VMware Player download

VMware Player running Ubuntu v8.04.1

By Hamza Hasnain

Developer(s) - VMware

Stable release - 4.0.2 / January 24, 2012

Operating system - Microsoft Windows,Linux

Type - Virtual machine

License - Freeware for personal non-commercial use; distribution requires permission

Website-  www.vmware.com/products/player/

Download link- http://www.vmware.com/go/downloadplayer/

Torrent download link -http://www.torrentfunk.com/tor/2581948.torrent

VMware Player is a freeware virtualization software package from VMware, Inc.(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 a licensed operating system to be installed to be functional). It uses the same virtualization core as VMware Workstation, a similar program with more features, and not free of charge. VMware Player is available for personal non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement. No support is provided by VMWare, but there is an active community website for discussing and resolving issues.

Features

VMware claims the Player offers 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.

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", 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, e.g. after a demonstration or a virus infection test.

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. An IT administrator can distribute a virtual machine created by Workstation to computers running Player without paying for additional VMware Workstation licenses.

Resources

Many ready-made virtual machines (VMs) which run on VMWare Player, Workstation, and other virtualization software are available for specific purposes, either for purchase or free of charge; for example a free Linux-based "browser appliance" with the Firefox browser installed which can be used for safe Web browsing; if infected or damaged it can be discarded and replaced by a clean copy. It can be configured to reset itself after each use without the need to recreate from the original file. VMs distributed legally only have freely distributable operating system, as operating systems on VMs must be licensed; ready-to-use VMs with Microsoft Windows or Mac OS, in particular, are not distributed, except for evaluation versions.

VMWare Player makes use of VMWare Tools, which adds significant functionality; in principle each version of Player has its own Tools, not necessarily compatible with other versions. Tools can usually be downloaded from the VMWare Web site and added after installing Player by clicking a button. Sometimes Tools is 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.

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 for another manufacturer, either directly or via a conversion procedure. VMs for Microsoft Virtual Server and Virtual PC can be converted for use by VMWare software by running the VMware vCenter Converter (this software can also create a virtual machine from a physical configured PC). For example, a Microsoft VM can be adapted to run in VMWare Player.

Examples-

Better than Windows XP Mode

Run legacy Windows XP applications with better graphics, faster performance, and tighter integration than Windows XP mode offers. With Unity, shared folders and drag and drop convenience, VMware Player is the better way to run Windows XP on Windows 7. Use VMware vCenter Converter to transform your existing Windows PC into a virtual machine and eliminate the need to re-install and re-configure your existing applications which is necessary with Windows XP Mode.

Easiest Way to Play with Virtualization

VMware Player is the easiest way to run multiple operating systems at the same time on your PC. With its user-friendly interface, VMware Player makes it effortless for anyone to try out Windows 8 developer release, Windows 7, Chrome OS or the latest Linux releases, or create isolated virtual machines to safely test new software and surf the Web. VMware Player can also be used to run a virtual copy of an old PC so that you can recycle the old machines you have under your desk or stored in the closet.

Safest Way to Try New Software

Run corporate virtual machines, experiment with new operating systems, or safely try and test new software in an isolated environment on your PC. VMware Player is the ideal way to try out a virtual appliance. Virtual appliances are pre-built, pre-configured and ready-to-run enterprise software applications packaged along with an operating system in a virtual machine. Quickly and easily experience the benefits of these applications without the installation or configuration hassles.

Most Advanced Virtualization Platform

Built on over 10 years of virtualization excellence, run the most demanding applications with VMware Player’s advanced memory and CPU management technology. Run 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems with up to eight virtual CPUs and 64GB of RAM dedicated to each virtual machine. Driverless printing makes your PC printers automatically accessible to your Windows and Linux virtual machines—no configuration or drivers required.