Granted, this is a fairly niche feature, but its really well put together, as you can see in the video I’ve thrown up at the top.

The beta is wide open, so if you want in on the action and can live with a few beta quirks, hit the link.

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5 responses to “VMWare Takes Wraps Off Fusion 2.0 Beta”

  1. leigh says:

    Drool. Can’t wait. I switched from Parallels to VMWare because it runs multiple VMs more efficiently, and I could bring VM’s from our lab at work and run them at home with no trouble. The multiple monitor support is awesome.

    (Now to go and buy 4 more monitors).

  2. miss_lain says:

    It’s awesome they are providing this v2 update free to Fusion users. I was a pre-order customer since before v1 was released. Currently I’m toying with Ubuntu 8.04 and keeping a few necessary programs running with Windows XP Pro SP3. I try not to use Windows more than I have too since the Mac is my preferred machine(s), but that’s why VMware Fusion is such a great piece of software. I’m looking forward to the release of Fusion v2 when it’s ready.

  3. miss_lain says:

    It’s awesome they are providing this v2 update free to Fusion users. I was a pre-order customer since before v1 was released. Currently I’m toying with Ubuntu 8.04 and keeping a few necessary programs running with Windows XP Pro SP3. I try not to use Windows more than I have too since the Mac is my preferred machine(s), but that’s why VMware Fusion is such a great piece of software. I’m looking forward to the release of Fusion v2 when it’s ready.