VMware Player
VMware Player is a freeware virtualization software
product from VMware, Inc.. The software allows 32- and 64-bit Windows,
Linux,
NetWare, or Solaris x86 operating systems side-by-side, without
rebooting or partitioning the hard drive. This software runs guest
virtual machines produced by other VMware products.
It can also download virtual appliances and access Open Virtualization
Format (OVF) and Open Virtual
Appliance (OVA) files. However, VMware Player cannot itself create new
virtual machines.
Fortunately, there are freeware tools that allow
virtual machines to be created without having to purchase a commercial
VMware product. But an easier option to try
out Linux as the guest operating system is to use one of the images
available at the Virtual
Appliance Repository or from the chaps at thoughtpolice.co.uk.
These sites offer a wide selection of pre-configured Linux
distributions to run under VMware Player. We
tried out a number of the images they offer including Fedora 10,
Ubuntu 8.10 and CentOS 5.3.
VMware Player installs like a standard desktop
application. Once installed, the software runs virtual machines in a
separate window. VMware Player includes features that enable users to
configure their
machines for optimal performance as well as access host PC devices.
VMware Player has good configuration options. You
can disconnect devices to restore the host's access, make
simple network configuration choices, and adjust the amount of RAM
dedicated to the virtual machine. However, some advanced options can
only be
set when using the full VMware Workstation product. Users can
configure a virtual machine so it reverts to a snapshot or takes a new
snapshot
when it powers down. It is also possible to copy/paste and drag/drop
with the host system, as well as sharing folders between the host and
guest
operating systems.
It is worth downloading an image that has VMware
Tools software installed. All of the images from the Virtual
Appliance Repository conveniently have this installed. Why is VMware
Tools so important? Basically, the performance of the guest system is
noticeably enhanced. It improves the performance by
accelerating the network, video, offering host to guest time
synchronization, seamless mouse movement between the
host and guest operating sytstems, and cut & paste from guest
to host and guest to guest.
In the first screenshot above, we have Ubuntu 8.10
Server running as the guest operating system, with Firefox, Gnumeric
(spreadsheet software) and a terminal emulator in operation. The
second screenshot shows Fedora 10 running as the guest, with Firefox
and Abiword (word processing program) minimised.
The target audience for VMware Player consists primarily
of power users needing an effective virtual environment to try
out new software
or operating systems. Whereas, VirtualBox is more focused on the
everyday user, but who still wants an extremely feature rich, high
performance
product.
The
free VMware player brings many of the benefits of virtual machines to
the average user. It will not create new virtual machines or connect
multiple virtual machines in a
virtual network. Yet it makes running two operating system to be simple
and free. It is
definitely worth a download, and comes with a strong recommendation.
Features include:
- Run 32- and 64-bit virtual machines
- Leverage 2-way Virtual SMP for improved performance
when working with multi-threaded, resource-intensive software
- Use 3rd-party virtual machines and images
- Share data between host computer and virtual machine
- Broad host and guest operating system support
- Support for USB 2.0 devices
- Get appliance information at start-up
- Gain easy access to virtual machines via an intuitive
home page interface
- Configure a virtual machine so it reverts to a
snapshot or takes a new snapshot when it powers down
- Copy/paste and drap/drop with the host system
- Share folders
Next
Page: VMware Server
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