VMware Workstation


VMware Workstation Pro is a hosted hypervisor that runs on x64 versions of Windows and Linux operating systems. It enables users to set up virtual machines on a single physical machine and use them simultaneously along with the host machine. Each virtual machine can execute its own operating system, including versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux, BSD, and MS-DOS. VMware Workstation is developed and sold by VMware, which has been owned by Broadcom since November 2023. In May 2024, Workstation Pro became free of charge for personal use, with paid subscriptions available for commercial use, while the free restricted VMware Workstation Player, included in Workstation, was dropped as a separate product. In November 2024, VMware Workstation was made free for commercial use, with paid subscriptions and support no longer available.
VMware Workstation supports bridging existing host network adapters and sharing physical disk drives and USB devices with a virtual machine. It can simulate disk drives; an ISO image file can be mounted as a virtual optical disc drive, and virtual hard disk drives are implemented as .vmdk files.
VMware Workstation Pro can save the state of a virtual machine at any instant. These snapshots can later be restored, effectively returning the virtual machine to the saved state, as it was and free from any post-snapshot damage to the VM.
VMware Workstation includes the ability to group multiple virtual machines in an inventory folder. The machines in such a folder can then be powered on and powered off as a single object, useful for testing complex client-server environments.
WWW Official Site

History

VMware was first released on 15 May 1999.

Company restructuring and product development (2016)

VMware Workstation versions 12.0.0, 12.0.1, and 12.1.0 were released at intervals of about two months in 2015. In January 2016, the entire development team behind VMware Workstation and Fusion was disbanded and all US developers were immediately fired. The company said that "the restructuring activities will not impact the existence of any current product lines", that "roles and responsibilities associated with particular businesses will be moved to other regions and office locations", and that investment would continue "with emphasis on our growth products", but the future of Workstation and Fusion became uncertain by that point. On 24 April 2016, maintenance release 12.1.1 was released. Later in September of the same year, the company announced that "we’re very much alive and well". Consequently, on September 13, Workstation 12.5 and Fusion 8.5 were released as free upgrades which added support for [Windows 10#Redstone|Windows 10 Anniversary Update] and Windows Server 2016. Since then, active development resumed.

Transition to freeware (2024)

In May 2024, VMware Workstation Pro became free for personal use, with only commercial use requiring a paid license, and free VMware Workstation Player was discontinued as unnecessary.
In November 2024, Workstation Pro became free for all users, including commercial and educational users. Technical support for Workstation by Broadcom was discontinued, with help now available only from documentation and the user forum on Broadcom's Web site.

Version history

VersionRelease dateSignificant changes
1.015 May 1999First release
1.0.114 June 1999
  • Added support of Linux kernel 2.3.x
1.0.225 June 1999
1.0.320 July 1999
  • New product logo and icons
    • 1.1 for Linux11 October 1999First Linux release
  • Added support of Windows 2000
  • Added support of bidirectional parallel ports
  • Added support of Linux kernel 2.2.10
  • Improved support for raw disk file configuration via the Configuration Wizard and Editor
  • Improved support for upgrading Linux kernels and for uninstalling the product
  • Experimental support for RPM installations
  • Improved SMP performance in Linux kernel versions 2.2.8 and later
  • Improved built-in help
    • 1.1.1 for Linux18 October 1999
  • Added support of Red Hat Linux 6.1
    • 1.1.2 for Linux13 November 1999
  • Changes in the handling of virtual disks
    • 1.0.1 for Windows15 November 1999
    2.03 March 2000
  • Increased desktop performance
  • Added support of memory and power user changes in Windows 2000
  • Improved upgrade to new VMware Workstation releases
  • Limited SCSI support for disks and CD-ROM devices
  • Added support for suspending the virtual machine to disk
  • Added support for shrinking the virtual disks
  • Added support of floppy disk images
  • Added support of serial connections
  • Added support of sound input and improved sound output
  • Added support for disconnecting, modifying and editing the removable devices while the virtual machine is running
  • Improved support for raw disks
  • Experimental support of plain disks
    • 2.0.119 June 2000
    2.0.21 August 2000
    2.0.32 November 2000
  • Improved mouse performance
  • Added support for wheel mouse
  • Added support for installation of SVGA driver in a Windows Me guest machines
    • 2.0.421 May 2001
  • Added support of Red Hat Linux 7.1 and SUSE Linux 7.1
  • Increased default memory size of a Linux virtual machine to 64 MB
  • Added support of Pentium 4 processors
  • Added support for Windows 2000 hosts with CD-ROM drives configured for digital audio
    • 3.011 November 2001
  • Added support of reading DVD discs
  • Added support of reading enhanced CD discs in the raw access mode
    • 3.129 March 2002
  • Increased performance
    • 3.1.19 April 2002
  • Increased performance
    • 3.216 September 2002
    4.07 April 2003Single snapshots
    4.515 March 2004Last version for Windows NT 4.0 on hosts
    5.07 April 2005
  • Multiple snapshots
  • Linked clones
  • Teams
    • 5.529 November 2005
  • Introduced support of Intel VT-x/AMD-V virtualization instructions, as well as x86-64 and multi-processor virtual machines
    • 6.09 May 2007
  • Multiple monitor support
  • Background virtual machines
  • High-speed USB devices
    • 6.523 September 2008
  • Final version to support CPUs without PAE
  • Record Replay
  • Unicode
  • Unity mode
  • Last version for Windows 2000 on hosts
    • 7.010 October 2009
  • Replay Debugging
    • 7.125 May 2010
    8.014 September 2011
  • Shared Virtual Machines
  • Workstation 8 is the first version that requires an x64-compatible CPU.
  • Replay Debugging removed
    • 9.023 August 2012
  • USB 3.0 support for Linux and Windows 8 guests
  • OpenGL driver for Linux guests
  • Improved graphics subsystem
  • Restricted Virtual Machines
  • Added support of Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 and Ubuntu 12.04
    • 10.03 September 2013
  • Added support of Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Ubuntu 13.10
  • VMware hardware version 10
  • * 16 vCPUs
  • * 8 TB disks
  • * New virtual SATA disk controller
  • * USB 3.0 streams support
  • * SSD pass-through
  • Expiring Virtual Machines
  • Virtual tablet sensors
  • * Accelerometer
  • * Gyroscope
  • * Compass
  • * Ambient light sensor
  • User interface enhancements
  • Cloud Management Tools
  • VMware KVM
  • WSX 1.1
    • 10.0.124 October 2013
  • Improved compatibility with some AMD Piledriver CPUs
  • Easy Install support for Windows 8.1 RTM and Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM
  • Fixes for certain hangs and freezes
    • 10.0.217 April 2014
  • The compatibility and performance of USB audio and video devices with virtual machines has been improved.
  • Resolved an issue that prevents a USB device from being connected to Linux RHEL 5 guest operating system.
  • Easy installation option supports Windows 8.1 Update 1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 as a guest operating system.
  • openSUSE 13.1 is now supported as a host operating system.
  • Resolved an issue causing burning CDs with Blu-ray drives to fail while connected to the virtual machine.
  • Resolved an issue that caused using Microsoft Word and Excel in unity mode causes a beep.
  • Resolved an issue causing host application windows to be blanked out in the UAC dialog on the Linux host of the Windows 8 virtual machine.
  • Resolved an issue that prevented the Sound Card from being automatically added to the VM when powering on the virtual machine on a Linux host.
  • Resolved an issue that could cause a Windows 8.1 guest operating system to display a black screen when launching Metro style applications in the launch menu.
  • Resolved a hotkey conflict in the Preference dialog of the KVM mode.
  • Resolved a compatibility issue of GL renderer with some new Nvidia drivers.
  • Resolved graphics errors with for Solidworks applications.
  • Resolved an issue causing virtual machines imported from a physical PC to crash on startup.
  • Resolved an issue about shared folder when the user read and write file using two threads.
  • Resolved an issue that caused Linux virtual machines to see stale file contents when using shared folders.
  • Resolved the virtual machine performance issues when using the E1000e adapter.
  • Resolved an issue preventing Workstation from starting on Ubuntu 14.04.
    • 10.0.31 July 2014
  • VMware Workstation 10.0.3 has been updated to the OPENSSL library version openssl-0.9.8za where necessary to address.
    • 10.0.430 October 2014
  • Fixes memory issue in Workstation on Microsoft Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012.
    • 10.0.527 January 2015
  • Bug fixes
  • * At power-on, a virtual machine hangs and a.dmp file is created.
  • * The VideoReDo application does not display the video properly and parts of the application's screen are scrambled.
  • * Copying and pasting a large file from host to guest may fail.
  • * Memory leak in the HGFS server causes VMware Tools to crash randomly with the error: Exception 0xc0000005 has occurred.
  • * New VMs have the same location UUID and MAC address so that the UUID and MAC address are not unique. This problem occurs with WS 9 and WS 10 VMs but not WS 7 and WS 8 VMs.
  • * On RHEL 6.6, vmmon cannot be loaded due to incompatible kernel symbol versions. With gcc, kernel-headers, kernel-devel installed, vmmon module will be recompiled automatically.
  • * Memory leak by the process vmtoolsd.exe when the guest NIC is disabled causes memory consumption by Workstation processes to increase over time.
  • * When USB devices are autoconnected with a hub to a Renesas host controller, the devices are not redirected to the guest.
  • * WS 11 license is accepted by WS 10.0.5 and future 10.0 updates.
  • * When WS is installed on Linux in a non-default location, the Virtual Network Editor fails to run.
    • 10.0.65 May 2015
  • Fixed a problem when uploading a virtual machine with Workstation 10.0.x to ESXi 6.0.
    • 10.0.72 July 2015
  • Security fixes
  • Last version for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 on hosts
  • Final version to support 32-bit Windows editions on hosts
    • 11.01 December 2014
  • Added support of Windows 10, Ubuntu 14.10, RHEL 7, CentOS 7, Fedora 20 and Debian 7.6
  • VMware hardware version 11
  • * 2 GB Video memory per VM
  • Connection to VMware vCloud Air
    • 11.117 February 2015
  • Added support for VMware vCloud Air Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand
  • Bug fixes:
  • * A Linux guest OS booted on EFI firmware sometimes failed to respond to the keyboard and mouse if any mouse motion occurred during a short window of time during OS boot.
  • * Outlook 2010 would occasionally crash when running in Unity mode.
  • * You could not compact or defragment a persistent disk.
  • * The UI sometimes crashed when a user copied and pasted a file between two Windows guests.
  • * Rendering corruption in UI elements in Fedora 20 guests with 3D enabled.
  • * When creating a new virtual machine with SUSE Linux Enterprise 12, the Easy Install path was not available.
    • 11.1.19 June 2015
  • Critical security fix for
  • * VMware Workstation and Horizon Client TPView.ddl and TPInt.dll incorrectly handle memory allocation. On Workstation, this may allow a guest to execute code or perform a Denial of Service on the Windows OS that runs Workstation.
    • 11.1.215 June 2015
  • Security Issues
  • * VMware Workstation 11.1.2 has been updated to OpenSSL library version openssl-1.0.1m.
  • Bug Fixes
  • * Two interface items on the Access Control screen used the same hot-key combination.
  • * Attempting to suspend a Windows virtual machine with the Sensor Diagnostic Tool running caused the virtual machine to become unresponsive.
  • * Using audio conferencing software on a Windows 8 guest operating system caused a severe echo during both video and audio calls.
  • * On the Windows 95 guest operating system, the mouse cursor jumped.
  • * Symbolic links created within a Windows guest operating system on a Linux host did not list files under subdirectories.
  • * Workstation did not display Regions in the VMware vCloud Air Subscription node.
  • * Workstation could not automatically detect the Fedora 21 ISO when creating a new Fedora 21 virtual machine.
  • * Under specific conditions, when the alipaybsm.exe file was installed on the Workstation host, network service was disrupted.
  • * After connecting to vCloud Air from Workstation, no virtual machines were listed in the Workstation virtual machine library.
  • * Using Easy Install for the Ubuntu 15.04 guest operating system with kernel 3.19.0-15-generic prevented you from enabling folder sharing.
  • * Reverting to a snapshot failed following a specific set of steps.
  • * A Windows 10 guest operating system running idly caused Workstation to crash.
  • * Using the Easy Install option to install the Ubuntu 14.04 or Ubuntu 15.04 guest operating system failed to install VMware Tools.
    • 12.0.0 Pro24 August 2015The following features have reached end of life in Workstation 12 Pro and have been removed:
  • Unity mode on Linux guest and host operating systems
  • Virtual Debugger Visual Studio
  • Connection to the VMware vCloud Air subscription service
    • Added support for, amongst other things:
    • Later operating system versions, including Windows 10
    • DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3.3
    • IPv6 NAT
    12.0.1 Pro29 October 2015
  • Bug fixes
  • Last version for Windows Server 2008 R2 on hosts
    • 12.1.0 Pro8 December 2015
  • Bug fixes
  • Last version for Windows Server 2008 R2 on hosts
    • 12.1.1 Pro21 April 2016
  • Bug fixes
  • Last version for Windows Server 2008 R2 on hosts
    • 12.5 Pro13 September 2016
  • The announced release date of 8 September 2016 was missed due to
  • Compatible with Windows 10 Anniversary Update
    • 12.5.1 Pro27 October 2016Bug fixes, security updates for undisclosed vulnerabilities and performance improvements.
    12.5.2 Pro13 November 2016This release of VMware Workstation 12 Pro addresses an out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability related to the drag-and-drop feature. This may allow a guest to execute code on the operating system that runs VMware Workstation 12 Pro.
    12.5.3 Pro9 March 2017Bug fixes, security updates, and performance improvements.
  • Workstation Pro fails to launch on a Linux platform that uses kernel 4.9.0
  • Occasionally, the Workstation Pro user interface crashes in Workstation 12 Pro version 12.5 and displays an error
  • When you use a USB device that does not follow USB specifications in a virtual machine in USB passthrough mode, the guest becomes unusable
  • You cannot connect a parallel port to a virtual machine
  • Connecting an Active Braille device to the virtual machines fails
  • After users execute Active FTP in the guest operating system, the vmnat.exe process continues to use a TCP port of the host
  • ThinPrint technology does not work in a Windows XP guest operating system with VMware Tools 10.0.10
  • VMware Tools service is not started in Ubuntu 16.10 guest
  • You cannot use shared folders in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 virtual machine
    • 12.5.4 Pro14 March 2017This release addresses an out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability related to the drag-and-drop feature. This vulnerability might allow a guest to execute code on the operating system that runs VMware Workstation 12 Pro.
    12.5.5 Pro28 March 2017This release of VMware Workstation Pro addresses the following issues:
  • VMware Workstation Pro has a heap buffer overflow and uninitialized stack memory usage in SVGA. These issues might allow a guest virtual machine to execute code on the host. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifiers and to these issues.
  • The VMware Workstation Pro XHCI driver has uninitialized memory usage. This issue might allow a guest virtual machine to execute code on the host. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifier to this issue.
  • VMware Workstation Pro has uninitialized memory usage. This issue might lead to an information leak. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifier to this issue.
    • 12.5.6 Pro18 May 2017This release includes the following highlights:
  • Day 0 support of the Windows 10 Creators Update
  • Bug fixes and security updates
    • 12.5.7 Pro22 June 2017This release of VMware Workstation Pro includes some bug fixes and security updates.
    12.5.8 Pro16 November 2017Support added for:
  • RHEL 7.4
  • Oracle Linux 7.3
    • 12.5.9 Pro10 January 2018
  • This update of VMware Workstation Pro exposes hardware support for branch target injection mitigation to VMware guests. This hardware is used by some guest operating systems to mitigate .
    • 14.0.0 Pro26 September 2017This major version release includes the following highlights:
  • Updated to support the newest versions of Microsoft Windows 10, and Windows Server editions, as well as various Linux distributions
  • Updated support for the latest Intel and AMD processors and limited or no support for pre-2011 CPUs
  • Improved virtual firmware support, such as UEFI, and new Secure Boot support
  • Support for Virtualization Based Security
  • Improved Virtual Networking
  • New and improved support and controls for working with vSphere and the vCenter Server Appliance
  • Network latency simulator
  • New remote vSphere controls
  • Last version for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 on hosts
    • 14.1.0 Pro21 December 2017
  • This release delivers improved guest support of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
    • 14.1.1 Pro9 January 2018
  • This update of VMware Workstation Pro exposes hardware support for branch target injection mitigation to VMware guests. This hardware is used by some guest operating systems to mitigate .
    • 14.1.2 Pro21 May 2018
  • This update delivers guest access to the SSBD feature in IA32_SPEC_CTRL.
  • This release delivers improved guest support of Windows 10 Spring Creators Update
  • Ubuntu 18.04 support as host and guest
    • 14.1.3 Pro14 August 2018-
    14.1.4 Pro11 September 2018
  • VMware Workstation Pro has an uninitialized stack memory usage vulnerability in the vmxnet3 virtual network adapter that might allow a guest to execute code on the host. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifier CVE-2018-6981 to this issue.
    • 14.1.5 Pro23 November 2018
  • VMware Workstation Pro contains an integer overflow vulnerability in the virtual network devices which may allow a guest to execute code on the host. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifier CVE-2018-6983 to this issue.
    • 14.1.6 Pro14 March 2019This release of VMware Workstation Pro addresses the following issues:
    • Workstation does not handle paths appropriately. This may allow the path to the VMX executable, on a Windows host, to be hijacked by a non-administrator leading to elevation of privilege. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifier CVE-2019-5511 to this issue.
    • COM classes are not handled appropriately. This may allow hijacking of COM classes used by the VMX process, on a Windows host, leading to elevation of privilege. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifier CVE-2019-5512 to this issue.
    14.1.7 Pro29 March 2019
  • Workstation contains an out-of-bounds read/write vulnerability and a Time-of-check Time-of-use vulnerability in the virtual USB UHCI. These issues may allow a guest to execute code on the host. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project has assigned the identifiers CVE-2019-5518 and CVE-2019-5519 to these issues.
    • 14.1.8 Pro12 November 2019This release of VMware Workstation Pro addresses the following issue:
    • VMware Workstation Pro and Player versions 14.x and earlier failed to launch on Windows 10 1903 after Windows 10 KB updates were applied.
    15.0.0 Pro24 September 2018This major version release includes the following highlights:
  • Support for new Microsoft Windows 10 builds as well as various Linux distributions
  • 4K resolution.
  • DirectX 10.1.
  • Shared graphics memory limit increased to 3 GB.
  • RESTful API to automate common virtual machine tasks using standard JSON over HTTP/HTTPS.
  • This version adds new Hosts and Clusters view when connect to remote vSphere.
  • USB devices can be connected automatically to a powered on virtual machine.
  • SSH login to Linux virtual machine.
  • Guest display stretch.
  • Wayland protocol.
  • Improves performance for virtual NVMe storage.
    • 15.0.1 Pro9 November 2018
  • Support for the new versions of various Linux distributions.
  • Bug fixes and security updates.
    • 15.0.2 Pro22 November 2018
  • Support for new Microsoft Windows 10 builds and Windows Server 2019.
  • Bug fixes and security updates.
    • 15.0.3 Pro14 March 2019
  • Bug fixes and security updates.
    • 15.0.4 Pro29 March 2019
  • Bug fixes and security updates.
    • 15.1.0 Pro14 May 2019
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * New Microsoft Windows 10 builds
  • * Ubuntu 19.04
  • * RHEL 8
  • * Fedora 30
  • * VMware ESXi 6.7 Update 2
  • Guest display can be stretched for all guests running on Windows hosts.
  • Bug fixes and security updates
    • 15.5.0 Pro19 September 2019
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * New Microsoft Windows 10 builds
  • * Debian 9.11 & 10
  • * Oracle Linux 8.0
  • * SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1
  • * FreeBSD 12.0
  • * PhotonOS 3.0
  • Virtual networks with configurable MTU up to 9 000 bytes
  • Allows to save network settings after upgrades and to import and export network configurations
  • VMware Paravirtual SCSI Controllers
  • Open Virtual Machine Tools, previously known as VMWare Tools, is made default for applicable Linux guests in this version
  • Bug fixes and security updates.
    • 15.5.1 Pro12 November 2019
  • Bug fixes and security updates
    • 15.5.2 Pro12 March 2020
  • Bug fixes and security updates
    • 15.5.5 Pro28 May 2020
  • VMware Workstation 15.5.5 now runs on Windows hosts with Hyper-V features enabled.
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * New Microsoft Windows 10 builds
  • * Ubuntu 20.04
  • * Fedora 32
  • Bug fixes and security updates
    • 15.5.6 Pro9 June 2020
  • Bug fixes and security updates
    • 15.5.7 Pro19 November 2020
  • Bug fixes and security updates
  • Last version for Windows 7 on hosts
    • 16.0 Pro15 September 2020This major version release includes the following highlights:
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * New Microsoft Windows 10 builds
  • * Ubuntu 20.04
  • * Fedora 32
  • * Debian 10.5
  • * RHEL 8.2
  • * CentOS 8.2
  • * SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 GA
  • * FreeBSD 11.4
  • * VMware ESXi 7.0
  • DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.1
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2 controller
  • VMs up to 32 virtual CPUs, 128 GB RAM and 8 GB VRAM
  • Dark Mode in Windows 10
  • vSphere 7.0 compatibility
  • VMs security enhanced by removing graphics render from vmx and running it as a separate sandbox process
  • Improves file transfer speeds, VMs shutdown time and virtual NVMe storage performance
  • Improves accessibility
  • The deprecation of shared VMs and restricted VMs features
  • Bug fixes
    • 16.1.0 Pro19 November 2020
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * New Microsoft Windows 10 builds
  • * Ubuntu 20.10
  • * Fedora 33
  • * RHEL 8.3vctl kind updated to support Kubernetes IN Docker v0.9.0
  • Docker Machine VMware Driver
  • Bug fixes
    • 16.1.1 Pro1 April 2021
  • Bug fixes
  • * VMNet driver related security improvements
    • 16.1.2 Pro17 May 2021
  • Security updates
    • 16.2.0 Pro14 October 2021
  • Added support for Vulkan renderer on a Linux host with Intel, Nvidia, and AMD GPUs
  • Added partial support for Windows 11 as host or guest machines
  • Host GPUs that do not support DirectX feature level 11.1 are supported but deprecated
  • Host CPUs that do not support Mode-based Execution Control are supported but deprecated
  • Security updates and bug fixes
    • 16.2.1 Pro9 November 2021
  • Bug fixes
    • 16.2.2 Pro18 January 2022
  • Security updates
    • 16.2.3 Pro10 March 2022
  • Bug fixes
    • 16.2.4 Pro21 July 2022
  • Bug fixes
    • 16.2.5 Pro7 December 2022
  • Bug fixes
  • Last version for Windows 8.1 on hosts
    • 17.0 Pro17 November 2022
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * New Microsoft Windows 11 builds
  • * Windows Server 2022
  • * Ubuntu 22.04
  • * RHEL 9
  • * Debian 11.x
  • New auto-start virtual machine feature
  • New virtual Trusted Platform Module 2.0
  • New full or fast encryption features
  • Support for OpenGL 4.3 and WDDM 1.2
  • Bug fixes
    • 17.0.1 Pro2 February 2023
  • Security updates and bug fixes
    • 17.0.2 Pro25 April 2023
  • Security updates and bug fixes
    • 17.5 Pro19 October 2023
  • Support for up to 256 NVMe devices
  • Support for NVMe 1.3
  • Upgraded encryption algorithm from CBC to XTS
  • New command line utility for controlling virtual machines
  • Support for importing or exporting virtual machines with vTPM device
  • Support for managing power operations of encrypted virtual machines using VMREST API
  • Security updates and bug fixes
    • 17.5.1 Pro27 February 2024
  • Fixed CVE-2024-22251 vulnerability
    • 17.5.2 Pro14 May 2024
  • Copyrights of program now link to Broadcom, VMware LLC's new owner
  • Introduced commercial and personal use subscriptions licensing model. For personal use, a product key won't be required
  • Workstation Player was discontinued as Workstation Pro became free for personal use
  • Fixed CVE-2024-22267, CVE-2024-22268, CVE-2024-22269, and CVE-2024-22270 vulnerabilities
  • Last version for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016 on hosts
    • 17.6 Pro3 September 2024
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * New Microsoft Windows 11 builds
  • * Windows Server 2025
  • * Ubuntu 24.04
  • * Fedora 40
  • New command line utility for directly interacting with the hypervisor from a Linux or macOS terminal, or the Windows command prompt
    • Removed features:
    • Legacy operating systems Tools ISOs omitted from program download
    • Bluetooth hub pass-through
    • Physical parallel port pass-through
    • Unity mode
    • Enhanced keyboard driver
    17.6.1 Pro10 October 2024
  • Bug fixes
    • 17.6.2 Pro17 December 2024
  • Bug fixes
  • Introduced a free licensing model for commercial, education, and personal use
    • 17.6.3 Pro4 March 2025
  • Fixed CVE-2025-22224 and CVE-2025-22226 vulnerabilities
  • Bug fixes
    • 17.6.4 Pro15 July 2025
  • Fixed CVE-2025-41236, CVE-2025-41237, CVE-2025-41238, and CVE-2025-41239 vulnerabilities
  • Fixed CVE-2025-2884 vulnerability
    • Pro 25H2 14 October 2025
  • Support for new guest operating systems
  • * Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • * Fedora 42
  • * SUSE Linux Enterprise 16
  • * OpenSUSE Leap 16.0
  • * Debian 13
  • * Oracle Linux 10
  • * VMware ESX 9.0
  • Support for new host operating systems
  • * Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • * Fedora Linux 42
  • * openSUSE Leap 16.0
  • * SUSE Linux 16
  • * Debian 13
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 controller
  • Update hardware compatibility to version v22
  • Support for Hyper-V/WHP detection
  • New command line utility for examining and modifying VMware configuration files

    • Host OS support

    Operating systemWorkstation release
    Windows 1116.2 and later
    Windows Server 202517.6 and later
    Windows Server 202217.0 and later
    Windows Server 201915.5 and later
    Windows 10 October 2020 Update and up16.0 and later
    Linux distributionsVaries


    Operating systemWorkstation release
    Windows 10 May 2020 Update 15.5.5–17.6.4
    Windows 10 November 2019 Update 14.1.8–17.6.4
    Windows 10 May 2019 Update 15.0–17.6.4
    Windows 10 October 2018 Update 14.0–17.6.4
    Windows 10 April 2018 Update 14.0–15.5
    Windows 10 Creators Update / Fall Creators Update 15.0–15.5
    Windows 10 Anniversary Update 12.5–14.0
    Windows 10 RTM and November Update 11.0–14.0
    Windows 8.110.0–16.2
    Windows 89.0–14.0
    Windows 77.1–15.5
    Windows Vista6.0–15.0
    Windows XP3.0–10.0.7
    Windows 20002.0–6.5
    Windows NT 4.01.0–4.5
    Windows Server 201614.0–17.5
    Windows Server 2012 R210.0–17.5
    Windows Server 20129.0–14.0
    Windows Server 2008 R28.0–15.5
    Windows Server 20086.0–10.0.7
    Windows Server 2003 R26.0–10.0.7
    Windows Server 20034.0–10.0.7

    Variants

    There used to be freeware-based version of VMware Workstation with a limited feature set. This version was at first known as VMware Player until VMware Player v7. In 2015 the two packages were combined as VMware Workstation 12, with a free VMware Workstation Player version which, on purchase of a player license key granted commercial use along with commercial support, while the purchase of a pro license key became the higher specification VMware Workstation Pro. VMware Workstation Player, like VMware Player before it, was free of charge for non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement. VMware Workstation Player was discontinued in 2024 due to redundancy after VMware Workstation Pro was made free for personal use. Before discontinuing VMware Workstation Player in 2024, VMware's website used to list the differences between VMware Workstation Player and Pro.

    VMware Tools

    VMware Tools, a package with drivers and other software available for the various guest operating systems VMware products support, installs in guest operating systems to add functionality. Tools is updated from time to time, with v13.0.5.0 on 26 September 2025. It has several components, including the following:
    • Drivers for emulated hardware:
    • * VESA-compliant graphics for the guest machine to access high screen resolutions and/or special window effects such as Windows Aero/Desktop Window Manager
    • * Network drivers for the vmxnet2 and vmxnet3 NIC
    • * Ensoniq AudioPCI audio
    • * Mouse integration
    • Support of shared folders and drag-and-drop file transfer between host and guest. This functionality is described as HGFS, and may be disabled by default for security; it may be enabled by changes to the.VMX configuration file
    • Clipboard sharing between host and guest
    • Time-synchronization capabilities
    • Support for Unity, dropped for Linux from v12 and for Windows from v17.6, a feature that allowed seamless integration of applications with the host desktop by hiding the monitor of the Virtual Machine and drawing the windows of applications running in the virtual machine on the host.

    Third-party resources

    Ready-to-use virtual machines

    Many ready-made virtual machines which run on VMware Workstation Player, VMware Workstation Pro, and other virtualization software are available with software for specific purposes ready-installed, either for purchase or free of charge. As one among many examples, there are free Linux-based "browser appliances" with the Firefox or other browser installed which can be used for safe Web browsing; if infected or damaged the VM can be discarded and replaced by a clean copy. Or the appliance can be configured to automatically reset itself after each use so that no changes, including personal information, modified files, damage, etc. are stored. VMs distributed legally only have freely distributable operating systems, as operating systems on VMs must be licensed; ready-to-use Microsoft Windows VMs, in particular, are not distributed, except for evaluation versions.

    Other tools

    • PowerWF - Provides a visual representation of VMware VIX scripts, converting them into workflows, or converting workflows into Powershell cmdlets and modules. VIX is VMware's addition to Microsoft's Powershell for automation of the VMware Player.