VMware Workstation Pro

About this release

Workstation runs whole operating systems inside windows on your desktop. That sounds simple and the value is enormous. Test something dangerous in a machine you can throw away. Keep an old operating system alive for one piece of software that will not run anywhere else. Develop against three different environments without owning three computers. Build a small network of machines that talk to each other and to nothing else.

Snapshots are the feature that changes how you work. Take one before you do anything questionable, and if it goes wrong you are back to the previous state in seconds rather than reinstalling. Snapshots form a tree rather than a line, so you can branch, try two approaches from the same starting point, and keep both. Linked clones share the base disk, which means ten copies of a template machine take up barely more space than one.

The virtual hardware is complete enough for real work. Multiple processors and cores per machine, large memory allocation, virtual disks that can grow on demand or be preallocated, USB device passthrough including three point two devices, graphics acceleration with support for hardware accelerated interfaces inside the guest, shared folders, drag and drop between host and guest, and a clipboard that works in both directions.

Networking is where the Pro tier earns its name. The virtual network editor lets you build isolated segments, host only networks, bridged connections onto real hardware and custom subnets with their own address ranges, then place machines onto whichever segment you want. Add packet loss and latency simulation per adapter, nested virtualisation so a hypervisor can run inside a machine, and encryption with a per machine restriction policy, and it becomes a lab rather than a toy.

What you get

• Multiple guest operating systems running simultaneously in windows or full screen
• Snapshot tree with branching, so several states from one starting point can be kept
• Linked and full cloning, with linked clones sharing the base disk to save space
• Virtual network editor for isolated, host only, bridged and custom subnet segments
• Network condition simulation with configurable packet loss and latency per adapter
• USB passthrough including high speed devices, plus shared folders and bidirectional clipboard
• Graphics acceleration with hardware accelerated interfaces available inside the guest
• Nested virtualisation so a hypervisor can run inside a virtual machine
• Machine encryption with per machine restriction policies
• Remote connection to an existing hypervisor host from the same interface

Changes in this build

• Guest graphics acceleration updated with better performance on current generation hardware
• Newer guest operating systems added to the supported list with matching tools packages
• Snapshot operations faster on machines with very large virtual disks
• Virtual network editor reorganised with clearer segment management
• Fixed a case where a suspended machine could fail to resume after a host driver update

Installation

Read the whole list before you start. Most of the reports that come into the desk about this title turn out to be a step taken out of order.

1. Extract the archive to a local folder.
2. Turn on virtualisation support in your machine firmware if it is not already enabled.
3. Uninstall any earlier version first.
4. Run the installer as administrator and accept the network driver prompts.
5. Do not launch from the installer. Close it and apply the licensing details from the included text file on first run.
6. Reboot, then create your first machine and install the guest tools package inside it.

System requirements

Processor	64 bit with hardware virtualisation support enabled in firmware
Memory	8 GB minimum, 16 GB or more since guests need their own allocation
Graphics	Any DirectX 11 capable adapter, more VRAM helps accelerated guests
Storage	2 GB for the application plus a great deal for virtual disks
Display	1920 by 1080 or higher

Notes from the desk

Full details

Title	VMware Workstation Pro
Developer	VMware
Version	17.6.2
Category	Utilities & Tools
Release type	Pro (full)
Operating system	Windows 11, Windows 10 (64 bit)
Architecture	x64
Interface language	Multilingual
Archive size	612 MB
File name	vmware_workstation_pro_17.6.2_x64_full.rar
Shelf updated	5 days ago
Total downloads	298,219

Filed under