VMware Fusion 4 [Old Version]

After resolving some hardware issues (and lack of HDD space) I set about installing VMWare4, which was a breeze, and then Windows XP (one of two legal copies I bought for my kids computers). Theres a USB thumbdrive included for machines that cant read DVDs. Very nice touch.

Great software that allows me to run Windows and other Intel based OS’s on my Mac. It runs as a Virtual Machine, so no rebooting necessary. It came with the installer on a flash drive, which was great. Setting up my first VM was easy - the software walked me through the process and I had a Windows VM in no time. Performance is good enough for my needs - Windows is responsive. Integration with the Mac is fine - meets my needs. The user interface for Fusion is clean and well-designed, with all options in reach while not being cluttered. In all I’m very happy with it.

So I couldnt use it. That was disappointing. I will update the review if and when I upgrade my system, but for the time being, I didnt expect this incompatibility for a relatively new computer.

As a long time user of VMWare products, I was pleasantly impressed yet again.

Im sure this has been reviewed this way and that so Ill focus on a couple of things that were salient for me.

This is a very fast and worthwhile version of VMware Fusion, which has consistently provided great VM capabilities for Macs to run Windows and thus Windows programs.

I used this with a 2011 iMac for years. It is a way to access Windows from a Mac without rebooting into the Windows Bootcamp partition. It allowed Windows to run side by side with OSX, so you could have the best of both systems without a reboot. The downside was that if you updated the Mac OS, you often got hit with an upgrade charge from the software to be able to use it on the new OS. My current M1 Mac doesnt support VM Ware Fusion, which is unfortunate.

Im a big Mac user, but my job uses PCs. Thats always been an issue for me working on programs that arent Mac. I wind up working twice as hard to make files compatible between both platforms, and half the time I lose formatting.

This helps bring the stability of the OSX with the universality of windows. I like it. It is clean and straightforward...without too much fluff.

Includes a USB drive in case you dont have an optical drive. Installation went smoothly, and allows use of Windows with no problems to date.