So about 20 days after I get my stuff (new HD, Snow Leopard, Fusion2) to upgrade my MacBook Pro (one of the first intel models) VMware goes and releases Fusion 3. I was just outside the free upgrade window. Bah!
I’d installed Fusion, created me an Ubuntu and XP Guest, and verified I had installed all the windows apps I might need in an emergency (ie VSphere 4 client). Fusion2 had some nice features. Unity mode, where I could have my windows apps running with my Mac apps using the same window manager was pretty nice. And being able to put windows apps in the OSX Dock was cool. It also had support for linking my iSight camera and bluetooth into my guest.
My problems were two fold. My old Mac was just slow and Fusion had a weird thing were I’d lose focus to my guest windows frequently. Fusion became something I ran when I needed Windows, not something I kept running all the time.
Well, after installing Fusion 3, the slowness and focus issues are gone. I’ve been working all day in my XP Firefox with no performance or other issues.
Fusion 3 has some nice enhancements too. My XP Task bar is now at the bottom of my second display. And if I turn off my XP taskbar, the system tray widgets appear in my OSX menu bar. The Fusion MenuBar menu tools is pretty nice too. From one easy to get to location I can launch new apps, connect/disconnect hardware devices, and do all the other guest setting changes.
The upgrade is definitely worth the $40. I only wish I’d waited. But I suppose if I had I’d not have seen what an improvement Fusion 3 is.