Software Update: VMware Fusion 3.0.1 build 215242

VMware has released version 3.0.1 build 215242 of its Fusion virtualization program. This application allows various operating systems to run on the host computer via virtual machines. This makes it possible, for example, to run Windows programs within Mac OS X that behave like normal programs via the Unity function. In addition, other x86 operating systems are of course also supported, such as various Linux distributions and Solaris. The list of changes for version 3.0.1 build 215242 looks like this:

What’s New

VMware Fusion 3.0.1 is a maintenance release of VMware Fusion 3. It is a free upgrade for all VMware Fusion 3 customers, and provides the following enhancements and fixes:

Highlighted New and Improved Features:

• Faster 3D performance, with Windows Experience scores 20-80% faster than before on Mac OS X Snow Leopard
• Reduced time for resuming virtual machines
• Supports import of standalone VHD disks into VMware virtual machines
• Supports import of Parallels Desktop 5 virtual machines into VMware virtual machines
• New 64-bit native networking subsystem to match the 64-bit native engine

PC Migration Agent and Migration Assistant Improvements:

• Adds support for Windows Server 2008 R2
• Installer localized into all supported languages
• Shows progress that VMware Tools are being installed in last step of migrating the PC
• Does not automatically show the PC Migration Agent application in the resulting virtual machine
• Adds only one network adapter to imported PC virtual machines

UnityView Improvements:

• “Always On” Applications menu defaults to the active virtual machine, and if more than one virtual machine is running, the menu defaults to the one that has focus
• Fixes a problem in which the “Always On” Application menu was not populated in some cases
• Improves the Aero-in-Unity experience with better interactive performance and easier readability of window titles
• Improves Unity view interactive performance for 32-bit Windows applications running on 64-bit Windows operating systems
• Ability to dismiss system tray menus in Unity view with only one click
• Small mouse wheel scroll increments work correctly in Unity view
• Fixes keyboard focus issues in Unity view when multiple windows are opened and closed
• Fixes a problem in which Adobe Fireworks, Photoshop, and some other applications would drop out of Unity view, causing the Waiting for Unity window to appear
• Fixes a problem in which VMware Fusion would fail when processing very large icons from Windows applications
• Fixes a problem in which VMware Fusion could not create Windows applications in the dock for those with really long application names

Shared/Mirrored Folders Improvements:

• Outlook 2007 preview works with Mirrored Folders enabled
• Applications no longer crash when saving exceedingly long path and file names with mapped drives
• Saving files in shared folders with a PC using ZoneAlarm antivirus software no longer causes Windows to fail

WDDM (Windows Vista and Windows 7) Graphics Improvements:

• Windows Experience graphics scores are 20-80% better than VMware Fusion 3.0
• Greatly improved HD video playback for Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Older games (including Diablo II, Homeworld, and others) play now on Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Windows Media Player no longer stretches video
• Fuzzy text in Windows Aero is fixed
• Interactive performance on ATI video cards with Aero is greatly improved in combination with Mac OS X 10.6.2
• Windows 7 no longer boots to an incorrect resolution

General Graphics Improvements:

• Fixes fuzzy text in WPF applications
• Improved 3D performance

Linux Improvements:

• Adds support for Ubuntu 9.10 32-bit and 64-bit editions, including Easy Install and Unity view
• Fixes choppy sound problems with newest Linux guests with kernel version 2.6.30+
• Fixes Easy Install problems when double quotes were used in password
• Improves Tools support for latest 2.6.z kernels

FreeBSD Improvements:

• Prebuilt modules for FreeBSD 8.x

Mac OS X Server Improvements:

• Faster boot times for Mac OS X Server guests

Other Fixes and Improvements:

• Multicore support for Windows 7 works correctly for all editions of Windows 7. Previously it did not work for Windows Home Premium, Home Basic, and Starter editions
• Fixes a performance problem in which Spotlight would continually search the Mac for virtual machines when the Virtual Machine Library was left open, causing slow downs
• Fixes a problem in which the VMware Tools included with VMware Fusion 2.0.5 would not be updated correctly
• Fixes a problem in which it was not possible to use a CD drive on certain hardware-specific versions of Mac OS X 10.6.1. This is also fixed by upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6.2
• Fixes a problem in which the ThinPrint driver would cause printing problems in 64-bit Windows Boot Camp partitions
• Favorite virtual machine opens correctly when launching VMware Fusion 3
• Contains a fix for Link State Propagation for bridged networking that previously failed, in some cases, after installing VMware Fusion 3.0
• Fixes a problem in which you could not switch Spaces desktops away from a full-screen virtual machine if the Full Screen view title bar was hidden
• Fixes miscellaneous memory leaks in the VMware Fusion UI and during AutoProtect snapshots
• Speeds up navigation in the Virtual Machine Library when you have 10 or more virtual machines
• Removes console log spew by VMware Fusion Helper
• In the Preview window, the View mode buttons show enabled and selected state
• Fixes black flash when suspending a virtual machine in Single Window view
• Virtual Machine Library and Preview window previously had poor quality for European language users