Release: VMware Workstation 12 Pro, Player 12, Fusion 8 and Fusion Pro 8

VMware today released version 12 of its type-2 client hypervisor products for Microsoft Windows: Workstation Pro and Player and version 8 of its client hypervisor products for Mac OSX: Fusion. All products mainly add support for running Windows 10.

Player (formerly Player Pro) is able to run VM’s only and can be used for personal use in an unlicensed way or licensed when used for business commercial use. Workstation provides the full functionality of the product. (see this page for a comparison between Player en Workstation) . The same goes for Fusion and Fusion pro, where Fusion provides less functionality as Fusion Pro. (see this page for a comparison between Fusion and Fusion pro), both Fusion as Fusion pro have to be licensed though.clip_image001

Workstation 12 Pro and Player provide the following new functionality:

  • VMware Workstation Pro provides the following support for Windows 10:
    • Run Windows 10 as a virtual machine
    • Run Windows 10 as a host operating system
    • Windows 10 Auto Detect and Easy Install
    • Unity support for Windows 10
    • Migrate Windows 10 PC to a virtual machine
  • New guest operating systems support
  • Support has been added for the following operating systems:
    • Ubuntu 15.04
    • Fedora 22
    • CentOS 7.1
    • RHEL 7.1
    • Oracle Linux 7.1
    • VMware Project Photon
  • Advanced graphics
    • Support has been added for the following standards:
      • DirectX 10
      • OpenGL 3.3
  • Performance improvements for suspending and resuming encrypted virtual machines
  • Improved vCloud Air Integration (Workstation Pro on Windows only)
    • Power operation on remote virtual machines
    • Enhanced user experience
  • Support IPv6 NAT network
  • Tear away tabs
  • Automatically suspend virtual machines upon host shutdown
  • Support 4K monitors with high resolution UI
  • Support for multiple monitors with different DPI settings
  • Echo cancellation for voice and video calls with Microsoft Lync and Skype
  • Added USB 3.0 support to Windows 7 virtual machines (with the latest Intel USB driver)
  • Improved standard installer
  • Added NAT network configuration in Virtual Network Editor on Linux hosts
  • Respect left-handed mouse setting on Windows host

The release notes for Workstation 12 can be found here and the release notes for Player Pro 12 can be found here.

Fusion 8 provides the following new functionality (as described in the release notes):

  • Full support of Windows 10
    VMware Fusion provides the following support for Windows 10:
    • Run Windows 10 as a virtual machine
    • Windows 10 Auto Detect and Easy Install
    • Unity support for Windows 10
    • Migrate Windows 10 PC to a virtual machine
    • Import Windows 10 Boot Camp virtual machine
  • Support OS X El Capitan
    • Run OS X El Capitan as a virtual machine
    • Run OS X El Capitan as a host operating system
  • New Guest Operating Systems Support
    • Ubuntu 15.04
    • Fedora 22
    • CentOS 7.1
    • RHEL 7.1
    • Oracle Linux 7.1
    • VMware Project Photon
  • Advanced graphics
    Support has been added for the following standards: 
    • DirectX 10
    • OpenGL 3.3
  • Performance improvements for suspending and resuming encrypted virtual machines
  • Advanced resolution settings
    • Ability to set global preference of resolution change upon window resizing and more
    • Ability to set per virtual machine override preference of resolution change upon windows resizing and more
  • VMware vCloud Air Integration (Fusion 8 Pro only)
    • Ability to connect to VMware vCloud Air Service
    • Ability to view remote virtual machine inventory
    • Remote display, keyboard and mouse control
    • Upload a local virtual machine to VMware vCloud Air
    • Power operation on remote virtual machines
    • Enhanced user experience
  • Improved remote experience (Fusion 8 Pro only)
    • Ability to create a remote virtual machine on a VMware vSphere, VMware ESXi, and VMware Workstation
    • View health summary of multiple ESXi hosts on a single dashboard
  • Support IPv6 NAT network (Fusion 8 Pro only)
  • Support the latest Macs
    • Ability to run Windows virtual machines on an iMac 5K in full-screen mode with native resolution
    • Support the new MacBook
  • Echo cancellation for voice and video calls with Microsoft Lync and Skype
  • Added USB 3.0 support to Windows 7 virtual machines (with the latest Intel USB driver)
  • Optimized user experience
    • Improved Start menu
    • Improved new VM creator
  • New warning text has been added to the UI for the option “Open your Windows files and web links using Mac Applications” to make it clearer that choosing to enable this feature might reduce the isolation of the virtual machine.