14 DAY TRIAL // Virtualization company VMware Inc. is offering a new and improved version of its Fusion software that emulates a PC environment on a Mac, allowing customers to have both OS X and Windows running side by side.
One of the hottest-selling virtualization solutions on the Mac, VMWare Fusion gets constantly updated with new features, tweaks, and fixes, and this update is no exception to the rule.
VMware Fusion 6.0.3 build 1747349 fixes an issue where connecting USB devices while Fusion is running would cause the Connect to Mac prompt to appear. USB devices can now connect to a virtual machine, and performance with USB audio and video devices has been improved. Same goes for compatibility with various types of hardware.
For customers where the virtual machine crashes when the Mac comes out of sleep mode, these instances “have been reduced,” but not completely eliminated. Don’t expect a flawless experience, in other words.
The black-screen issue incurred when locking the system then returning to the Mac OS X 10.9 desktop while the virtual machine is running should no longer occur.
An issue that could cause the default web browser to be reset in a Windows 8 virtual machine has been addressed, and resizing a Windows XP VM window will no longer cause it to go dark.
Full-screen virtual machines no longer display a black bar at the top, Winlogon.exe now works properly with Windows XP in Boot Camp, virtual machines no longer show a black screen when using Apple TV as an external display, and Fusion no longer stalls when using a restricted VM without Internet.
The release notes also state that “single mouse clicks are interpreted as double-clicks when running Windows XP virtual machines on OS X Mavericks.” It isn’t clear if this was an issue for some, or what changes have been made in this department.
The ability to use two monitors with the same virtual machine is improved. When VMware Fusion is not open, VMs can be started and shut down from the VMware Fusion menu now.
Any compatibility issues between shared folders and QuickTime for Windows have been resolved as of version 6.0.3 Build 1747349, and the graphics for Solidworks and JavaFX applications have been improved, according to the developer.
Download VMware Fusion 6.0.3 on any Mac with a 64-bit Intel processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or newer), with a minimum 4GB of RAM, 750MB free disk space for VMware Fusion, and at least 5GB for each virtual machine.