Virtualization firm VMware today announced the launch of its new Fusion 4 software to allow Mac users to run Windows and other operating systems virtualized alongside their native OS X operating systems. Optimized for OS X Lion, VMware Fusion 4 offers more than 90 new features, including the ability to run OS X Lion in a virtual machine as is now permitted by Apple's licensing.
With more than 90 new features and now optimized for today’s multi-core Macs and OS X Lion, key features in VMware Fusion 4 include:
- Built for OS X Lion – VMware Fusion 4 is designed to provide the best Windows experience on OS X Lion. Add Windows programs to Launchpad, experience them in Mission Control, view them in full screen or switch between them using Mac gestures.
- Better Performance and Faster Graphics – VMware Fusion 4 has been engineered to run Windows and Mac applications side-by-side with incredible speed and reliability. As a 64-bit Cocoa application, it is optimized for today’s multi-core Macs and delivers 3D graphics up to 2.5-times faster than previous versions of Fusion.
- Even More "Mac-like" Experience – VMware Fusion 4 enhances the way Windows programs run on a Mac. From the brand new settings menu to the redesigned virtual machine library and snapshot menu, users have even more Mac-like experiences when running Windows programs.
- Lion Squared – VMware Fusion 4 now supports OS X Lion in a virtual machine, allowing users to get more from their Mac by running OS X Lion, OS X Lion Server, Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server and Mac OS X Leopard Server in virtual machines.
VMware Fusion 4 is being offered at a promotional price of $49.99 until the the end of the year, after which time pricing will be set at $79.99. Users who purchased Fusion 3 on or after July 20th are eligible for a free upgrade to Fusion 4.
VMware's primary competitor in the virtualization market is Parallels, which released its own Lion-optimized version two weeks ago.
Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie.
"Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Monday February 9, 2026 6:24 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future.
To set up the...
New MacBook Pro models with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips could arrive as soon as Monday, March 2, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that the release of new MacBook Pro models is tied to the release of macOS Tahoe 26.3. The launch is said to be slated for as early as the week of March 2. He added that the M4 Pro and M4 Max models on sale today...
Apparently, all those artists were using the wrong software platform. When you need Windows to run a mission critical application, then Linux is NOT the right choice for you. Whatever ran on those Linux boxes probably would also have run on Windows or could have been written for Windows in the first place. Except for trying hard to not use what everyone else in the world uses was probably the only motivation for going with Linux in the first place, and that alone is not a good enough reason.
Sigh. That's perhaps the most crazy statement I've read today.
When you have several hundred workstations, over a thousand HPC render machines - Windows tends to become a bit pricey. For VFX, Linux *is* the industry standard platform. 95% of the standard 3D modelling and 2D/3D compositing systems run on Linux. You must remember that SGI's IRIX was the dominant OS of that industry for a long time until commodity hardware and Linux took hold and replaced it. SGIs soon became bricks and doorstops.
Photoshop was one of the rare exceptions. Disney and a few other facilities contributed funds to the Wine project to develop it sufficiently to allow Photoshop to run well enough under Linux using the Wine system. Ultimately as hardware got cheaper, VMs were a better solution. There was no other application - open source or commercial that could match Photoshop's feature set. There are one or two other products that required Windows. These were used by a very small number of artists out of the several hundred coming and going through the facility.
You're doing NOBODY a favor by adding unnecessary complexity to a system. Having to instal a VM to run a mission critical application only shows that you made a poor choice. In my book, VMs are only acceptable on developer machines or when you need to make sure that a client system meets certain security and quality standards.
I work for a web hosting firm now. I'd say the majority of all production web sites and applications that we and our customers are running are running on virtual machines. I've been using VMs now in live production environments for years and I couldn't disagree more with your statements.
I've never seen the reason for a VM running Windows on a Mac because the price is almost the same as just buying a low-end laptop with Windows 7.
For school, I needed windows and looked into Parallels and realized that for a few dollars more, I could just buy a separate Toshiba laptop. At least this allows for redundancy because if one computer breaks, I have another.
With a VM, if your Mac breaks, it breaks and that's it.
serious LOL
VMware 4 is about $50 i got win 7 for about the same, so you tell me where I can get a $100 laptop??
In my book, VMs are only acceptable on developer machines or when you need to make sure that a client system meets certain security and quality standards.
Good thing we're not all you. :rolleyes:
A lot of movie editing/artwork is done on alternative platforms. Breaking Microsoft's stranglehold on the industry would help bolster innovation some. They have turned the PC industry into a stagnant cesspool. You're preaching stagnation and immobility. "Hey it works on Windows only, use Windows!". Yeah, way to spur innovation and development.
The laptop I bought was $299 (no tax or shipping charge). Parallels was almost $200. Why pay to put Windows on an existing computer when you can have redundancy by having Windows on a separate laptop?
Virtual Box is 0$. Parallels is 90$.
Carrying only 1 computer with all the tools on it, and be able to interact with your data with software on any OS at the same time : Priceless.
Sorry you can't see the advantages in virtualizations.
Having a VM on a computer IS having two computers. I don't see how a VM with a second desktop operating system running in it actually makes life easier or less complex.
Let's see :
- Share data with cables or external media or a network - Check - Copy/paste without having to use a network based clipboard server that might or might not work properly - Check - Carrying only 1 physical computer around with all my software - Check again.
Yep, a VM is just like a 2nd computer, except for those little annoyances of actual owning 2 physical computers. :rolleyes:
I still firmly believe that when you need a VM with a second desktop OS in it, then you are basically walking with a crutch and your preferred host operating system was not the right choice for you.
My VM is for work. My computer insists on using proprietary technologies that only have Windows client. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't even need the VM. No, my work laptop is not an option (a huge hulking Dell Lattitude... I'm not carrying that POS around).
