VMware Fusion 4.1 is a free, minor upgrade recommended for all users of VMware Fusion 4. This release includes the following new features and improvements.

Smart Full Screen

Full screen mode provides better productivity and consistency with Mac OS X Lion than previous versions.

 

• The Lion full-screen button is used in virtual machine windows.
• The Lion full-screen keyboard shortcut (Cmd-Control-F) is now supported in addition to Cmd-Control-Return.
• Like other full screen Lion applications, a VMware Fusion virtual machine moves to a new full screen space when using a single display.
• If you are using multiple displays, VMware Fusion intelligently decides whether to use a full screen space or not. If the virtual machine is configured to use all displays in full screen, it moves to a full screen space. If not, full screen takes the whole display in the current space, which enables you to work in other Mac applications while the virtual machine makes full use of the secondary display.
• The VMware Fusion menu bar and toolbar are now accessible from Full Screen mode. A short delay in showing the menu allows access the top of the virtual machine screen, particularly when running Mac OS X Lion in a virtual machine.
• A redesigned, compact minibar that you can drag for quick access to common actions without leaving Full Screen mode.

Automatic virtual machine power on

Virtual machines can now be powered on automatically when VMware Fusion starts. You can override this setting by holding Shift when VMware Fusion starts. This feature was removed in VMware Fusion 4 but is now available in VMware Fusion 4.1 in the General settings for every virtual machine.

 

Improved animations

Improved animations for full screen mode, unity mode, library and snapshots.

 

Fast screen resizing and improved startup time

Faster screen resizing (Microsoft Hotfix 2522761 recommended), faster transitions into Unity and Full Screen modes, and improved startup time with Windows 7 virtual machines.