VMware's Fusion 2.0 boosts Windows and Linux integration with Mac OS X

Stephen Withers
Friday, 01 August 2008 03:55

Business IT - Technology

VMware has released a new beta of its Fusion 2.0 virtualisation software for Mac OS X, which features improved Mac-Windows integration, multiple snapshots of virtual machines, improved video capabilities and guest support for Mac OS X Server as well as more versions of Linux.

Like Parallels Desktop, Fusion is designed to allow the use of guest operating systems under Mac OS X.

Mac-Windows integration is handled by Fusion's 'Unity' technology. Unity 2.0 allows Windows filetypes and URLs to be associated with Mac applications and vice versa, automatic mapping of special folders (eg Windows' My Documents is the same as Mac OS X's Documents), and keyboard mapping (eg so that command-S maps to control-S in Windows, and to set up equivalents for Windows keys that don't appear on the standard Mac keyboard).

Previously, Fusion allowed one snapshot of each virtual machine. A snapshot is a complete backup of the state of a virtual machine at a point in time. So to completely remove all traces of a program after testing, you could take a snapshot, install and test the program, then restore the snapshot.

Fusion 2.0 provides for the management of multiple snapshots, and its AutoProtect feature automatically takes snapshots at half-hourly, hourly or daily intervals in case of a disaster.

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