Sometimes before deployment, I need to test my AI apps on an Ubuntu server. I like coding on my MacBook M1 Pro and have tried some compatible VM software.
Of course, Parallels is the best. There are no complaints, it works perfectly. But I don’t want to pay a subscription for software which I only use a couple of times a year.
I read about Oracle VirtualBox and even downloaded it, but the current version didn’t support the M1 core.
Then I found the following on the WMvare site:
Fusion Player offers a Personal Use License, available for free with a valid CustomerConnect account. Home users, Open Source contributors, students, and anyone else can use Fusion Player Free for Non-Commercial activity.
I registered on the site, downloaded Fusion Player 13 free version, and tried it. The first time I faced trouble with the Ubuntu image, which I downloaded from the official site, but a solution was found – a patched Ubuntu image installed with no errors.
Despite being a free version, there are no restrictions even for core or memory settings.
I’m very pleased with VMware Fusion Player. It’s performing as expected and even better.