So I can finally get off and start talking about some really cool features of this workstation tool!
And for that Sysop's regret on VMware 6
Duh, dude thats why they call it a beta :)!
Anyways the changes in this Beta, yeah Beta are:
• Multiple Monitor Support — At the click of a button, the guest can now span monitors and also reflect the monitor topology — meaning that applications, task bars, and so on inside the guest appear as you would expect them to on a multi-monitor system. You can specify how many monitors a virtual machine can detect, regardless of how many monitors are attached to the host. This feature is especially useful if you plan to deploy the virtual machine to a different host after you create it. You can also specify what screen resolution to use and how much video memory to allocate.
• Easy Upgrade or Downgrade of VMware Virtual Machines — A new Convert Hardware Version wizard steps you through the process of upgrading or downgrading virtual machines between Workstation versions 4, 5, and 6. The wizard helps you determine which virtual hardware version to use for various VMware products. You have the choice of either changing the version of the original virtual machine or creating a full clone.
• Automation Via Expanded VIX 2.0 API — The VIX API (formerly known as the Programming API) is now compatible with Workstation 6. This API allows you to write scripts and programs to automate virtual machine operations. This release of the API is available in the C language. There are additional language bindings for Perl, COM, and shell scripts (vmrun).
• Enhanced Import Functionality (Windows Hosts Only) — Included in this release is the Importer wizard from the VMware Converter product. Using the Importer wizard enables you to convert a virtual machine from one VMware virtual machine format to another, and convert virtual machines or system images from popular third-party vendors.
• Automatic Update to the Latest Version of VMware Tools — You can now set VMware Tools to automatically upgrade itself when the virtual machine is powered on.
• Integrated Virtual Debuggers — With the new Workstation IDE (integrated development environment) plug-ins, software developers are provided with menu items and toolbar buttons in Visual Studio (Windows only) or Eclipse (Windows or Linux) to easily develop and debug programs in virtual machines.
• Appliance View for Virtual Appliances — Rather than having users see a console view for an appliance, you can now configure the new appliance view. It gives you a brief description of the type of server or appliance and provides a link that opens the browser on the guest system and connects to the correct port for the server console.
• Run Virtual Machines in the Background — You can now leave virtual machines and teams running in the background when you exit Workstation. On the host, a system tray icon indicates how many virtual machines are running in the background. Click the icon to open a virtual machine.
• Enhanced File Sharing and Copy and Paste Functionality — You can now use shared folders on a Solaris guest. You can copy and paste text and files between Linux and Windows hosts and Linus, Windows, and Solaris guests.
• Cross-Platform Drag-and-Drop Functionality — You can now drag and drop files and directories from a Linux or Windows host to a Linux, Solaris, or Windows guest, and vice versa.
• Virtual Machines Can Act as VNC Servers — You can set a virtual machine to act as a VNC server without having to install any specialized VNC software in the guest.
• New Online Help System for Workstation — The help system includes full-text search, bookmarking ability, index, and table of contents. Note that for this beta release, you need an Internet connection to use the help system.
• Battery Information Is Now Reported in the Guest — If you use a laptop to run a guest in full screen mode, you will now be able to see status information about the host's battery.
• Increased RAM Support — The previous limit of 4GB total RAM that could be used for all virtual machines combined has been removed. The amount of memory used by all virtual machines combined is now limited only by the amount of the host computer’s RAM and page file size. The maximum amount of memory that can be allocated per virtual machine has been raised from 3.6GB to 8GB.
• Support for Paravirtualized Linux Kernels — If you have a VMware VMI (Virtual Machine Interface) 3.0 enabled kernel in a Linux guest operating system, you can now enable paravirtual support in the virtual machine.
• User Interface for Mapping a Virtual Disk to a Drive Letter on the Windows Host
• Support for High-Speed USB 2.0 Devices
• Improved 64-bit Guest Support — Intel EM64T VT-capable processors are now fully supported.
• New 64-bit Sound Driver
• VMware Player 2.0 — The new Player Welcome page gives you the option of browsing to a virtual machine file or downloading a virtual appliance from the VMTN (VMware Technology Network) web site. You can then use Player’s new appliance view when running a virtual appliance.
• Player Extensions Framework — A new development framework enables you to create new controls in VMware Player. You can embed custom toolbar and menu items in the Player chrome, thereby enhancing the end user’s Player experience.
Have phun!
And for that Sysop's regret on VMware 6
I can't prove it, but the beta of VMware Workstation 6 seems to be slower than version 5.5. It needs constantly about 15% -20% CPU power of my host system (Windows XP), even if the virtual machine is not busy. I don't remember VMware Workstation 5.5 showing a similar behavior.
I also regret the upgrade because my Serial Number for version 5.5 is not valid, anymore. I have to use a new Serial Number for the trial version. I'll probably forget to buy an upgrade in time. Then, I will have to downgrade to get access to my virtual machines. I wished VMware would be a little bit more obliging to its customers.
Duh, dude thats why they call it a beta :)!
Anyways the changes in this Beta, yeah Beta are:
• Multiple Monitor Support — At the click of a button, the guest can now span monitors and also reflect the monitor topology — meaning that applications, task bars, and so on inside the guest appear as you would expect them to on a multi-monitor system. You can specify how many monitors a virtual machine can detect, regardless of how many monitors are attached to the host. This feature is especially useful if you plan to deploy the virtual machine to a different host after you create it. You can also specify what screen resolution to use and how much video memory to allocate.
• Easy Upgrade or Downgrade of VMware Virtual Machines — A new Convert Hardware Version wizard steps you through the process of upgrading or downgrading virtual machines between Workstation versions 4, 5, and 6. The wizard helps you determine which virtual hardware version to use for various VMware products. You have the choice of either changing the version of the original virtual machine or creating a full clone.
• Automation Via Expanded VIX 2.0 API — The VIX API (formerly known as the Programming API) is now compatible with Workstation 6. This API allows you to write scripts and programs to automate virtual machine operations. This release of the API is available in the C language. There are additional language bindings for Perl, COM, and shell scripts (vmrun).
• Enhanced Import Functionality (Windows Hosts Only) — Included in this release is the Importer wizard from the VMware Converter product. Using the Importer wizard enables you to convert a virtual machine from one VMware virtual machine format to another, and convert virtual machines or system images from popular third-party vendors.
• Automatic Update to the Latest Version of VMware Tools — You can now set VMware Tools to automatically upgrade itself when the virtual machine is powered on.
• Integrated Virtual Debuggers — With the new Workstation IDE (integrated development environment) plug-ins, software developers are provided with menu items and toolbar buttons in Visual Studio (Windows only) or Eclipse (Windows or Linux) to easily develop and debug programs in virtual machines.
• Appliance View for Virtual Appliances — Rather than having users see a console view for an appliance, you can now configure the new appliance view. It gives you a brief description of the type of server or appliance and provides a link that opens the browser on the guest system and connects to the correct port for the server console.
• Run Virtual Machines in the Background — You can now leave virtual machines and teams running in the background when you exit Workstation. On the host, a system tray icon indicates how many virtual machines are running in the background. Click the icon to open a virtual machine.
• Enhanced File Sharing and Copy and Paste Functionality — You can now use shared folders on a Solaris guest. You can copy and paste text and files between Linux and Windows hosts and Linus, Windows, and Solaris guests.
• Cross-Platform Drag-and-Drop Functionality — You can now drag and drop files and directories from a Linux or Windows host to a Linux, Solaris, or Windows guest, and vice versa.
• Virtual Machines Can Act as VNC Servers — You can set a virtual machine to act as a VNC server without having to install any specialized VNC software in the guest.
• New Online Help System for Workstation — The help system includes full-text search, bookmarking ability, index, and table of contents. Note that for this beta release, you need an Internet connection to use the help system.
• Battery Information Is Now Reported in the Guest — If you use a laptop to run a guest in full screen mode, you will now be able to see status information about the host's battery.
• Increased RAM Support — The previous limit of 4GB total RAM that could be used for all virtual machines combined has been removed. The amount of memory used by all virtual machines combined is now limited only by the amount of the host computer’s RAM and page file size. The maximum amount of memory that can be allocated per virtual machine has been raised from 3.6GB to 8GB.
• Support for Paravirtualized Linux Kernels — If you have a VMware VMI (Virtual Machine Interface) 3.0 enabled kernel in a Linux guest operating system, you can now enable paravirtual support in the virtual machine.
• User Interface for Mapping a Virtual Disk to a Drive Letter on the Windows Host
• Support for High-Speed USB 2.0 Devices
• Improved 64-bit Guest Support — Intel EM64T VT-capable processors are now fully supported.
• New 64-bit Sound Driver
• VMware Player 2.0 — The new Player Welcome page gives you the option of browsing to a virtual machine file or downloading a virtual appliance from the VMTN (VMware Technology Network) web site. You can then use Player’s new appliance view when running a virtual appliance.
• Player Extensions Framework — A new development framework enables you to create new controls in VMware Player. You can embed custom toolbar and menu items in the Player chrome, thereby enhancing the end user’s Player experience.
Have phun!
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