VMware today announced VMware Fusion 5, which adds 70 new features, and is optimised for Mountain Lion and Windows 8. VMware is also introducing VMware Fusion 5 Professional with new capabilities designed to dramatically improve the way businesses deliver applications to users on Macs and PCs.

“While the number of users adopting Macs continue to rise, the business environment is still dominated by Windows,” said Jason Joel, director, personal products, VMware. “VMware Fusion 5 and Fusion 5 Professional build upon our award-winning platform, adding new capabilities that are in demand among both individual and professional users. Leveraging our experience with consumer and enterprise end-users, we believe this new version of the product is the best solution on the market for users who want to run Windows on Mac simultaneously.”

VMware Fusion 5
The VMware Fusion 5 continues the ease of use and strong performance of previous versions. VMware Fusion 5 has been revamped to take advantage of new technologies only available in Mountain Lion, Windows 8 and the latest Macs.

New features include:

• Designed for Mountain Lion – Run Windows on Mountain Lion and search Windows programs in Launchpad, use “AirPlay Mirroring” to stream Mac and Windows applications on an HDTV and get VMware Fusion notifications in Mountain Lion’s notification center.
• Windows 8 Optimization –VMware Fusion 5 supports Windows 8 standard, pro and enterprise editions so consumers can optimize the new Windows 8 “Metro” environment directly on a Mac. (yes, “Metro” is not used anymore. Who cares.)
• Enhanced Mac Support – Support for the latest Mac technologies include compatibility with Mountain Lion, retina display optimization, USB 3 connectivity, and improved support for large memory Macs.
• Next Generation Performance –Performance enhancements include up to 40% faster general performance speeds compared to the previous version of the product, improved power management for longer battery life and faster 3D graphics.
• Additional Functionalities – New, powerful ways to experience Windows on a Mac are available through an updated virtual machine library that enables seamless transitions between multiple operating systems, one click snapshots with improved graphical appearance, a brand new graphics driver for Linux 3D desktops, and a new embedded learning center for immediate support.

But here we arrive at our first gripe. Every year a new version of VMWare Fusion is released, and this time round the price is again $50. That means this time round, Windows 8 will actually cost less than the virtualization software for Mac. Yes, VMWare Fusion is a lot more useful than only Windows virtual machines, but the high cost, and terrible upgrade pricing does not make it such an compelling upgrade for existing Fusion users.

I will be sticking to version 4 – so far it has been running perfectly on Mountain Lion, and Windows 8 has great performance in the VM.