No. Each operating system runs in an isolated virtual machine window. Errors within an operating system or applications running in a virtual machine do not affect other virtual machines or the PC on which they are running. This is because VMware products have built-in error-protection and isolation capabilities for reliably running multiple virtual machines at the same time. For example, the host operating system is not affected by the operating system and applications that run inside the virtual machine. Furthermore, if an error occurs with the software running inside a virtual machine, the problem will be isolated to that particular virtual machine (the host and other virtual machines running on the host will not be affected).
VMware virtual machines are compatible with thousands of software packages -- applications whose minimum software requirements meet the virtual machine specifications. For example, the following popular applications can run inside a VMware virtual machine:
You can find a list of VMware Workstation system requirements by clicking here.
Refer to these addresses on the VMware website for more information about system requirements:
You'll find performance improvements throughout VMware Workstation in this release. Some of them - smoother mouse movement, for example - are obvious. Others operate behind the scenes to make more efficient use of the resources of your host machine and speed the performance of your virtual machines. There are many other new and improved features in this release. Here are some highlights.
Get a Better View of Your Virtual Machines
If you're running VMware Workstation on a Windows host, you'll notice some changes right away. The updated user interface provides better wizards for creating new virtual machines and adding devices to virtual machines, gives you more information about the state of your virtual machines and makes it easier to adjust configurations to suit your needs.
Use the Latest Microsoft Operating Systems
There's better support for Windows Me as guest operating system. And Windows XP is supported as both a guest and a host.
Connect to USB Devices
If your host and guest operating systems support USB, you can now connect USB devices to your virtual machine. Keep in mind that Windows NT and Windows 95 do not support USB. Linux support for USB is common only in kernels 2.2.18 and higher, though some distributions provided USB support on earlier kernels.
Create Big Virtual Disks
You can now create virtual disks as large as 128GB (virtual IDE hard disks) and 256GB (virtual SCSI hard disks). You can set up one large disk when you create a new virtual machine with the Configuration Wizard and add more large disks later, using the Configuration Editor.
Note: These new virtual disks use a new format and cannot be used under Workstation 2.0.
Connect to CD-ROM Image Files
You can now connect a virtual CD-ROM drive to either a physical drive or an ISO image file using the Configuration Editor.
Connect Directly to SCSI Devices
If you want to use a SCSI device that is not supported directly in the virtual machine - a scanner or tape drive, for example - you can now connect to it using the Generic SCSI device in the Configuration Editor.
Install VMware Tools More Easily
The VMware Tools package, essential for good performance in a guest operating system, has a number of improvements. It's simpler to install VMware Tools after you install your guest operating system. And the new version of VMware Tools provides an improved SVGA driver.
Use Your Notebook Docked and Undocked
Support for multiple networking configurations is improved, making it easier for you to use a virtual machine on a notebook host that is sometimes used in a docking station and sometimes used stand-alone.
Use Networking on SMP Hosts
Networking on SMP hosts is more robust than in previous versions of VMware Workstation.
VMware Tools is a supplemental software suite that includes two components:
VMware Tools is included with VMware Workstation.
Each virtual machine has a unique Media Access Control (MAC) address, a hardware address that uniquely identifies each node of a network. Hence all network protocols are supported, including: Internet Protocol (IP), Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX), NetBios Enhanced User Interface (NetBeui), and so on.
Each virtual machine's guest operating system is configured for any network protocol -- regardless of the protocol used by the host system.
VMware Workstation supports three types of networking:
>>More information on networking with VMware Workstation
Each virtual machine has its own unique IP address -- the IP address of the host is not shared nor spoofed.
No.
You can run a virtual machine that is stored on a shared network server. VMware Workstation can access virtual disks stored remotely on a file server. To enable this access, you must set up host-only or bridged networking for the virtual machine.
No. Simply choose to restore the original session settings and all changes made to the virtual machine during the session will be discarded.
Virtual networking allows Web-based, client/server, and peer-to-peer applications to run in multiple virtual machines -- on one standalone computer.
>>More about networking in virtual machines
You need enough memory to run the host operating system and its applications, plus enough memory to run each virtual machine's guest operating system and applications. VMware recommends 128MB, with a minimum of 96MB.
50% of the available memory on the host. However, this limit can be expanded by disabling memory limits.
More information will be provided in a later release.
More information will be provided in a later release.
You cannot install an upgrade version of an operating system in a virtual machine. You must have a full version of the operating system.
More information will be provided in a future release.
It is not possible to mask the CTRL-ALT-DEL event from the host operating system. Typing CTRL-ALT-DEL into a virtual machine will result in both the host operating system and the virtual machine receiving the CTRL-ALT-DEL. Workstation supports using CTRL-ALT-INSERT when inside a virtual machine and Workstation translates that into CTRL-ALT-DEL for the virtual machine.
A virtual machine cannot be run within a virtual machine. VMware recommends that you do not attempt this procedure. Attempts to run a virtual machine within a virtual machine may hang your system.
Yes, Workstation runs over a network. This, however, can have a substantial performance impact.
© 2001 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.