VMware Fusion is a brand new  VMware desktop product for the Mac that allows Intel-based Macs to run x86 operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris, in virtual machines at the same time as Mac OS X.

VMware Fusion is built on VMware's rock-solid and advanced desktop virtualization platform that is used by over four million users today.

With Fusion, you can run traditional PC applications on your Mac: if you need to run PC applications, you can now do so by leveraging the power of virtual machine technology.

NOTE: Free registration is required in order to download the trial version.

Here are some key features of "VMware Fusion":

· Say goodbye to the Start menu and Taskbar and run Windows applications directly from the Dock. Minimize Windows applications to the Dock, switch between Windows or Mac applications with Expose, find and instantly launch any Windows application, drag and drop files between Windows and the Mac, and use familiar Mac keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste between Windows and Mac applications.
· VMware Fusion makes it easy to install and run Windows, Linux and other operating systems on your Intel-based Mac as virtual machines, giving you the power to use multiple operating systems simultaneously-and without rebooting your computer.
· Installing Windows has never been easier, thanks to the Windows Easy Install feature in VMware Fusion. Just answer a few simple questions and insert your Windows installation disc-VMware Fusion will automatically create a Windows virtual machine that is optimized for your Mac. You can also use the New Virtual Machine Assistant to create virtual machines that can run Windows, Linux, BSD or any of the more than 60 different operating systems supported by VMware Fusion.
· Already running Windows XP or Windows Vista on your Mac using Apple's Boot Camp? No problem. VMware Fusion automatically detects your Boot Camp partition and lets you access it as a virtual machine, giving you the flexibility to run Windows XP or Windows Vista alone or side-by-side with Mac OS X.
· VMware Fusion makes it easier than ever for Windows users to make the switch to a Mac. To move from a PC to VMware Fusion, use the free VMware Converter Starter Edition to transform your Windows PC into a VMware Fusion-compatible virtual machine, then copy the virtual machine from your PC to your Mac. To move from Parallels Desktop to VMware Fusion, use the free VMware Importer (beta) to move your Parallels Desktop virtual machines into VMware Fusion virtual machines.
· The Cocoa- native user interface gives you features you expect including customizable toolbars to make VMware Fusion work just the way you work.
· Your complete virtual machine is stored in a single, easy-to-manage package. Move your virtual machines to an iPod, another hard drive, or Mac simply by copying a file.
· VMware Fusion offers experimental support for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics in Windows XP virtual machines, making it possible to run DirectX 9.0 applications and play select 3D games on your Mac.
· Only VMware Fusion gives you the ability to leverage the power of the dual-core processors found in most Intel-based Macs with exclusive support for VMware Virtual SMP technology.
· VMware Fusion is compatible with a wider range of operating systems than any competing product and offers exclusive support for 64-bit operating systems and virtual machines with up to 8 GB of memory.
· Only VMware Fusion can use the full 16 GB of memory available with the Mac Pro and Xserve, giving you the ability to run a large number of virtual machines at the same time.
· VMware Fusion lets you get the most out of your Mac hardware-from the SuperDrive to iSight cameras-in any virtual machine. You also get complete support for proprietary video cameras, GPS, Bluetooth, and other USB 2.0 devices that only work in Windows.
· VMware Fusion allows virtual machines to safely share a single network connection, effortlessly switching between wired and wireless AirPort/Wi-Fi connections.
· VMware Fusion runs Windows inside a secure and isolated virtual machine, protecting Mac OS X and your Mac hardware in the event that Windows crashes or becomes unstable. VMware Fusion also gives you the ability to suspend and protect your virtual machines.
· Protect your PC-take a Snapshot of your virtual machine to save a stable state of your PC that you can quickly return to if something goes wrong.
· Use the Suspend feature in VMware to freeze the exact state of your virtual machine so that you can quickly resume work without restarting Windows and opening all your applications.
· Only VMware Fusion gives you the most complete support for Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate, Windows XP, Linux, Solaris, or any of the more than sixty supported PC operating systems. Share files between virtual machines and your Mac with drag and drop, copy and paste text, and resize virtual machine desktops with ease.
· Take advantage of over 550 third-party virtual appliances, which are ready-to-use virtual machines designed to meet specific needs, and available to Mac users from the VMware Virtual Appliance Marketplace with just the click of your mouse.

Requirements:

· An Intel-based Mac (to run 64-bit operating systems, an Intel Mac with a Core 2 Duo or Xeon processor is required)
· 512MB of RAM (1 GB or more recommended)
· 275MB free disk space for VMware Fusion
· 1GB free disk space for each virtual machine (10 GB or more recommended)
· You must register in order to download.

Limitations:

· 30 days trial period.

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· VMware Fusion 3 is packed with more than 50 new features and enhancements

Optimized for Snow Leopard:
· Support for both 32-bit and 64-bit Snow Leopard kernels
· New 64-bit native core engine leverages power of 64-bit Snow Leopard
· Leverage K64 kernel performance improvements for reduced overhead
· Leverage Snow Leopard changes for optimized disk and graphics performance

Effortless Migration from Windows PCs to Mac:
· Integrated Migration Assistant helps you move your entire PC to a virtual machine on your Mac in a few simple steps
· Connect your PC to your Mac with a simple Ethernet cable – no additional setup required
· Automatically discover your Windows PC on the same network as your Mac using Apple’s Bonjour technology
· Works just like Apple’s Migration Assistant on the Mac

Ultimate Experience for Windows 7 Guests:
· Support for Windows Easy Install
· First virtualization product to support Windows Aero, including Flip 3D and Aero Peek
· Support for DirectX 9.0EX with OpenGL 1.4 with new WDDM graphics driver
· Support for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 on Boot Camp partitions

3D Graphics Now Supports More Applications and Games:
· Support for Windows Aero with WDDM driver for Windows 7 and Windows Vista
· DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 3 support for Windows virtual machines
· OpenGL 2.1 support for Windows XP virtual machines

Performance. Finely Tuned.:
· New 64-bit native core engine maximizes overall performance for all Macs with 64-bit processors. Works on Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard
· Full support for 4-way SMP
· Virtual SMP is now multi-core aware, providing multi-core CPUs to your virtual machines. This allows Home and Starter versions of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 to use all enabled virtual processors instead of being limited to two.
· Greatly reduced memory usage when using all Windows Vista and Windows 7 virtual machines. (Applies to Windows XP VMs created in VMware Fusion 3)
· Improved 2D drawing and interactive performance in Unity, single window, and full screen views
· Faster typing in Windows applications within Unity view
· Improved responsiveness of remapped keyboard shortcuts
· Faster disk and graphics performance on Snow Leopard host
· Multiple-display full screen view with much better performance for monitor layouts larger than 4096 pixels wide or 4096 pixels high on most Macs.


Unity More Mac-Like Than Ever:
· Leave the “Start Menu” behind with the new “Always-on” Applications Menu
· Search for Windows apps like Mac apps
· Use a hot key to bring up the Applications Menu at any time
· Find and launch Windows apps even if Fusion isn’t running and they will launch Fusion automatically for you.
· Pin favorite Windows apps to the Application menu in any order you choose
· Access recently opened documents by Windows applications
· Access Computer, Documents, Control Panel, Run, and Power Commands
· Control your virtual machine while in Unity including hardware settings and power states from Applications menu
· Windows applications work more like Mac applications
· Work with application-specific Exposé and Dock Exposé for a specific Windows app.
· Use “command tilde” (`) to switch between multiple open documents in a Windows application
· Quit a specific Windows app with “command Q”
· Access to Windows taskbar tray items in Unity view in the Mac menu bar.
· Run 3D games and play 1080p video in Unity view.
· Preview window allows you to monitor your virtual machine desktop and resize the window, even in Unity view.


Virtual Machine Library:
· Redesigned to make actions more discoverable
Home pane is an easy to use launching point what you need to do:
· Install guest operating systems
· Migrate physical PCs
· Use a Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine
· Download a Windows trial virtual machine
· Easily find and import virtual machines that were created by Parallels Desktop or Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac.
· Live view makes it easy to see what is happening in your VMs and easily switch between all VMs for a quick status
· Much faster to open when multiple virtual machines are in the Virtual Machine Library

Full Screen View Improvements:
· New Full Screen view menu bar gives you full control of your virtual machine, including choosing when the menu bar appears in Full Screen view.
· Move the full screen view menu bar to any side of the screen to avoid blocking guest user interface elements such as taskbars in Windows, the desktop menu in Linux, or the menu bar in Mac OS X Server guests.
· Smooth animated transition when entering and exiting Full Screen view.

User Interface Refinements:
· Redesigned menus make commands more logically organized
· Integrated status in virtual machine window works better with Spaces
· Cancel resume in case you resumed by mistake
· Live, smooth resize when resizing a virtual machine window.
· Live view in the Virtual Machine settings window gives
· Access the Virtual Machine Library from the VMware Fusion Dock icon.

Try Windows for Free:
· Download and import free Windows trials from Microsoft to try Windows before you buy with VHD Test Drive support.

Automatic Updates:
· Built-in software updater that automatically checks, downloads, and installs VMware Fusion updates.

Multiple Display Improvements:
· Multiple-display Full Screen view with better performance for monitor layouts larger than 4096 pixels wide or 4096 pixels high on most Macs.

Shared Folders and Mirrored Folders Improvements:
· Automatically hide common hidden Windows files in a shared folder, for example, Thumbs.db, $RECYCLE.BIN, and so on.
· Open Microsoft Outlook attachments with Mac applications.
· Improved compatibility with third-party applications including Windows Live Writer, Office 2007, and more.

Copy and Paste, Drag and Drop Improvements:
· Copy and paste images between a Windows or Linux virtual machine and the Mac.
· Copy and paste formatted text (RTF) between a Linux virtual machine and the Mac.
· Drag Microsoft Outlook attachments from a Windows virtual machine to the Mac.
· Drag files in a virtual machine directly onto Mac applications in the dock.

Full Support for Mac OS X Leopard Server and Snow Leopard Server as Guests:
· Mac OS X 10.5 Server Guests now full supported
· Support for Mac OS X Server 10.6 Snow Leopard virtual machines running the 64-bit kernel (K64), even on Macs that can’t boot into the K64 kernel
· New virtual EFI provides maximum compatibility with Mac OS X Server and provides more Mac like experience.

Keyboard Improvements:
· Automatically recognizes European keyboards. Sending keys like @, {, }, and others to Windows works just like it does on the Mac.
· Improved responsiveness with remapped keyboard shortcuts

Virtual Hard Disk Improvements:
· Mount a suspended virtual machine's virtual disks as read-only Mac volumes.

Networking Improvements:
· Select a specific network adapter for bridged networking
· Support for IPv6 in bridged networking
· Override the Ethernet MAC address of the virtual adapter on the UI

Shared Smart Card:
· Access supported CAC or PIV smart cards from the Mac and a Windows virtual machine at the same time

Remote Management:
· Manage your virtual machines remotely without installing software into the virtual machine by leveraging VMware Fusion’s built in VNC server. Manage using the VNC client you choose

Select Startup Device:
· Like the Mac’s Startup Disk, choose the bootable device for your virtual machine in an easy graphical interface