VMware Workstation Player

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VMware Workstation Player
64px
VMware Player 6.0.3 logo
Ubuntu 14.04 on VMware Player.png
VMware Player running Ubuntu 14.04 beta on Ubuntu 12.10
Developer(s) VMware
Stable release 12.0.0[1] / 24 August 2015; 9 years ago (2015-08-24)
Operating system Windows, Linux
Type Hypervisor
License Freemium[2]
Website vmware.com/products/player/

VMware Workstation Player, formerly VMware Player, is a virtualization software package for x64 computers running Microsoft Windows or Linux, supplied free of charge by VMware, Inc.,[3] a company which was formerly a division of, and whose majority shareholder remains EMC Corporation. VMware Player can run existing virtual appliances and create its own virtual machines (which require an operating system to be installed to be functional). It uses the same virtualization core as VMware Workstation, a similar program with more features, but not free of charge. VMware Player is available for personal non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement.[4] VMware, Inc. does not formally support Player, but there is an active community website for discussing and resolving issues,[5] and a knowledge base.[6]

The free VMware Player was distinct from VMware Workstation until Player v7, Workstation v11. In 2015 the two packages were combined as VMware Workstation 12, with a free for non-commercial use Player version which, on purchase of a license code, became the higher-specification VMware Workstation Pro.[7][8]

Features

VMware claimed in 2011 that the Player offered better graphics, faster performance, and tighter integration for running Windows XP under Windows Vista or Windows 7 than Microsoft's Windows XP Mode running on Windows Virtual PC, which is free of charge for all purposes.[3]

Versions earlier than 3 of VMware Player were unable to create virtual machines (VMs), which had to be created by an application with the capability, or created manually by statements stored in a text file with extension ".vmx"; later versions can create VMs. The features of Workstation not available in Player are "developer-centric features such as Teams, multiple Snapshots and Clones, and Virtual Rights Management features for end-point security",[9] and support by VMware. Player allows a complete virtual machine to be copied at any time by copying a directory; while not a fully featured snapshot facility, this allows a copy of a machine in a particular state to be stored, and reverted to later if desired. By default changes (including proxy settings, passwords, bookmarks, installed software and malware) made in a VM are saved when it is shut down, but the .vmx configuration file can easily be edited to autorevert on shutdown, so that all changes are discarded.[10]

VMware Player is also supplied with the VMware Workstation distribution, for use in installations where not all client users are licensed to use the full VMware Workstation. In an environment where some machines without VMware Workstation licences run VMware Player, a virtual machine created by Workstation can be distributed to computers running Player without paying for additional Workstation licenses if not used commercially.[11]

Version history

Major Version Release Date Significant Changes
1.0 6 June 2008 first released. x86 supported
2.0 28 August 2008
2.5 6 October 2008
3.0 27 October 2009[12]
  • GUI: Added GUI wizard for creating a new virtual machine and editing virtual machine settings[12]
  • Support for Windows 7
  • Multiple-Monitor Display
  • Drag and Drop Enhancements
  • Virtual Printing
3.1 25 May 2010
4.0 4 October 2011[13]
  • Starting with this version, an x64 (64-bit) CPU was required[13]
  • The host operating system did not need to be 64-bit
  • A 64-bit guest required a host CPU with Intel VT-x or AMD-V
  • Installation changes and enhanced keyboards
  • Virtual hardware improvements
  • Windows 8 support with 4.0.5
  • Documentation changes
5.0 22 August 2012
  • Windows 8 support
  • New User Interface
  • OpenGL 2.1 for Linux Virtual Machines
  • SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Support for Windows 8
  • Ability to run Restricted Virtual Machines
  • Commercial license included with Fusion 5 Professional
6.0 3 September 2013[14]
  • Support for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Support for up to 16 vCPUs (up from 4)
  • Support for up to 8 TB disks (up from 2TB)
  • USB Improvements (implemented USB 3 Streams)
  • SSD Pass-through (optimized when running off SSD)
  • Virtual Machines that expire at creator-specified time
7.0 1 December 2014[15]
  • Support for 32-bit host operating system was discontinued[16]
  • Support for Windows 8.1 Update
  • Support for Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Support for Windows 10 Technical Preview (Experimental support)
  • Support for Ubuntu 14.10
  • Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Support for CentOS 7
  • Support for OpenSUSE 13.2
  • Support for SUSE Linux Enterprise 12
  • VMware Hardware Version 11
  • Allocate up to 2GB video memory to a virtual machine
12† 24 August 2015[17]
  • †VMware Player proper discontinued after v7; VMware Workstation Player 12 released
  • Support for Windows 10
  • Support for Ubuntu 15.04
  • Support for Fedora 22
  • Support for CentOS 7.1
  • Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.1
  • Support for Oracle Linux 7.1
  • Support for OpenSUSE 13.2
  • Support for VMware Project Photon
  • Performance improvements for suspending and resuming encrypted virtual machines
  • Support for 4K monitors with high resolution UI

Resources

Screenshot showing Android 2.3.7 running on VMware Player 6.0

Many ready-made virtual machines (VMs) which run on VMware Player, Workstation, and other virtualization software are available[18][19][20][21] for specific purposes, either for purchase or free of charge. For example, a free Linux-based “browser appliance” with the Firefox browser installed[22] is available that can be used for safe Web browsing; if infected or damaged, it can be discarded and replaced by a clean copy. VMs can be configured to reset after each use without the need to recreate from the original file. Suppliers of operating systems with commercial licences usually require installations to be licensed; VMs with such operating systems installed cannot be distributed without restriction. Ready-to-use VMs with Microsoft or Apple operating systems installed, in particular, are not distributed, except for evaluation versions.

VMware Player supports free-of-charge VMware Tools, which add significant functionality. Versions of Player for different platforms have their own Tools, not necessarily compatible with other versions. Sometimes Tools are updated belatedly; for example, Player 4.0.2 was released on 24 January 2012, but the corresponding version of Tools was not available for some time after that, restricting functionality of updated Player installations.[5]

Virtual machines created by any VMware software can be used by any other. It is often possible to use VMs created by one manufacturer's virtual machine software with software from another manufacturer, either directly or via a conversion procedure. VMs that run on Microsoft Virtual Server and Virtual PC can be converted for use by VMware software by the VMware vCenter Converter. This software can also create a virtual machine from a physical PC.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Archived version; the page as of 2016 is about VMware Workstation Player
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 VMware Community website: VMware Player 4.0.2 Tools - Bad Support
  6. ↑ VMware Knowledge Base
  7. ↑ VMware Workstation Player download page. "VMware Workstation Player (FREE & PAID). Enter a license key into the VMware Workstation Player user interface to license for commercial use and to enable the VMware Workstation Player (PAID) features."
  8. ↑ VMware Web site, VMware Workstation Player Pro
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Browser Appliance: Set up "autoRevert on shutdown" section
  11. ↑ http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 https://www.vmware.com/support/player30/doc/releasenotes_player3.html
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 https://www.vmware.com/support/player40/doc/releasenotes_player40.html
  14. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/support/player60/doc/player-60-release-notes.html
  15. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/support/player/doc/player-70-release-notes.html
  16. ↑ Player 7 download page, with 64-bit versions only
  17. ↑ http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12player/player-12-release-notes.html
  18. ↑ Directory of VMs on VMware website with 1539 entries as of 7 January 2011
  19. ↑ VMplanet VMware images of various free operating systems
  20. ↑ Bagside VMware images of various free operating systems
  21. ↑ Thoughtpolice VMware images for Linux
  22. ↑ VMware Browser Appliance page
  23. ↑ VMware vCenter Converter web page

External links

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