VMware today announced the launch of Fusion 13, the latest major update to the Fusion virtualization software. For those unfamiliar with Fusion, it is designed to allow Mac users to operate virtual machines to run non-macOS operating systems like Windows 11.
Fusion 13 Pro and Fusion 13 Player are compatible with both Intel Macs and Apple silicon Macs equipped with M-series chips, offering native support. VMware has been testing Apple silicon support for several months now ahead of the launch of the latest version of Fusion.
With Fusion 13, Intel and Apple silicon Mac users can access Windows 11 virtual machines. Intel Macs offer full support for Windows 11, while on Apple silicon, VMware says there is a first round of features for Windows 11 on Arm.
VMware Tools provides virtual graphics and networking, and more is still to come. With certified and signed drivers Windows 11 looks fantastic, and adjust the resolution to 4K and beyond! Note that Fusion on Apple Silicon must run the Arm variant of Windows 11, and it does not support the x86/Intel version of Windows.
Users who need to run traditional win32 and x64 apps can do so through built-in emulation.
Fusion 13 also includes a TPM 2.0 virtual device that can be added to any VM, storing contents in an encrypted section of the virtual machine files and offering hardware-tpm functionality parity. To support this feature, Fusion 13 uses a fast encryption type that encrypts only the parts of the VM necessary to support the TPM device for performance and security.
The software supports OpenGL 4.3 in Windows and Linux VMs on Intel and in Linux VMs on Apple silicon.
Fusion 13 Player is free for personal use, and commercial licenses for both versions are available at a 30 percent discount to celebrate the launch. VMware Fusion 13 Player is priced at $104.30, and VMware Fusion Pro is priced at $139.30. Upgrades from prior versions are also available at a lower cost.
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My guess is that since (I believe) VMware makes most their money from enterprise clients and large infrastructure deployments, they were never making much money from home users anyway. Plus people who start with VMware products because they’re free are likely to us VMware products when they need a paid solution.