VMware has released VMware Fusion 3.1.3, a fairly major maintenance update to the virtualization software for Mac OS X. The update fixes over 40 bugs and improves support for virtual machines running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 32-bit and 64-bit. It also improves the reliability of accessing shared files on the Mac host, and updates the Windows WDDM video driver for improved stability. Version 3.1.3 also improves handling of smartphones in Windows and adds support for Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04 32-bit and 64-bit Linux.

The update fixes a number of bugs fixed in Windows guest OS's, including slow page loading in Internet Explorer 8, problems opening Outlook 2010 attachments, and problems waking from Windows 7 screen saver mode. Windows 7 will no longer crash when DisplayLink drivers are installed in a Windows 7 virtual machine.

Fusion 3.1.3 also fixes problems with Mac OS X Server 10.6.x guest OS's. Problems with IDE hard disks and CD/DVD drives have been fixed, where the guest is updated to 10.6.5 or newer. (If the boot volume is on an IDE hard disk, the updated guest would fail to boot.)

The update also changes the way Mac OS X Server virtual machines files work, which enables you to copy Mac OS X Server virtual machines. VMware describes the change:

Previously, when you created a Mac OS X Server virtual machine in Fusion, the virtual machine configuration (.vmx) file contained an absolute path to the virtual machine disk (.vmdk) file. This setting prevented you from copying the virtual machine because the copy pointed to the .vmdk file for the original virtual machine. Now, the .vmx file contains a relative path to the .vmdk file and you can copy Mac OS X virtual machines.

The 3.1.3 update is a large download that takes a little time to download. In addition to including the VMware Fusion Core, version 3.1.3 updates the VMware Tools software for several types of guest OS's. The 3.1.3 update is available through VMware Fusion's Check for Updates command in the VMware Fusion menu in version 3 and later.