VMware has announced general availability of its VMware Fusion desktop virtualization software for the Intel-based Mac. It lets Mac users simultaneously run Mac OS X, Windows and other Linux distributions on a single Mac system. The software has been available in Beta since December of 2006, and VMware says that there have already been more than 250,000 downloads of the product. The product is based on VMware's VMware has announced general availability of its VMware Fusion desktop virtualization software for the Intel-based Mac. It lets Mac users simultaneously run Mac OS X, Windows and other Linux distributions on a single Mac system. The software has been available in Beta since December of 2006, and VMware says that there have already been more than 250,000 downloads of the product.The product is based on VMware’s market-leading desktop virtualization platform, so it has nearly a decade of desktop virtualization leadership and expertise behind it. The software allows Mac users to take advantage of their hardware’s full potential by running both 32- and 64-bit operating systems, leveraging two processor cores at the same time and using a wide variety of USB 2.0 devices. VMware Fusion is also the only Mac virtualization software available today to provide full support for more than 60 operating systems and complete power management capabilities to safeguard virtual machines when laptops are running out of battery. Dan Chu, vice president of emerging products and markets at VMware, said that VMware Fusion was designed for Mac enthusiasts looking for a seamless way to run Windows applications on the Mac. And it appears as though they have succeeded.During his recent morning address, Steve Jobs remarked that the market share of the Mac is rising three times faster than the rest of the PC industry. And Apple also just announced a new line of iMacs. This could easily translate into a much larger Mac audience in need of desktop virtualization software.VMware Fusion is now available online at vmware.com/mac, the Apple Store (apple.com), Amazon.com, Buy.com, Fry’s (frys.com), Microcenter (microcenter.com) and CompUSA (compusa.com) for a suggested retail price of $79.99. Unfortunately for Parallels, VMware’s software is also expected to hit Apple’s retail store shelves in addition to other authorized retailers worldwide. Software Development