VMware updates Fusion Windows virtualisation

VMware, the maker of desktop and server virtualisation tools has announced VMware Fusion 3, a way to run Windows on the Mac.

VMware Fusion 3 comes with more than 50 new features and enhancements, delivering a better-than-ever Windows on Mac experience insists the company.

Fusion 3 comes optimised for Snow Leopard, with a new 64 bit core engine and native support for the 64 bit kernel.

Fusion 3 also supports the full Windows 7 experience, complete with Windows Aero and Flip 3D.

Switching has been made easier says VMWare, with users able to bring their entire PC to their Mac in a few easy steps, either wirelessly or via Ethernet cable.

The update comes with improved graphics and better gaming support for OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3, which will enable users to run their favourite 3D Windows games and applications without rebooting.

A new full screen menu bar gives you control over your virtual machine and can be moved to any side of the screen to make guest user interfaces, such as taskbars and menu bars, more accessible.

The software comes with a link to 10 video tutorials and adds a 12 month complimentary subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus. Automatic snapshots allow you to roll Windows back to a safe state if something goes wrong.

VMware Fusion 3 will be available online store and authorised retailers worldwide on from Tuesday, 27 October. Currently Amazon lists the software at £58.99.

System requirements are Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later and a copy of Windows.

Supported 32-Bit Guest Operating Systems include:

Mac OS X Server v10.5 Leopard (experimental)

Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate, Home Basic, and Home Premium Editions

Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate, Home Basic, and Home Premium SP1 Editions

Windows XP Professional SP2, Home Edition SP2

Windows XP Professional SP3, Home Edition SP3

Windows 98 SE

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, R2 Enterprise Edition

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition (experimental)

Windows 2000 Server SP4, Advanced Server SP4, Windows 2000 Professional SP4

Windows NT 4.0 Server SP6a, Workstation SP6a

Windows Me, Windows 3.1, Windows 95 SP1, MS-DOS 6.x

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, 9 SP3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Desktop 10 SP2

SUSE Linux 10.1, 9.3

Novell Netware 6.5 SP7

Novell Linux Desktop 9 SP2

Novell Open Enterprise Server SP2

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 Update 2 (Advanced Server, Enterprise Server, Workstation)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 Update 6, 3.0 Update 9

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 - stock 2.4.9-e3 (Advanced Server, Enterprise Server, Workstation)

Red Hat Linux 9.0 - stock 2.4.20-8, upgrade 2.4.20-20.9

Red Hat Linux 7.0 - stock 2.2.16-22, upgrade 2.2.17-14

Solaris x86 10 (Update 5)

Ubuntu Linux 8.04, 7.10, 6.10, 5.10

Mandriva Linux 2008, 2007, 2006

FreeBSD 7.0, 6.1, 5.5

Turbolinux Enterprise Server 8

Turbolinux Desktop 10