VMware Fusion 3 Close Look

Here’s some screenshots and things that I noticed while working with VMware Fusion v3.0

VM Settings Screen

Here’s the new Virtual Machine Settings area. This was from a Windows 7 VM that I had on Fusion v2.06. Notice that the "type" of VM is listed as Windows Vista, since in v2.06 we didn’t have a Windows 7 option, which we now do in Fusion v3.
The new "Applications" menu is pretty slick. I have screenshot of it later on.

Operating System Choices

Here’s all the Windows operating system versions that are supported in Fusion v3. That’s quite a list! Notice Server 2008 R2 is also on there.
I changed my Windows 7 VM from the "Windows Vista" type to the "Windows 7" type. All is well.

Advanced Settings, Other

The "Advanced, Other" setting is shown above. I thought there were some interesting options in here. I haven’t changed any of them yet, but thought they were interesting none-the-less.

New Applications Menu

Here’s a screenshot of the new "Applications Menu" in Fusion v3. You can also edit this menu by clicking on the "Applications Menu Settings" link near the bottom. Here you can add programs into this list with a simple click in a checkmark box. You can also perform VM functions (settings, power control, etc) under the "Virtual Machine" link on the this menu.

Changing to “Aero” Theme under Windows 7

Changing the Windows 7 theme to an "Aero" enabled theme is simple. After installing Fusion v3 and upgrading VMware Tools in your Windows 7 VM, just Right Click on the Desktop and choose "Personalize".

Next, just look under the area that’s entitled "Aero Themes" and choose one.

Here’s an Aero theme that I selected. Notice now I get the "Aero Effect" (see through glass) on my active window.

Shared Folders Link Changed

I had a couple of existing links to my host’s computer share through the "Shared Folders" option (under the VM settings). When I tried to follow these links, I received the error shown in the screenshot. Come to find out, the "Shared Folder" main path has changed with Fusion v3.

The new host computer shared folder location is now called "vmware-host", instead of ".host" in Fusion v2.x.
Just update your links with this new path name and then they’ll work (or just recreate your shortcuts).

VMware Tools – Custom Setup

Going through the custom setup for VMware Tools, I noticed the "VMXNet3 NIC Driver". I would assume this is very similar to the same named enhanced NIC driver found in VMware vSphere 4, however I don’t know when you’d use it or why.. a question I shall soon have an answer too!

Is Fusion v3 Actually 64bit?

I saw numerous posts in the VMware Community Forum that the Mac process viewer shows VMware Fusion as running as a 32bit application, while one of the major features of Fusion v3 was that it’s supposed to be 64bit.
As highlighted in the forums, we need to look at the main process for Fusion, not for the Fusion GUI/Application. If we look at the process called "vmware-vmx", this is the main kernel/application for Fusion and we see that it’s running at 64bit. Thus, yes, Fusion actually is running at 64bit.