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Software : VMware FusionIn association with Amazon.comRating:  - VMWare FusionI bought this and an OEM version of Windows Vista so my wife could run a few of her Windows-only programs on Leopard (iMac 24"). So far, I have only installed the Hallmark Card Maker Deluxe 2008, but installation of Vista and the Card Maker program were very intuitive and easy. Before getting this, I was worried about what to expect when installing windows, but interestingly, Vista was easier to install with Fusion on the Mac than it is to install on a PC. Fusion handles all the installation questions and reboots. All you do is run the Fusion install, put in the Vista disk when it says, and let it go. Highly recommended if you want to run Windows and not have to reboot with Boot Camp. PS - The default hard drive allocation for Vista install is 20gb, but after installing Vista and the card maker program, that took up 15gb. Although you can add another virtual hard drive to the VM, I'd recommend just upping the initial default setting to around 30gb. Rating: - It works and it's pain-freeI want to start off by saying that I am not a particularly techy guy. I used both a mac an a pc simply because some applications I needed for work wouldn't run on a Mac. Personally, I prefer to use OS. I knew about Parallels but the reports I had had were not emphasising it's ease of use. I've been using fusion for a couple of weeks now and it is great. It's simple to use. No major instructions needed, it is quite common sensical. The installation was painless. I no longer carry two computers. I did keep my pc for games. I haven't been able to run games on the mac yet. But no need, I'm quite happy as is. There are plenty of long reviews here that will give you the details. But rest assured that if you're not that computer savvy but want to use windows and OS on your mac at once, get this product. It works and it's simple enough to use. Rating:  - Program good / Rebate Stinks !!!The program is good. I would rate it 5 stars out of 5 were it not for the hassle of the rebate. I do rebates all the time and never ever had any problems except for VMWare (also check internet for more rebate complaints). I think it's time for Amazon to start a Survey Program on Rebates for items purchased through them. Receipt of my rebate was not shown until 3 weeks later, and only after lots of correspondence from me. Suggested rebate time of 6 to 8 weeks is up. Per rebate track status my check was MAILED on 5 August. It's 28 August today and still nothing here. If I had to do it all over again I would have bought PARALLELS without a rebate. In Jan. 2008, Peter Kazanjy - VMWare Fusion Product Marketing - stated in response to a complaint: "We thank you for your patience and want to let you know that while Rebate Programs TYPICALLY have the taint of hoping that users forget and throwing up (sic) road blocks to fulfillment. This is 100% not the case here." I think it IS and urge you to stay away from the product with the rebate. Rating: - Not convenient for Graphic Design needsIf you have any issues with installation; too bad, the VMware website only offers help at a rate of $99 a year (for one incident). I bought this software because I heard Parallels was crashy, and I had Bootcamp previously on my computer, but found it annoying to reboot in order to use different programs. So after replacing a worn out hard drive, I thought Fusion would be the perfect solution since I had to reinstall Windows anyway. While it works reasonably well, I had alot of issues with setting up the virtual machine without taking up too much room on my computer (I had several Windows discs that were not working; expired codes and such.) I have also found that I still have to install my printer on both the regular and virtual machine, and my external hard drive is not found by Fusion. I find it is worth the effort of rebooting with Bootcamp. One final note is that I also had to upgrade my RAM, because Bootcamp merely uses it in one partition or the other, but Fusion divides it, making me unable to run Adobe products, in which I need the entire Master collection for Graphic Design, and was the only reason I was running Windows on my computer to begin with. Rating: - Makes me life (as a web dev) completeEven with 1GB RAM, 9GB of harddrive remaining, this still runs fine. Now that's impressive. |
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