VMWare Fusion.... now free for Home use?

[Lifeisabeach]

I got a notice that there's a version upgrade for VMWare Fusion so I took a look. Unless I am completely misreading this, it can be used for free for non-commercial uses now. The paid commercial version is now called VMWare Fusion Pro and the non-commercial free version is VMWare Fusion Player. I'll have to check it out more later, but I wanted to throw it out there for anyone interested. VMWare Fusion kicks the pants off VirtualBox and while I haven't compared it myself to Parallels, it performs very well and has similar features like hiding the Windows UI to make Windows apps look like they are running on macOS. If it truly is free and otherwise is just an upgrade to the same Fusion 11 I've been using rather than some hobbled version, then this is HUGE!

VMware Fusion Player – Personal Use License

This page will allow users to obtain free ‘Personal Use’ license for VMware Fusion Player

my.vmware.com

 

[ferrarr]

Thanks for the info. It does look like something I may use. I installed VirtualBox a few months ago, but I don't use winOS as much as I used to. Also, my sister gave me an older Dell Inspiron laptop I'm still setting up.

 

[Applescrumpy]

I downloaded the software and applied for and received a free Player license. The software is common to both Pro and Reader, the difference being that the paid-for Pro license unlocks more advanced features. I have now successfully created a Ubuntu VM and on first impressions the system does run quicker than one created via VirtualBox.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

VMware Player has always been around and a freely. For a lot of people, it fits the bill perfectly. The limitations compared to Pro are inability to run multiple VMs, no snapshots and other advanced features.

But for quick tasks, it's a perfectly good alternative to VirtualBox.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

VMware Player has always been around and a freely. For a lot of people, it fits the bill perfectly. The limitations compared to Pro are inability to run multiple VMs, no snapshots and other advanced features.

But for quick tasks, it's a perfectly good alternative to VirtualBox.

Really? I never noticed they had a freebie before. It should suit my needs just fine. I paid for a license a year or so ago when I got fed up dealing with VirtualBox and more specifically wanted to run macOS in a vm. VB is supposed to be able to, but can't without running through hoops that I could never quite work out at the time.

 

[chscag]

As Ashwin pointed out, VMWare Player has been around for quite some time. They used to have pre-set player VMs that you could install and have up and running in a short time. Some of them included various flavors of Linux.

Note that VMWare Player like other VM software (for now) only works with X86 systems. No word from them if they're developing VM software which can be used for the ARM. Supposedly, Parallels is doing just that and has a prototype they're testing.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Really? I never noticed they had a freebie before. It should suit my needs just fine. I paid for a license a year or so ago when I got fed up dealing with VirtualBox and more specifically wanted to run macOS in a vm. VB is supposed to be able to, but can't without running through hoops that I could never quite work out at the time.

Yeah, when I had used it a LONG time ago, it was true to its name, a "player". So you couldn't create VMs, but just play pre-made ones of which VMware distributed a bunch as Charlie said. This was used mainly for running different versions of IE for web site testing or whatever.

It looks like they've beefed it up a bit and allow VM creation now, which makes it a lot more comprable to VB and while VB is great, being generic software, it doesn't integrate as well with macOS as VMWware Fusion and Parallels do.

 

[Slydude]

I've run Parallels, VB, and Fusion though it has been some time since I've run Parallels. Of the three I've preferred Fusion but couldn't justify the upgrade costs given how little I need it. The one work-related app that I have to run under Windows is probably going to start providing a Mac option but if they don't this beefed up player might negate having a second Windows box around.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Yeah, when I had used it a LONG time ago, it was true to its name, a "player". So you couldn't create VMs, but just play pre-made ones of which VMware distributed a bunch as Charlie said. This was used mainly for running different versions of IE for web site testing or whatever.

Ah, that actually does sound familiar now that you describe it that way. I think I'm just going to hold off and see if version 11 works fine for my needs under Big Sur since I already have a paid license. If there are issues, I'll look into the Player version.

 

[chscag]

If you already have a license, you may as well go for version 11. I don't know if the upgrade to version 11 is a paid upgrade or not but you can check when you download it.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

If you already have a license, you may as well go for version 11. I don't know if the upgrade to version 11 is a paid upgrade or not but you can check when you download it.

It is a paid upgrade. For $99, I’d rather try to avoid that.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Here’s the full feature comparison list. I see no reason for my needs or most typical users to go Pro.

Cloud Vista Store

store-us.vmware.com

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I downloaded the software and applied for and received a free Player license. The software is common to both Pro and Reader, the difference being that the paid-for Pro license unlocks more advanced features. ...

How do you do this? I don't see anything on the site about there being a free version for personal use, nor do I see a way to download any free software without going through the "cart" and paying. Do you have a link that I can use to do a direct download?

Thanks!

 

[Raz0rEdge]

How do you do this? I don't see anything on the site about there being a free version for personal use, nor do I see a way to download any free software without going through the "cart" and paying. Do you have a link that I can use to do a direct download?

Thanks!

Randy, click on the link in LiB's first post and create a free VMWAre account if you don't have one already. Once logged in, you can "Register" for the VMWare Player personal edition by answering a few questions, that will add the license to your account and you can download the software and apply the license.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Alrighty, I had a little trouble with this an hour ago, but it looks like they were simply updating their website or something was down. I was finally able to get the correct link off the page I posted originally to apply for a free license and did so successfully with my existing account. I just gave Fusion 12 Player a quick whirl and functionally, it appears identical to the paid version of 11 that I've been using. It upgraded my existing Windows 10 VM. It will pause it so I can just resume where I left off. I can create new ones. Access shared folders across the host macOS. Unity mode is still there (where you hide the Windows UI and just see your app on the Mac desktop).

I have absolutely no qualms in saying this beats the pants off VirtualBox in every single way. VB's only advantage was that it was free, and now that's gone. As compared to Parallels, my own experience is a bit dated. I haven't used Parallels in a long time, but I have a strong distaste for some of their business practices over the years. That said, my general impression from reading in the past about actual performance was that Parallels was considered to perform better for games, but Fusion was more stable. Whether or not those hold true today, I don't know. I can vouch for Fusion working very well and stable for my limited needs and while I've played a few older games in it for laughs, they did play well. But I wouldn't rely on a VM for games in any event.

 

[chscag]

I haven't used Parallels in a long time, but I have a strong distaste for some of their business practices over the years.

I put the business practices of Parallels in the same category as that of Intuit. Enough said about both companies.

 

[MacInWin]

Randy, click on the link in LiB's first post and create a free VMWAre account if you don't have one already. Once logged in, you can "Register" for the VMWare Player personal edition by answering a few questions, that will add the license to your account and you can download the software and apply the license.

Can you be a bit more step-by-step on that? I've been in a loop for 20 minutes. I downloaded the dmg, but no serial to register it with. When I try to go to the page to manage my registrations, it shows the old versions I had way back when I used it. But nothing for version 12 player. No help pages, no chat pages, so I'm going around and around uselessly. Not impressed with the website.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Can you be a bit more step-by-step on that? I've been in a loop for 20 minutes. I downloaded the dmg, but no serial to register it with. When I try to go to the page to manage my registrations, it shows the old versions I had way back when I used it. But nothing for version 12 player. No help pages, no chat pages, so I'm going around and around uselessly. Not impressed with the website.

If you don’t have an account, then create one first. If you do have one, or once you create one, then log in. To do so, do the obvious on the right side of this page. When you register, it asks for a company name as a required field. I put “None” since I’m not representing one.

Once done, there’s a link to apply for the free personal license. Now, I no longer see that link because I have it, but you should see it on either the same page as above once logged in, or on the next page titled License & Download. Note the series of tabs in the middle of the page.

 

[chscag]

That VMWare Fusion site is got to be one of the most confusing web sites that I have ever encountered. I already had a VMWare account from long ago and it rememembed me. Luckily I also remembered my password and was able to log in.

Now comes the fun part.... Since I was a user of the Windows version of VMWare, it would not let me download the Mac version and would not even show it to me. However, it did let me download the Windows version license and all. LOL.

Oh well, I guess if I ever run Windows again, I have an updated copy.

 

[MacInWin]

If you don’t have an account, then create one first. If you do have one, or once you create one, then log in. To do so, do the obvious on the right side of this page. When you register, it asks for a company name as a required field. I put “None” since I’m not representing one.

Once done, there’s a link to apply for the free personal license. Now, I no longer see that link because I have it, but you should see it on either the same page as above once logged in, or on the next page titled License & Download. Note the series of tabs in the middle of the page.

Ugh, not impressed. I do have an account from when I ran it long ago. Logged in, didn't see anything "obvious" but did finally find where to download the installer. Pretty well hidden. No place to get a registration code. Went ahead and got it downloaded. Installed ok, needed some permissions to access Accessibility (?) and the drives. Sorted that out. Started it up and it asked for a registration key and offered to get one. It did that, then it showed a screen where I could import previous VMs. I let it find the ones I have for Parallels, then started the import of a Win 10 image. Complained about the image not being shut down. Cancelled the import, opened Parallels, opened the image (which was shut down) then shut it down again and then ended Parallels. Started the import again into VMWare, got the same error, told it to ignore it and go ahead anyway (After all, Win10 was properly closed). It worked at the import for about 20 minutes then the entire MBP froze. No mouse, no trackpad, no keys, no app changing any screen, nothing. Had to force shutdown with the power key. On restart I did First Aid and the boot drive was ok, but it looked like the SMC had been reset (screen brightness, etc., all back to defaults, for example). Restarted VMWare, pointed to a different VM, this one a Win7 Parallels image, walked away while it was working, came back to find my Mac crashed and rebooted to the login screen. Looked again like the SMC was reset. Unistalled VMWare using AppCleaner, not going back for a third time.

May be just my system, but I cannot recommend VMWare as an alternative to Parallels unless you don't care about your previous images. I guess if you start from scratch it might work. Buyer beware, even if it's "free."