Create virtual servers to run various operating systems in a safe environment for testing, updating, developing code and other modifications. The suite supports desktop virtualization, tablet transfer and virtual networking and network condition simulation.
VMware is the leading product in desktop virtualization. It acts as a virtual computer, in which you can install any operating system of your choice. Apart from testing a new OS before installing it into the actual PC, you can use this program to do any work that you think may damage your actual system, like hacking, trying out viruses, etc.
One of its most notable features is the drag and drop functionality, which allows you to copy files directly from the virtual OS to the host OS or vice versa. But while files are being copied, you can't use your PC at all.
In addition, to get this feature you should install the VMware tools program into your computer. This set of tools helps you better integrate the VMware client into the host OS. You can also create a virtual network with some virtual clients and the host. NAT, bridged connection, etc. can be easily set up too.
VMware Workstation 7.0 includes a lot more features than the previous versions. In this version the networking functionality and the support for new operating systems have been greatly improved .
Additionally, VMware Player is included in this package. This add-on is very useful, if you want to run multiple operating systems at the same time on your computer such as Windows 7, Chrome OS or the latest Linux. The player also can run an older version of your OS.
One of the newest features included in the player is the "unity mode", which allows to run some virtual applications from the task bar of the host OS. This mode is somewhat slow, but it doesn't cause any problems with any operating system, except for Linux. If you enable "Show position of pointer when the Control key is pressed" option in System > Preferences > Mouse in this OS, the mode might not work correctly.
I really like the VMware Workstation program. It is a suitable tool not only for the professional programmers, but also for every user who is fun of searching for a lot of programs on the net and testing them out.
v15.0.4.45173 [Sep 25, 2018]
What's New
- New Guest operating systems support.
Windows 10 1803
Ubuntu 18.04
Fedora 28
RHEL 7.5
CentOS 7.5
Debian 9.5
OpenSuse Leap 15.0
FreeBSD 11.2
ESXi 6.7
- DirectX 10.1.
- DirectX 10.1 is an incremental update over DirectX 10.0. It provides higher visual quality through the support of multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA). DirectX 10.1 also supports Shader Model 4.1 and Cubemap Array.
- Hardware version 16.
DirectX 10.1 support.
Graphics memory up to 3GB.
- REST API
- You can use Workstation RESTful API to automate common virtual machine tasks using standard JSON over HTTP or HTTPS. The following virtual machine operations are supported:
Virtual machine inventory management.
Virtual machine power management.
Virtual machine clone.
Networking management.
- High DPI support.
- High DPI related features require that the operating system of the host and virtual machine be Windows 10 version 1703 or later.
Host level high DPI support - The Workstation interface auto detects the host level DPI change and auto adjusts the layout to meet the new DPI.
Guest DPI synch with host - When there is a DPI change on the host side, the guest operating system adjusts its DPI to match the host DPI.
VMware Tools 10.3.2 is required for this feature.
- Hosts and Clusters view when you connect to vCenter.
- Workstation 15 Pro adds a new Hosts and Clusters view when you connect to remote vSphere. The inventory tree now shows a hierarchical arrangement of objects in two different views: Hosts and Clusters and VMs. You can easily toggle between these two views with a single click.
- This is a Windows host only feature.
- vSphere 6.7 support.
- Workstation 15 Pro provides seamless support for vSphere 6.7. You can connect to a remote ESXi 6.7 host or vCenter Server 6.7 from Workstation 15 Pro to manage the remote the virtual machines running on vSphere. You can also upload a local virtual machine to vSphere 6.7 or download a remote virtual machine running on vSphere 6.7 to the local desktop.
- You can also deploy a VMware VCSA 6.7 (vCenter Server Appliance) OVA package to run on Workstation 15 Pro.
- USB Auto connect to virtual machine.
- USB devices can automatically connect to a powered on virtual machine when you configure Workstation 15 Pro to remember the connection rule.
- This is a Windows host only feature.
- SSH login to Linux virtual machine.
- You can now access Linux virtual machines using SSH provided by Workstation 15 Pro.
- This feature requires that the operating system of the host be Windows 10 version 1803 or later.
- Enhanced User Experience.
Stretch guest display.
The stretch guest display feature is enabled for Linux guests and Windows guests earlier than Windows XP. You can use the Keep Aspect Ratio Stretch feature to stretch the virtual machine display while maintaining the user interface aspect ratio or you can use the Free Stretch feature to stretch the virtual machine display to fill the user interface.
This is a Windows host only feature.
Open virtual machine directory.
You can now easily access the virtual machine directory from a Windows host by right-clicking the virtual machine in the Workstation Pro library and selecting Open VM directory.
Linux Workstation Pro already supports this feature.
- Linux host Wayland support.
- Workstation 15 Pro can now run on a Linux host Wayland desktop. To install Workstation Pro on a Wayland desktop, you must use terminal mode installation.
- Performance improvements for virtual NVMe storage.
Resolved Issues
- Virtual machines that directly use a physical disk might display a black screen.
- When a virtual machine directly uses a physical disk, after you power on the virtual machine, the virtual machine might display a black screen.
- Virtual machine might crash and display an error when powered on if the parallel port is mapped to a physical parallel port
- When a virtual machine is using parallel port and the parallel port is mapped to host OS physical parallel port, after you power on the virtual machine, the virtual machine might crash with following error: VMware Workstation unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0)
- USB devices connected to a DELL Thunderbolt USB dock might not be able to connect to a virtual machine
- When you connect a USB device to a USB dock, such as DELL Thunderbolt, the USB device might not be able to connect to the virtual machine.
- USB devices connected to some 3.1 xHCI controllers are not available for passthrough on Windows hosts
- On Windows hosts, USB devices connected to some USB 3.1 controllers are not listed when you select VM > Removable Devices. Therefore, the device cannot pass through to the virtual machine.
- The Workstation Pro interface might crash when you use the Zoom utility on a Linux host
- For some Linux hosts, for example Ubuntu 18.04, when you use the Zoom utility, the Workstation Pro interface might crash.
