VMware Workstation v9.0 and Fusion v5.0 Technical Previews

[Arthur]

Only download if you want to try out the new features in the Workstation and/or Fusion technology previews (such as WSX) or give feedback to VMware before the final versions are released later this year - most likely in October since the previews both expire on 15/10/2012.

 

Download: VMware Workstation (S/N: M108C-N0LE1-08L82-03ARK-2EJPY) / VMware Fusion (S/N: M141C-N0L03-48U8A-00ARH-AEJ4U)

 

With the release of Ubuntu 12.04 and the impending release of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 we believe it is a good time for VMware to release our latest virtualization platform so that you have the best environment on which to evaluate the industry's latest operating systems.

 

VMware Workstation

The VMware Workstation Team is providing public access to the VMware Workstation Technology Preview 2012 to gather real-world feedback from our users. This VMware Workstation Technology Preview includes significant changes to our core virtualization technology. We would appreciate your feedback in the following areas:

 

• Windows 8 – We would like you to test Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 as both host and guest OSs and report any issues that you encounter.
  
• Graphics Rendering – We have made substantial changes to our graphics virtualization code. We are in the process of optimizing the new graphics code for performance, but currently need feedback to ensure that applications are rendering correctly and are stable.
  
• OpenGL for Linux Guests - VMware has developed an OpenGL graphics driver and upstreamed it to X.Org. The driver has been included in the Ubuntu 12.04 Beta among other Linux distributions. We would like our users to install the Ubuntu beta as a guest OS and give us feedback on the capability and performance of the new driver.
  
• Nested Virtualization - In Workstation 8 we made VT extensions available to the guest OS. This Technology Preview includes major changes to the implementation and we would like our users to try running ESX and Hyper-V as guests. Please read the Technology Preview - June 2012 Overview for more details.
  
• WSX - This yet to be officially named and highly experimental service is included in this Technology Preview for Windows and Linux that enables users to access their Shared virtual machines via a web browser without installing any plug-ins or web controls.
  
• Miscellaneous – There are several additional enhancements including recent searches will be remembered, tabs have been added to the full screen toolbar on Windows hosts, and the ability to download virtual machines from vSphere.
  

Please read the Technology Preview - June 2012 Overview document for more details. We are continuing to work on this release and will be adding more features in the near future, but we would appreciate your recommendations posted in this Communities Forum on how we can improve on the currently implemented features.

 

VMware Fusion

VMware Labs is providing public access to the VMware Fusion Technology Preview 2012 to gather real-world feedback from users on a wide range of hardware and software configurations. The VMware Fusion Technology Preview includes changes to the core virtualization engine and new capabilities we are exploring. We would appreciate feedback in the following areas:

 

• Running Windows 8 in a virtual machine
  
• Experiences running new versions of Mac OS X
  
• Experiences running on Macs released in 2012.
  
• Linux 3D desktop experiences
  
• Feedback on new window handling and (incomplete) library concept
  
• Changes to snapshots
  
• Importing OVF virtual machines
  
• Mass deploying to large numbers of end users
  
• Consumers of the VIX API for automation
  
• General stability and correctness
  

More details including installation instructions can be found on the What's New page.

[Zoom7000]

Hmm it seems like Workstation 8 was only released a short while back. Not liking the idea of these companies moving to much shorter 'chargeable' update schedules!