VMware has released the first stable build of its flagship virtualization software for Mac, VMware Fusion 2.0. The software boasts the ability to run even Leopard Server as a virtual machine, and sports a built-in 1-year subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus.

VMware Fusion allows Intel Macs to run x86 operating systems, like Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris, in a virtual machine, at the same time as Mac OS X. VMware Fusion runs Windows inside a secure and isolated virtual machine, protecting Mac OS X and the Mac hardware in the event that Windows crashes or becomes unstable. It also gives users the ability to suspend and protect their virtual machines.

In order to further enhance the protection of their computer, users can take a Snapshot of their virtual machine, to save a stable state of the PC, to which they can quickly return if something goes wrong. Users can also resume where they left off by using the Suspend feature in VMware to freeze the exact state of their virtual machine. As such, they can quickly resume work without restarting Windows and opening all their applications.

Still, one of the most impressive features of VMware Fusion is Data Sharing. Users can share data back and forth between Windows and Mac by just dragging and dropping files from and to windows opened outside of and inside the virtual machine. Even Copy and Paste work, while accessing Mac files from Windows applications, is also possible.

Early reports regarding VMware Fusion's abilities also said that the software revealed to users the ways of the Mac, and eventually convinced them to make the switch. To move from a PC to VMware Fusion, a free VMware Converter Starter Edition is available. It transforms your Windows PC into a VMware Fusion-compatible virtual machine, which users must copy to the Mac. VMware also offers a solution to move from Parallels Desktop to VMware Fusion.

As TUAW points out, when Apple started allowing server virtualization on Macs, both VMware and Parallels announced plans to integrate the feature into the virtualization solutions. While Parallels released Parallels Server a little while back, VMware decided to hold off the release and spend some development time on including the actual feature with Fusion 2.0.

Speaking of which, VMware Fusion can be acquired under the form of a full-featured, 30-day trial version here. The complete software costs US$79.99. Head over to VMware's site for more information.