VMware Announces Fusion and Fusion Pro 8.5 With Sierra and Windows 10 Anniversary Support

VMware today announced Fusion 8.5, Fusion Pro 8.5, Workstation Player 12.5 and Workstation Pro 12.5, the latest versions of its visualization software for running Windows on a Mac without using Boot Camp. Fusion and Fusion Pro 8.5 come with macOS Sierra support while both Fusion and Workstation suites come with Windows 10 Anniversary support.

Mac-Win10-tabs-1[1]
Windows 10 Anniversary is a large upgrade to Microsoft's operating system, making Cortana smarter, allowing interactions with Android and Windows phones, more desktop apps and games in the Windows Store, a dark theme, Windows Edge extensions, click-to-play Flash and more.

Both Fusion 8.5 and Workstation 12.5 include Windows 10 Anniversary support and Windows 10 server support in addition to various bug fixes and performance improvements. The Fusion suite's Sierra support includes Siri integration and support for tabbed VM windows.

VMware also announced that it's giving away 20 Oculus Rift headsets to the general public. Entrants must tweet (using #FusionLove) a short video of themselves telling a story of how Fusion has helped them accomplished something. Meanwhile, registered attendees of VMworld 2016 will receive 18-months of Fusion or Workstation.

Current VMware Fusion 8.0 and Workstation 12.0 users can receive the 8.5 and 12.5 upgrades for free. However, users of pre-8.0 versions of Fusion and Fusion Pro can upgrade for $49 and $119 respectively, while users of pre-12.0 versions of Workstation Player and Workstation Pro can upgrade for $79 and $149 respectively. Upgrade pricing eligibility extends back to users of Fusion 4 and Workstation 7.

Fusion and Fusion Pro 8.5 are priced at $79.99 and $119.99 for new users while Workstation Player and Workstation Pro 12.5 have new-user prices of $149.99 and $249.99 respectively. Both Fusion and Workstation can be purchased at VMWare's online store.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

Popular Stories

apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With a Rough iPhone Fold Mockup

Monday December 29, 2025 10:55 am PST by
Apple is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone in September 2026, and since it will bring the biggest form factor change since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, curiosity about the design is high. A 3D designer created an iPhone Fold design based on rumors, and we printed it out to see how it compares to Apple's current iPhones. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max Users Report Static Speaker Noise While Charging

Tuesday December 30, 2025 10:39 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners are having trouble with the speakers of their devices, and have complained about a static or hissing noise that occurs when the iPhone is charging. There are multiple discussions about the issue on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and Apple's Support Community, where affected users say there is a noticeable static noise "like an old radio." Some people report...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday December 23, 2025 8:36 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another nine months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models. The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID Front camera in...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These 8 New Features to Your iPhone

Monday December 22, 2025 8:47 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple released iOS 26.2, following more than a month of beta testing. It is a big update, with many new features and changes for iPhones. iOS 26.2 adds a Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. Below, we have highlighted a total of eight new features. Liquid Glass Slider on Lock Screen A new slider in the Lock...
samsung glitter blue

Samsung's Year End Sale Introduces Major Discounts on Popular Monitors and TVs

Monday December 29, 2025 6:29 am PST by
Samsung kicked off a new end-of-the-year sale this week, introducing great deals on monitors, TVs, Galaxy smartphones, and home appliances. Many of these deals are the exact same all-time low prices we tracked during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep ...
iOS 26 Glass Feature

The 5 Most Important Apple Software Features Introduced This Year

Tuesday December 30, 2025 1:00 am PST by
2025 was a significant year of advancement for Apple's software, with a noticeable focus on visual design, productivity, and communication. While Apple introduced and continued to iterate on a wide range of features throughout the year, several additions stood out for their scope and practical impact across multiple devices. As the year comes to an end, these five new features provide a...

Top Rated Comments

chucker23n1 Avatar
122 months ago
Nice to see I can at least upgrade for free this year with my Fusion Pro v8.
More cynical take: they let go most of the development team, so there aren't big changes coming for a while, if ever.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S.B.G Avatar
122 months ago
More cynical take: they let go most of the development team, so there aren't big changes coming for a while, if ever.
That's not entirely accurate.

This was posted ('https://communities.vmware.com/message/2584420#2584420') ('https://communities.vmware.com/message/2584420#2584420')by Michael Roy on the VMware communities forum on March 23, 2016 in response to the many questions people have on the future of Fusion. Michael Roy ('http://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/author/michaelroy') is the Product Line Marketing Manager for Fusion, Fusion Pro, Workstation Pro and Workstation Player at VMware. He guides product roadmap and messaging, produces and presents technical collateral, and works across teams to refine product integration strategy.

Thanks for the feedback. We hear you.

One thing to note however is that the only team affected was the UI team.

All core hypervisor, virtual device and platform layer development remains unchanged. This includes graphics, networking, USB devices, and everything that doesn't fall explicitly under 'UI'.

Further, the old UI team is actively transitioning the code knowledge to the new team directly, it's not a matter of 'go read the docs'.

Lastly, many of the key UI developers are still with VMware working on other projects and will be able to share their expertise if the new team requires it in the future.

While we're on the topic... The new team is actually twice as large as the old and more specialized in the areas where we want Fusion to grow. We have gained support for our updated roadmap the past few weeks, and while I can't get into the details yet, we (the product team) are incredibly excited about the direction that we're taking the product in, and that direction is largely drawn with feedback from users like you and everyone else who has chimed in on this thread.

Keep it coming! We're reading everything!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cau Avatar
122 months ago
Everything in this post is my own speculation. I have no VMware inside information!

I assume that VMware could not achieve a late summer delivery for whatever they have planned for VMware Fusion 9. Lacking anything to announce that could line up against Parallels 12, VMware chose to take the next point release with whatever bug fixes that their developers have managed to close, ran a round of regression testing against macOS Sierra (host and guest) and Windows 10 Anniversary (guest), called it "Version 8.5" and declared victory.

I wonder when the real VMware Fusion version 9 will be released?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
122 months ago
Too soon.

Attachment Image
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0958400 Avatar
122 months ago
Finally, I always wanted... err. Nope. Forget about it. V6 still runs fine.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
122 months ago
This was posted ('https://communities.vmware.com/message/2584420#2584420') ('https://communities.vmware.com/message/2584420#2584420')by Michael Roy on the VMware communities forum
Isn't the new team now off shore?

It was my understand that they laid off the entire team and outsourced them. I'm no longer a fan of Vmware given how all this went down. I'll keep updating my installation, but I'll no longer give them any my money. I know its a literal drop in the bucket but its my money and I'd rather support a company that doesn't have such business practices.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)