VMware's free Fusion upgrade fixes bugs and adds user-requested enhancements such as a Parallels virtual machine import tool. VMware just announced a maintenance release for its VMware Fusion virtualization software, Version 2.0.2. This is an update to its desktop virtualization software for the Intel-based Mac. And good news: The upgrade is free for all VMware Fusion 1.x and 2.x registered users.VMware Fusion provides a virtualization platform for Intel-based Macs to run other operating systems and their applications within a virtual machine environment. It allows you to run Windows and Linux alongside your Mac operating system so that you don’t have to reboot like you do with Apple’s Boot Camp. A huge time saver.Version 2.0.2 includes a range of enhancements that include updated host and guest operating system support, new security features, and new virtual machine-importing capabilities. The latest Fusion adds support for Mac OS X 10.5.6 as a host operating system and Ubuntu 8.10 as a guest operating system, and adds experimental support for Mac OS X Server 10.5.6 as a guest operating system. And it allows importing Windows virtual machines from both Parallels Desktop 4.0 and Parallels Server for Mac.Peter Kazanjy, product marketing for VMware Fusion, said, “With respect to Parallels importation, we’ve had importation support for Parallels 3 virtual machines since VMware Fusion 2 Beta 1, and people have loved it.”He added that VMware has noticed a huge momentum in people recognizing that Fusion is the preferred way to run Windows on the Mac. As an example, he points to Fusion taking the market share crown in 2008, and said it has a strong lead in 2009, according to NPD data. “Providing tools in the product to ease the transition has helped users who have come to the conclusion that it’s time to move over to a more stable, mature product,” said Kazanjy. “In fact, we’ve been pairing this with the $30 mail-in rebate for Parallels owners with great success, lowering the cost of moving to Fusion to around the price of upgrading from Parallels 3 to 4.”VMware said that users have been asking for help with converting and importing Parallels 4 virtual machines over to Fusion, and while they could do so by installing VMware Converter inside the VM, it didn’t prove to be as smooth a user experience as VMware would have liked. So, they decided to make the conversion experience more Mac-like and easier with just a few simple clicks with this edition of the product. And at the same time, Xserve administrators will be happy to know that Parallels Server virtual machines can also be converted over with this new update.Fusion 2.0.2 ships with a 12-month complimentary subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009 antivirus software. Kazanjy said that VMware originally launched VMware Fusion 2 with McAfee back in September, and added that they were the first to embed a full year of antivirus coverage. Other new features include:Supports mounting unencrypted .dmg file format as a CD/DVD disk image, in addition to .iso file format. Provides performance improvements when browsing mirrored folders and shared folders in Windows virtual machines. Supports display of Windows applications in Unity view as 48 pixel x 48 pixel icons. Resolves issues with “Optimize for Mac OS application performance” preference option for Mac OS X 10.5.5 and later. Contains bug fixes described in Resolved Issues.Further information about Fusion 2.0.2 and a download link can be found on VMware’s Web site. Software Development