VMware just launched Fusion 5 for the Mac, the latest release of one of its most popular consumer products.  It includes several tweaks, and for the first time, a set of ‘pro’ features for business users that want to run Windows on their Macintosh.

Fusion 5 ships with full support for Mountain Lion and all of the upcoming Windows 8 editions, as well as the (formerly known as) Metro interface. The software now lets you fire up Windows programs in Launchpad, and includes AirPlay support so multimedia can be streamed to an HDTV from the Windows VM.

VMware also touts 40 percent faster general performance and improved 3D graphics, as well as increase power efficiency. The company added a number of other optimizations for Mac technologies including retina display optimization and USB 3.0 compatibility.

“While the number of users adopting Macs continue to rise, the business environment is still dominated by Windows,” said Jason Joel, director, personal products, VMware. “VMware Fusion 5 and Fusion 5 Professional build upon our award-winning platform, adding new capabilities that are in demand among both individual and professional users. Leveraging our experience with consumer and enterprise end-users, we believe this new version of the product is the best solution on the market for users who want to run Windows on Mac simultaneously.”

Fusion 5 Professional comes with yet another set of improvements. This edition, which was not available for previous versions, including the ability to create restricted virtual machines and integration with VMware Fusion 5 Professional and VMware Player 5 (both of which are included in the license.) The former feature lets IT departments better provisioning apps and enforce restrictions to prevent data leakage.

VMware is busy maintaining a steady flow of product updates now that VMworld 2012 is just a few days away.