Review by Vincent E. Martin

Pros: 64-bit; run Windows seamlessly; great performancennCons: N/A thus far.

Bottom-Line: Excellent application for running Widows in the iMac environment!nnI am a Microsoft Windows user, have been since the release of Windows 3.0 was back in 1989. I have used each new release of Windows up through Windows 7 the most stable and user-friendly version of the software yet. But when my Dell XPS AIO started giving my problems I decided to replace it with an Apple iMac desktop running OSX Lion. Needless to say the decision was not an easy one, so invested am I in everything Windows. But the decision made I knew I wanted to still run Windows 7 on my iMac and I could do it one of two ways: Apple’s Boot Camp application built-into OSX that allows one to run either OSX or Windows, or VMWare Fusion For Mac Version 4.0, which allows one to run both OSX Lion and Windows simultaneously.

Virtual computing; the technology has been around for a while in the Enterprise and VMWare has been the company leading the vanguard. VMWare Fusion for Mac Version 4.0 allows me to run Windows 7 (Windows XP or Windows Vista) on the iMac without having to reboot the computer and also allows for the sharing of hardware, such as printers and external hard drives between the two OS’s. That last function piece–the ability to share hardware–was also very import piece of the virtual machine puzzle, because I still need the ability to scan documents to .PDF format and store on a Windows-based network.

For all of my needs VMWare Fusion for Mac fit the bill nicely, and it allows me to run a 64-bit version of Windows 7. Installation of the software on the iMac was simple and easy. You can choose one of two install methods; 1. via an included memory stick, or; 2. via DVD. I choose the memory stick, because during the install process I could slip the Windows 7 disc in the iMac CD-ROM player and have the install process install Windows 7after it installed itself. All told the install took a little over an hour to complete, afterward I had a fully functional Windows 7 desktop computer!nnAfter I ran the install I configured VMWare Fusion for Mac to use share the printer and use an attached hard drive only on Windows 7. After those quick configuration changes were made I was able to download and install Windows security updates and join the Virtual Machine (VM) to the Windows ²⁰⁰³⁄₂₀₀₈ domain I have set up in my home.

Switching between OSX and Windows 7 is simple: a two finger swipe on the Apple Magic mouse is all it takes to toggle between the two OS’s. I am typing this review on Microsoft Word 2010 installed on my Windows 7 VM, while also using Google Chrome to surf the internet. Meanwhile back on OSX I am streaming live cool Jazz music!nVMWare Fusion for Mac allows you to tweak the VM for optimum performance; e.g. you can set the processor number (1 or 2), Ram allocation and hard drive space. The VM will have to be powered off in order to adjust these settings. VMWare does recommend you limit the processor number to unless you have a demanding application that needs more performance space.

Like most virtual machine application VMWare Fusion for Mac will suspend the VM when the iMac is shut down or restarted, so you will not lost any work.

ConclusionnnVMWare Fusion for Mac Version 4 is the ideal solution for my needs and I highly recommend it for anyone thinking about running Windows on an iMac. Since I install the application some five months ago I have no issue what-so-ever with performance. Not one! My only question is: why didn’t I do this sooner!