virtualization.info

It's finally out. One of the most expected virtualization release, Workstation 5.5 (build 18463) brings in a lot of new features and improvements:

• Full support for 64-bit guest operating systems and improved support for 64-bit host operating systems enable users to work in a broader range of environments
• Experimental support for two-way Virtual Symmetric Multiprocessing (Virtual SMP) enables multiprocessor virtual machines
• VMware Player gives you greater flexibility in distributing virtual machines
• Improved support for 32-bit host and guest operating systems
• Workstation emulates a new Ethernet adapter type for 64-bit guests
• Workstation 5.5 driver certification updates
• Improved import capability lets you open and import Microsoft Virtual PC and Virtual Server virtual machines, as well as Symantec LiveState Recovery system images, directly into Workstation
• On Windows hosts, enhancements to the user interface let you customize Workstation toolbars to suit your workstyle
• Enhanced support for wireless Ethernet adapters used in bridged networking lets you connect your virtual machines to wireless networks on Linux hosts
• Enhanced autodetect makes it easier to configure devices for virtual machines
• Enhanced autoconnect automatically reconnnects manually connected USB devices
• Enhanced snapshot management makes it easier to work with snapshots
• Enhanced command line interface helps you manage snapshots
• Memory page trimming can be disabled to improve performance
• Enhanced product update checking makes it more convenient to keep your Workstation software up to date
• On Linux hosts, the user interface has been enhanced to work better with desktop appearance themes
• Workstation 5.5 extends the display resizing features Autofit Guest and Fit Guest Now to Linux guests

You really need to read the Release Notes to have a first overview of all these things. But there's more: with VMware Workstation 5.5 comes out a series of very useful utilities (producted by VMware but not officially supported):

• VMware Player VMware Player is free software that enables PC users to easily run any virtual machine on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player runs virtual machines created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server or ESX Server and also supports Microsoft virtual machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disk formats.
• Processor Check for 64-Bit Compatibility This is a standalone processor check utility which you can use without VMware Workstation to perform the same check and determine whether your CPU is supported for virtual machines with 64-bit guest operating systems.
• Disk Mount This is a Windows installer for the VMware DiskMount utility. With the VMware DiskMount utility, a VMware virtual disk file can be mounted as a Windows drive letter for read/write access to the files it contains.
• Movie Decoder This is a Windows installer for the movie decoder. This utility is required to play movies recorded using VMware Workstation 5.
• Virtual Machine Importer This is a Windows installer for the VMware Virtual Machine Importer. This utility allows you to convert a Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Virtual Server virtual machine into a VMware Workstation 4 or 5 virtual machine.

Download everything (except the Player) here: http://www.vmware.com/download/ws Download the Player (which is still reported as beta 2) here: http://www.vmware.com/download/player