Yosemite killed my fusion 5 - will a hotfix be made available?

[mortenjensen01]

Hi all,

It seems as if Yosemite and fusion 5 are incompatible: Re: Fusion 5: Could not open /dev/vmmon:... after Yosemite installation

My question to vmware: will a hotfix be made available? You need to respond to this. I find it unsatisfactory to be forced to upgrade for this reason alone.

Morten

[WoodyZ]

mortenjensen01 wrote: My question to vmware: will a hotfix be made available? You need to respond to this. I find it unsatisfactory to be forced to upgrade for this reason alone.

If the past is any indicator of this type of issue then no there will be no hot-fix!  Who forced you to upgrade to OS X 10.10 Yosemite anyway?

[psefadfa]

Hey Fusion 5 isn't compatible with Yosemite. You have to download the latest version of VMWare Fusion 7. VMWare Fusion 7 is compatible with Yosemite. I use it and it works fine. Download VMWare Fusion 7 at the downloads [portion deleted] and it works. Hope this helps!

Message was edited by: Darius Davis to remove references to a procedure which violates the software license.

[wila]

Hello,

The question is fairly easy to answer if you look here:

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/support/Product-Lifecycle-Matrix.pdf

VMware Fusion End Of General Support was 2014/08/23 so the product is no longer supported and thus the answer to the question is -unfortunately for you- No there is not going to be an update to make Fusion 5.x compatible with Yosemite.

You can roll back from Yosemite to Mavericks if you want to continue to use Fusion 5.x or update to a newer supported version.

If you want to test the newer version to see if it is worth your spending you can even run a 30 day test before actually committing to spending anything.

Hope this helps,

--

Wil

[GlennyG]

I know this is hardly a consolation,  but thank you for posting this and letting others know in advance that Yosimite triggers the VMWare upgrade tax.

ISTR that Lion (or was it Mountain Lion) also broke an earlier version of Fusion which VMWare profited from.

The issue with upgrading from Fusion 5 to 7 is that the full-screen mode is broken:  if you're running Fusion in full screen mode,  you cannot put any Mac windows in front,  so therefore you cannot run mail, skitch for screenshots,  other browsers,  etc.   Unity mode is not up to the job of running multiple windows on the Windows desktop.

One alternatives to paying the VMWare tax is to turn your back on them and use either VirtualBox (free) or Parallels (who are even more keen than VMWare to milk the enforced upgrade cash cow - about 8 of their 10 versions will have been chargeable).

I feel your pain.

[mortenjensen01]

So, I've just installed the trial version of Fusion 7. Then everything works.

What is it that you cannot get to work? Full screen is fine (why would I need to have a mac window in front? Full-screen-fusion works as a separate desktop I swipe back and forth from). Unity mode does also seem fine (though I never use it).

I am unable to check retina support. I am sorry to hear if vm hasn't work that one out yet, though!

So what is the verdict: Does fusion 7 not support yosemite retina in full?

Morten

[GlennyG]

> why would I need to have a mac window in front?

BBEdit, screen shots (Skitch), mac browser windows (for research), PDF preview, Omnigraffle (for design)...   Anything really.

I work as a developer and use Visual Studio in Windows (plus a few windows browsers,  a few Windows explorer windows,  local Windows editors,  DOS boxes,   etc.)  In unity this would swamp the <cmd><tab> and is just too broken in Fusion 6 (and 5, 4, etc.) to use.  Running the Fusion window "maximised" means you get all the fusion chrome tosh wasting space at the top of the page -- I need this space for the development environment.

Full screen used to work fine until Apple broke it (that utterly bone-headed Lion full screen mode - where other screens were blanked out).  Fortunately up to Fusion 4,  Fusion's Full Screen mode worked in the old way.  In Fusion 5 they half broke it,  but left Fusion working in the old way if you've multiple monitors (I nearly always connect a separate monitor on this MacBook Pro in all the offices I work in).  Fusion 6 broke full screen mode by using the broken Apple modal method -- no other screens on top are allowed.

From what I understand,  Fusion 7 is broken in full screen (it's the same as Fusion 6),  so I cannot upgrade.

YMMV,  but as I see it,  full screen mode is fine if you're running a modal-style application.  I need to run Windows in a non-modal way so that I can use the Mac for my day-to-day stuff and Windows for development.  I am certain I'm not alone in working like this.

So,  my choices:

- Upgrade and put up with a broken user experience

- Move from Fusion to Parallels or VirtualBox.  What a complete pain that would be,  plus I cannot use my VMs in the DOS world

- Don't upgrade to the later versions of VMWare

[JorisVM]

I find it ridiculous that Fusion 5 is no longer supported for a small change OS X (10.9 to 10.10). I've paid for the licence Fusion 5 on my mac and expect it to be supported by VMWare for the functionality that i've paid it for.

I don't think it's smart of VMWare to let it's customers down like this considering that there are alternatives (free) like VirtualBox that perform more or less the same as Fusion...

Joris

[wila]

Hello Joris,

You are probably going to disagree, but ...

JorisVM wrote:

I find it ridiculous that Fusion 5 is no longer supported for a small change OS X (10.9 to 10.10). I've paid for the licence Fusion 5 on my mac and expect it to be supported by VMWare for the functionality that i've paid it for.

It still works for the functionality that you paid for if you use a supported host operating system.

What you just see as a number change 10.9 to 10.10 is a lot of under the hood changes.

VMware Fusion 5.x was supported until OS X 10.8 (see also http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2005196 )

The changes that make Fusion 5.x stop working have been made by apple, not by VMware.

As VMware Fusion is not made for free (they have employees and stock holders to pay) they charge for the products and I am not surprised that VMware wants you to use the latest version as that lowers their costs.

If it is any consolation, there's a reduction in cost when upgrading from VMware Fusion 5.

Hope this helps,

--

Wil

[shanebickley]

re-install Yosemite it worked for me

[sdsmpie]

Funny reading someone stating that there is a reduction in price when upgrading hahahah..

Buddy i have used this so called upgrade reduction a couple of times for the pro version..and now i'm using fusion 6 and i'm fed up

With the constant upgrade for €70 that's $90 for the pro version i buy..:smileyangry:

and i just use it because i'm lazy mind you.

As a student and future Linux admin (coming from different os AIX) i could also dual boot in to KVM Centos7 and run free Enterprise Grade Virtualisation.

But i want to use fusion for now..

And that's not only convenient for me at the moment , but also reflects well on Vmware as they get to come with me all over the place.

The first thing people see when i start up my rig is VMware.. But he if they keep following Apple with there upgrade's each year!

Than i'm out ..To bad to i switched from Parallels just because they where doing the same thing..

So i guess it's virtualBox or KVM for me if thins don't change.. Goog luck to the shareholders ,,hmmm i don't like my favourite brands / software companies

having to do with those pesky shareholders..Everything becomes about $$ and not about creating fun and great software..

With regards S.

[jolanthe]

I have to say this is really frustrating. Essentially, we have to pay another $50 (not sure where the discount for current users is in that??) to upgrade our VMFusion, but at what point will that be considered out of date again? I've only been using my VMFusion 5 for about a year and a half, which hardly seems worth it to invest again in an upgrade only to have the same possibility in another year and a half. I'm thinking it would be wiser for me to put my money into a product that will provide updates as needed.

In essence, being 'locked out' of the current program is like twisting my arm. I can't access any of the programs that I have on my VMFusion side and didn't receive any notification from the company that this would even be an issue. That would have been nice to know. Bad form, VMFusion.

Sorry to say, but the product that I've been recommending highly to all of my friends will now be highly unrecommended to others. I've never experienced issues with ANY other computer programs not working or requiring major updates and cost within such a short time of purchasing. Ridiculous.

[wila]

Hello sdsmpie,

I will stop replying about the upgrade issues to this particular topic as I am actually trying to help and explain on what/why.

Somehow it seems that my replies end up upsetting other people bumping into this discussion or people reading more into it as what I am trying to say.

For clarity:

Note that I am not an employee from VMware and that I am certainly not a spokesperson for VMware,

The relationship between VMware and myself is that I am a user of VMware products.

I like their products and try to help out at the forum with users bumping into issues, so much so that I have volunteered on helping out as a moderator at this forum.

While I understand - and try to explain - that VMware has a certain price and product policy I do not always agree with that, nor do I have to as it is their product not mine.

Everybody is welcome to vote with their wallet and you are certainly welcome to complain.

--

Wil

[ColoradoMarmot]

It's not a small upgrade - there were major changes in the way Apple implements certain features, including the installer itself!  Fusion 6 does work, but isn't supported - you're asking them to go back *two* versions?  That's unrealistic, unless maybe you want to pay workstation level prices for the package.  Virtualization software is very sensitive to OS changes (be glad you didn't use third-party whole disk encryption...that has a nasty habit of bricking machines if you upgrade before confirming compatibility).    Adobe and Microsoft products also fall off OS version support periodically.  Antivirus software regularly dies with OS versions too. 

Parallels requires the same frequency of upgrades as Fusion.  While you can use a free program (which you'll also have to upgrade, btw) if you want, it simply doesn't work as well as the two commercial offerings.

[sdsmpie]

With all due respect  the statement that only the commercial products work is a load of bollocks :smileyplain:

I mean come on! Are you really saying that open source is bad because it's non  commercial? hahahha

For one thing VirtualBox is part of a commercial company so the subject is mute on that front.

And second kvm adopted by RedHat is Enterprise grade virtualisation that is commercial mind you !

But because that software has it's origins in openSource it can be used for FREE !

So to recap. There are manny free alternatives for savvy people But the question is are you willing to put all the effort and energy

in something new? Or just stick with what you had be four.

I do understand there are sum scenarios were the usage of Fusion is better suited but in my case it's just a matter of convenience.

But he to each his/her own..

My wallet speaks to me ,,,and what ever makes you folks happy go for it..

[GlennyG]

> you're asking them to go back *two* versions?

The problem is that Fusion 6 has always been broken.  It doesn't handle full screen properly and so is unusable -- I got a refund from VMWare because of this.

It is my understanding that the minor but paid-for upgrade to Fusion 7 also has modal full-screen so is broken just like Fusion 6,  therefore it too is also unusable.

My definition of an "Upgrade" is where one gets new features.  My definition of a downgrade is where existing features break in later versions.  Fusion 7 has a couple of incremental updates which would be necessary in any case:  better power usage (due to not requiring the full-fat graphics card) and handling of retina displays.  Aside from that they've just updated their marketing material.

Personally,  I'm sick of being treated like a cash cow and being milked for feature-free marketing "upgrades".

[EamesEra]

I'm dealing with the exact same issue. I've only had VMFusion 5 for a year and half also. I contacted customer support and they just feed me a generic script and pushed for the $50 update. Extremely frustrating and disappointing. If the update was only like $25 it would be more reasonable. Most products have a life cycle of at least 2 years, this is the only program I have ever had an issue with. We shouldn't be forced into an expensive upgrade with a product purchased less than 2 years ago.

[WoodyZ]

EamesEra wrote: We shouldn't be forced into an expensive upgrade with a product purchased less than 2 years ago.

Did VMware force you to upgrade to OS X 10.10 Yosemite? NO! So stop complaining!

[GlennyG]

OK,  so can VMWare please give me a $10 version 'cos I'm only ever gonna use it 'til next year's PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE.  Sorry,  that'll be 11 months time judging by previous versions...

Yo,  VMWare,  go milk that cash cow.  Moo.

[GlennyG]

Or,  conversely,  VMWare stopped me upgrading my Mac.