VMware Inc. is pricing its upcoming new software to run Windows on a Mac similar to rival Parallels Inc."s software announced last week. VMware said that its Fusion software for Macintosh computers can be pre-ordered beginning Tuesday for US$39.99, and $79.99 when it becomes generally available near the end of August. Parallels Inc. priced its Parallels Desktop version 3.0 at $79.99 when it became generally available Thursday, and $39.99 for users upgrading from a previous version of Parallels.
Both make it possible for Mac users to run the Windows OS from Microsoft Corp. alongside the Apple Inc. Mac OS X operating system. It is for people who use a Mac but also want to use software applications written only for Windows. VMware released Fusion Beta 4 for Macs on Thursday. Besides running Windows OSes, Fusion also runs Linux and Solaris-based applications without having to reboot the computer to switch from the Mac OS to another OS. VMware says one key feature of Fusion, called Unity, allows for seamless transition from Mac to Windows applications. Icons for Windows applications will be displayed along with those of Mac applications in the dock at the bottom of the computer screen.