View source for Software:VMware Workstation

{{Infobox software
| name = VMware Workstation Pro
| logo = Vmware workstation 16 icon.svg
| logo caption = Current icon of VMware Workstation Pro used since Version 15.0
| screenshot = VMware Workstation screenshot.png
| caption = VMware Workstation Pro 25H2 virtualizing a [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] machine on a [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] host
| collapsible = 
| author = 
| developer = [[Company:VMware|VMware]]
| released = May 15, 1999<ref name="ThiruvathukalHinsen2010">{{cite journal | last1 = Thiruvathukal | first1 = George K | last2 = Hinsen | first2 = Konrad | last3 = Läufer | first3 = Konstantin | last4 = Kaylor | first4 = Joe | date = 2010 | title = Virtualization for Computational Scientists | journal = Computing in Science & Engineering | volume = 12 | issue = 4 | pages = 52–61 | issn = 1521-9615 | doi = 10.1109/MCSE.2010.92 | bibcode = 2010CSE....12d..52T | s2cid = 6472898 | url = https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00602510/file/Virtualization_for_Computational_Scientists.pdf}}</ref>
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|edit|P348}}
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P577}}|df=yes}}
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]]
| operating system = [[Software:Microsoft Windows|Windows]]<br />[[Software:Linux|Linux]]
| platform = [[IA-32]] (up to v10.0.7), [[X86-64|x86-64]]<ref name="sysreq-hostOS">{{cite web | title = Processor Requirements for Host Systems | url = https://pubs.vmware.com/workstation-9/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.ws.get_started.doc%2FGUID-BBD199AA-C346-4334-9F56-5A42F7328594.html | work = VMware Workstation 9 Documentation Center | publisher = VMware | access-date = 12 December 2012 | archive-date = 4 October 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181004021335/https://pubs.vmware.com/workstation-9/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.ws.get_started.doc%2FGUID-BBD199AA-C346-4334-9F56-5A42F7328594.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>
| language = <!--Anything besides English? With a source please. -->
| genre = [[Hypervisor]]
| license = [[Freeware]]
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
'''VMware Workstation Pro''' (known as '''VMware Workstation''' until release of VMware Workstation 12 in 2015) is a hosted (Type 2) [[Hypervisor|hypervisor]] that runs on x64 versions of Windows and Linux operating systems.<ref name="SPPOj">{{cite web | url=https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2129859 | access-date=2023-12-22 | title=Supported host operating systems for Workstation Pro 12.x, 14.x, 15.x (2129859) | archive-date=2017-07-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707135414/https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2129859 | url-status=dead }}</ref> It enables users to set up [[Virtual machine|virtual machine]]s (VMs) on a single physical machine and use them simultaneously along with the host machine. Each virtual machine can execute its own [[Operating system|operating system]], including versions of [[Software:Microsoft Windows|Microsoft Windows]], [[Software:Linux|Linux]], [[Software:Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]], and [[Software:MS-DOS|MS-DOS]]. VMware Workstation is developed and sold by [[Company:VMware|VMware]], which has been owned by [[Company:Broadcom|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 [[Software:VMware Workstation Player|VMware Workstation Player]] (formerly known as ''VMware Player''), included in Workstation, was dropped as a separate product.<ref>[https://www.zdnet.com/article/vmwares-fusion-pro-and-workstation-pro-are-now-free-for-personal-use-how-to-access-them/ VMware's Fusion Pro and Workstation Pro are now free for personal use] - ZDnet, 16 May 2024</ref>  In November 2024, VMware Workstation was made free for commercial use, with paid subscriptions and support no longer available.<ref name=nowfree>{{Cite web |last=Chuang |first=Mark |date=11 November 2024 |title=VMware Fusion and Workstation are Now Free for All Users |url=https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud-foundation/2024/11/11/vmware-fusion-and-workstation-are-now-free-for-all-users/ |website=VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog |access-date=16 November 2024 |archive-date=16 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241116181314/https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud-foundation/2024/11/11/vmware-fusion-and-workstation-are-now-free-for-all-users/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

VMware Workstation supports [[Network bridge|bridging]] existing host [[Engineering:Network interface controller|network adapter]]s and sharing physical disk drives and [[Engineering:USB|USB]] devices with a virtual machine. It can simulate disk drives; an [[ISO image]] file can be [[Mount (computing)|mounted]] as a virtual [[Engineering:Optical disc drive|optical disc drive]], and virtual [[Engineering:Hard disk drive|hard disk drive]]s are implemented as .vmdk files.

VMware Workstation Pro can save the state of a virtual machine (a "snapshot") at any instant. These snapshots can later be restored, effectively returning the virtual machine to the saved state,<ref name="o7klG">{{cite web |last=Warren |first=Steven |url=http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/virtualization-coach/?p=143 |title=Snapshots in VMware Workstation |publisher=Blogs.techrepublic.com.com |date=2008-11-20 |access-date=2012-09-13 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707022902/http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/virtualization-coach/?p=143 |archive-date=2012-07-07 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.

== History ==
VMware was first released on 15 May 1999.<ref name="v1x" />

=== 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.<ref name="download">{{cite web |url=https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0 |title=Download VMware Workstation Player |website=VMware |author=<!--not stated--> |access-date=11 May 2016 |archive-date=20 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620024158/https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0 |url-status=dead }} Download site for VMware Player 7.x and Workstation Player 12.x</ref> In January 2016, the entire development team behind VMware Workstation and Fusion was disbanded and all US developers were immediately fired.<ref name="wqpmw">{{cite web |url=http://ir.vmware.com/default.aspx?SectionId=5cc5ecae-6c48-4521-a1ad-480e593e4835&LanguageId=1&PressReleaseId=e2fb62b8-b4a0-4a64-853b-bce3b3b51948 |title=VMware Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Results |website=ir.vmware.com |date=26 January 2016 |author=<!--not stated--> |access-date=13 April 2016 |archive-date=22 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422202202/http://ir.vmware.com/default.aspx?SectionId=5cc5ecae-6c48-4521-a1ad-480e593e4835&LanguageId=1&PressReleaseId=e2fb62b8-b4a0-4a64-853b-bce3b3b51948 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="LioAM">{{Cite web|title = VMware axes Fusion and Workstation US devs|url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/27/vmware_fusion_and_workstation_development_team_fired/|access-date = 2016-01-28|website = The Register|archive-date = 2017-08-06|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170806202359/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/27/vmware_fusion_and_workstation_development_team_fired/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="nc3jJ">{{Cite web|title = VMware Confirms Layoffs In Earnings Statement As It Prepares For Dell Acquisition|url = https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/26/vmware-confirms-layoffs-in-earnings-statement-as-it-prepares-for-dell-acquisition/|website = TechCrunch|access-date = 2016-01-28|first = Ron|last = Miller|date = 26 January 2016|archive-date = 2017-06-29|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170629073216/https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/26/vmware-confirms-layoffs-in-earnings-statement-as-it-prepares-for-dell-acquisition/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="jHR2U">{{Cite web|title = A Tribute to VMware Workstation, Fusion, and Hosted UI|url = http://blog.chipx86.com/2016/01/26/a-tribute-to-vmware-workstation-fusion-and-hosted-ui/|website = ChipLog|access-date = 2016-01-28|date = 26 January 2016|archive-date = 2016-01-30|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160130080405/http://blog.chipx86.com/2016/01/26/a-tribute-to-vmware-workstation-fusion-and-hosted-ui/|url-status = live}}</ref> 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".<ref name="KibkI">{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/08/vmware-says-were-not-dead-updates-fusion-and-workstation-for-free/|title=VMware says, "We're not dead," updates Fusion and Workstation for free|date=30 August 2016|author=Jon Brodkin|website=ARS Technica|access-date=15 February 2019|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402222206/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/08/vmware-says-were-not-dead-updates-fusion-and-workstation-for-free/|url-status=live}}</ref> Consequently, on September 13, Workstation 12.5 and Fusion 8.5 were released as free upgrades which added support for [[Software:Windows 10#Redstone|Windows 10 Anniversary Update]] and [[Software:Windows Server 2016|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Roy |first=Michael |date=13 May 2024 |title=VMware Workstation Pro: Now Available Free for Personal Use |url=https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2024/05/vmware-workstation-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html |access-date=14 May 2024 |website=VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517110514/https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2024/05/vmware-workstation-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref name=nowfree/>

===Version history===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Legend
|-
! Color
! Meaning
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | Red
| Unsupported release
|-
| style="background:#a0e75a;" | Green
| Current or still supported release
|-
| style="background:skyBlue;" | Blue
| Future release
|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! Version
! Release date
! Significant changes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.0<ref name="v1x">{{cite web|title=VMware 1.0.x Changelog Archive|url=http://vmware.com:80/support/newinrelease.html|website=VMware|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991013103703/http://vmware.com/support/newinrelease.html|archive-date=13 October 1999|access-date=8 November 2021}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 15 May 1999
| First release
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.0.1{{r|v1x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 14 June 1999
|
* Added support of Linux kernel 2.3.x
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.0.2{{r|v1x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 25 June 1999
|
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.0.3{{r|v1x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 20 July 1999
|
* New product logo and icons
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.1 for Linux<ref name="v1.1x">{{cite web|title=What's New in VMware 1.1 for Linux?|url=http://www.vmware.com/support/changes_linux.html|website=VMware|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991127111912/http://www.vmware.com/support/changes_linux.html|archive-date=27 November 1999}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 11 October 1999
| First Linux release
* Added support of [[Software:Windows 2000|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 [[Software:RPM Package Manager|RPM]] installations
* Improved SMP performance in Linux kernel versions 2.2.8 and later
* Improved built-in help
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.1.1 for Linux{{r|v1.1x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 18 October 1999
|
* Added support of [[Software:Red Hat Linux|Red Hat Linux]] 6.1
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.1.2 for Linux{{r|v1.1x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 13 November 1999
|
* Changes in the handling of virtual disks
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 1.0.1 for Windows<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation Release and Build Number History|url=https://www.virten.net/vmware/workstation-release-and-build-number-history|website=virten.net|accessdate=2023-05-27}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 15 November 1999
|
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 2.0<ref name="v2x">{{cite web|title=Workstation 2.0 - What's New?|url=http://www.vmware.com/support/ws2/doc/whatsnew_ws_win.html|website=VMware|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010609004631/http://www.vmware.com/support/ws2/doc/whatsnew_ws_win.html|archive-date=9 June 2001|access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 3 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
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 2.0.1{{r|v2x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 19 June 2000
|
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 2.0.2{{r|v2x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 1 August 2000
|
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 2.0.3{{r|v2x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 2 November 2000
|
* Improved mouse performance
* Added support for wheel mouse
* Added support for installation of SVGA driver in a Windows Me guest machines
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 2.0.4{{r|v2x}}
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 21 May 2001
|
* Added support of Red Hat Linux 7.1 and [[Software:SUSE Linux|SUSE Linux]] 7.1
* Increased default memory size of a Linux virtual machine to 64&nbsp;MB
* Added support of [[Engineering:Pentium 4|Pentium 4]] processors
* Added support for Windows 2000 hosts with CD-ROM drives configured for digital audio
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 3.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 3.0 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/releasenotes_ws3.html|website=VMware|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020213014149/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/releasenotes_ws3.html|archive-date=13 February 2002}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 11 November 2001
|
* Added support of reading [[Engineering:DVD|DVD]] discs
* Added support of reading [[Engineering:Enhanced CD|enhanced CD]] discs in the raw access mode
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 3.1<ref>{{cite web|title=List of VMware Workstation Release Builds|url=https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/List-of-VMware-Workstation-Release-Builds/td-p/2710519|date=1 October 2013|website=VMTN Communities|accessdate=2023-05-27|archive-date=2023-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527054012/https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/List-of-VMware-Workstation-Release-Builds/td-p/2710519|url-status=live}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 29 March 2002
|
* Increased performance
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 3.1.1<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 3.1 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/releasenotes_ws31.html|website=VMware|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020606175433/http://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/releasenotes_ws31.html|archive-date=6 June 2002|access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 9 April 2002
|
* Increased performance
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 3.2<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 3.2 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/releasenotes_ws32.html |date=16 September 2002 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129101155/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/releasenotes_ws32.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 16 September 2002
|
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 4.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 4.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws4/doc/releasenotes_ws4.html |date=7 April 2003 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129085302/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws4/doc/releasenotes_ws4.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 7 April 2003
| Single snapshots
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 4.5<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 4.5 |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/releasenotes_ws45.html |date=15 March 2004 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225134037/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/releasenotes_ws45.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 15 March 2004
| Last version for [[Software:Windows NT 4.0|Windows NT 4.0]] on hosts
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 5.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 5.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/releasenotes_ws5.html |date=7 April 2005 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513131350/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/releasenotes_ws5.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 7 April 2005
|
* Multiple snapshots
* Linked clones
* Teams
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 5.5<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 5.5 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/releasenotes_ws55.html |date=29 November 2005 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128200215/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/releasenotes_ws55.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 29 November 2005
|
* Introduced support of [[X86 virtualization#Intel virtualization (VT-x)|Intel VT-x/AMD-V]] virtualization instructions, as well as x86-64 and multi-processor virtual machines<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Announces Availability of New Feature-Packed Release of Its Powerful Desktop Virtualization Software|url=http://www.vmware.com/news/releases/ws55.html|date=2005-11-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051214105353/http://www.vmware.com/news/releases/ws55.html|access-date=2022-02-08|archive-date=2005-12-14}}</ref>
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 6.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 6.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws6/doc/releasenotes_ws6.html |date=9 May 2007 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129111235/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws6/doc/releasenotes_ws6.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 9 May 2007
|
* Multiple monitor support
* Background virtual machines
* High-speed USB devices (EHCI)
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 6.5<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 6.5 Release Notes |url=http://www.vmware.com/support/ws65/doc/releasenotes_ws65.html |date=23 September 2008 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922093832/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws65/doc/releasenotes_ws65.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 23 September 2008
|
* Final version to support CPUs without PAE<ref name="063Ps">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws7/doc/releasenotes_ws7.html#upgradeissues|title=VMware Workstation 7.0 Release Notes|website=www.vmware.com|access-date=2016-09-13|archive-date=2016-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912212011/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws7/doc/releasenotes_ws7.html#upgradeissues|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Record Replay<ref name="uoDKQ">{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2008/08/introducing-rep.html|title=Introducing Replay Debugging: the end of the heisbenbug? - VMTN Blog|date=2008-08-30|access-date=2016-09-12|archive-date=2016-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011144806/http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2008/08/introducing-rep.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Unicode
* Unity mode
* Last version for [[Software:Windows 2000|Windows 2000]] on hosts
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 7.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 7.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws7/doc/releasenotes_ws7.html |date=10 October 2009 |access-date=13 September 2016 |archive-date=12 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912212011/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws7/doc/releasenotes_ws7.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 10 October 2009
|
* Replay Debugging (improved Record Replay)<ref name="L50pB">{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2010/01/replay-debugging-try-it-today.html|title=Replay Debugging – Try it Today! - VMware Workstation Zealot|date=2010-01-19|access-date=2016-09-12|archive-date=2016-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011120203/http://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2010/01/replay-debugging-try-it-today.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 7.1<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 7.1 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws71/doc/releasenotes_ws71.html |date=25 May 2010 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129112043/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws71/doc/releasenotes_ws71.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 25 May 2010
|
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 8.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 8.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws80/doc/releasenotes_workstation_80.html |date=14 September 2011 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109184017/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws80/doc/releasenotes_workstation_80.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 14 September 2011
|
* Shared Virtual Machines
* Workstation 8 is the first version that requires an x64-compatible CPU.
* Replay Debugging removed<ref name="7e85e">{{Cite web|url=http://www.replaydebugging.com/2011/09/goodbye-replay-debugging.html|title=Better Software Development with Replay Debugging: Goodbye, Replay Debugging…|website=www.replaydebugging.com|access-date=2016-09-12}}</ref>
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 9.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 9.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws90/doc/workstation-90-release-notes.html |date=23 August 2012 |access-date=24 May 2016 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124914/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws90/doc/workstation-90-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 23 August 2012
|
* USB 3.0 support for Linux and Windows 8 guests
* [[Software:OpenGL|OpenGL]] driver for Linux guests
* Improved graphics subsystem
* Restricted Virtual Machines
* Added support of [[Software:Windows 8|Windows 8]], [[Software:Windows Server 2012|Windows Server 2012]] and [[Software:Ubuntu version history#1204|Ubuntu 12.04]]
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 10.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-10-release-notes.html |date=3 September 2013 |access-date=24 May 2016 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124913/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-10-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 3 September 2013
|
* Added support of [[Software:Windows 8.1|Windows 8.1]], Windows Server 2012 R2 and [[Software:Ubuntu version history#1310|Ubuntu 13.10]]
* VMware hardware version 10
** 16 vCPUs
** 8 [[Terabyte|TB]] disks
** New virtual [[Engineering:Serial ATA|SATA]] disk controller
** USB 3.0 streams support
** SSD pass-through
* Expiring Virtual Machines
* Virtual tablet sensors
** [[Physics:Accelerometer|Accelerometer]]
** [[Software:Gyroscope|Gyroscope]]
** [[Company:Compass|Compass]]
** [[Physics:Ambient light sensor|Ambient light sensor]]
* [[User interface]] enhancements
* Cloud Management Tools
* VMware [[Engineering:KVM switch|KVM]]
* WSX 1.1
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0.1<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 10.0.1 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1001-release-notes.html|date=24 October 2013}} </ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 24 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
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0.2<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 10.0.2 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1002-release-notes.html|date=17 April 2014|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029084928/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1002-release-notes.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 17 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.
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0.3<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 10.0.3 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1003-release-notes.html|date=1 July 2014|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420204727/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1003-release-notes.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 1 July 2014
|
* VMware Workstation 10.0.3 has been updated to the OPENSSL library version openssl-0.9.8za where necessary to address {{CVE|2014-0224|2014-0198|2010-5298|2014-3470}}.
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0.4<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 10.0.4 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1004-release-notes.html|date=30 October 2014|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=11 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211213353/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1004-release-notes.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 30 October 2014
|
* Fixes memory issue in Workstation on Microsoft Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012.
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0.5<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 10.0.5 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1005-release-notes.html|date=27 January 2015|access-date=10 February 2015|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124914/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1005-release-notes.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 27 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 (for shared folders) causes VMware Tools to crash randomly with the error: Exception 0xc0000005 (access violation) 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.
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0.6<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 10.0.6 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1005-release-notes.html|date=5 May 2015|access-date=10 February 2015|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124914/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1005-release-notes.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 5 May 2015
|
* Fixed a problem when uploading a virtual machine with Workstation 10.0.x to ESXi 6.0.
|-
|style="background:salmon" | 10.0.7<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 10.0.7 Release Notes|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1005-release-notes.html|date=2 July 2015|access-date=10 February 2015|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124914/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws10/doc/workstation-1005-release-notes.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 2 July 2015
|
* Security fixes
* Last version for [[Software:Windows XP|Windows XP]], [[Software:Windows Server 2003|Windows Server 2003]], [[Software:Windows Vista|Windows Vista]] and [[Software:Windows Server 2008|Windows Server 2008]] on hosts
* Final version to support 32-bit Windows editions on hosts
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 11.0<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 11.0 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-11-release-notes.html |date=1 December 2014 |access-date=9 December 2014 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124912/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-11-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 1 December 2014
|
* Added support of [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]], [[Software:Ubuntu version history#1410|Ubuntu 14.10]], [[Software:Red Hat Enterprise Linux|RHEL 7]], [[Software:CentOS|CentOS 7]], Fedora 20 and [[Software:Debian|Debian 7.6]]
* VMware hardware version 11
** 2&nbsp;GB Video memory per VM
* Connection to VMware vCloud Air
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 11.1<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 11.1 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-111-release-notes.html |date=17 February 2015 |access-date=25 February 2015 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124916/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-111-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 17 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 (SLE) 12, the Easy Install path was not available.
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 11.1.1<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 11.1.1 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-1111-release-notes.html |date=9 June 2015 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124913/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-1111-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 9 June 2015
|
* Critical security fix for {{CVE|2012-0897|2015-2336|2015-2337|2015-2338|2015-2339|2015-2340|2015-2341}}
** 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.
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 11.1.2<ref>{{cite web |title=VMware Workstation 11.1.2 Release Notes |url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-1112-release-notes.html |date=15 June 2015 |access-date=18 June 2015 |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001171734/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws/doc/workstation-1112-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 15 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.
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 12.0.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-12-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Player Version 12 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=24 August 2015 |archive-date=27 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150827175819/http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-12-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 24 August 2015
| The following features have reached end of life in Workstation 12 Pro and have been removed:<ref name="disunity" />
* 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
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 12.0.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12player/player-1201-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Player Version 12.0.1 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=11 December 2015 |archive-date=22 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222085247/https://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12player/player-1201-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 29 October 2015
| rowspan="3" | 
* Bug fixes
* Last version for [[Software:Windows Server 2008 R2|Windows Server 2008 R2]] on hosts
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 12.1.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12player/player-121-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Player Version 12.1 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |date=8 December 2015 |access-date=11 December 2015 |archive-date=13 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151213024836/http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12player/player-121-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 8 December 2015
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 12.1.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0|title=Download VMware Workstation Player (always links to latest v12.x and previous versions and release notes)|website=VMware|date=2016|access-date=1 June 2016|archive-date=20 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620024158/https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="latestpro">{{cite web |url=https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_pro/12_0 |title=Download VMware Workstation Pro (always links to latest v12.x and previous versions and release notes) |website=VMware |date=2016 |access-date=1 June 2016 |archive-date=24 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624142812/https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_pro/12_0 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 21 April 2016
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 12.5&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-125-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5 Release Notes|website=pubs.vmware.com|access-date=2016-09-13}} </ref><ref name="latestpro" />
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 13 September 2016
|
* The announced<ref name="v12_5">{{cite web|url=http://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2016/08/vmware-fusion-workstation-12-5-details-download/|title=VMware says "we're not dead," updates Fusion and Workstation for free|date=30 August 2016|website=Arstechnica.co.uk|author=Jon Brodkin|access-date=8 September 2016}}</ref> release date of 8 September 2016<ref name="jPVkJ">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vladan.fr/vmware-workstation-12-5-and-fusion-8-5-free-upgrade/|title=VMware Workstation 12.5 and Fusion 8.5 - Free Upgrade - ESX Virtualization|date=2016-08-31|access-date=2016-09-12|archive-date=2016-09-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913125922/http://www.vladan.fr/vmware-workstation-12-5-and-fusion-8-5-free-upgrade/|url-status=live}}</ref> was missed due to [https://twitter.com/vmw_workstation/status/774142019908141058 a nasty bug]
* Compatible with Windows 10 Anniversary Update (v1607)
|-
| style="background:salmon" | 12.5.1&nbsp;Pro<ref name="uyRBe">{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1251-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.1 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=29 October 2016 |archive-date=29 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029012124/http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1251-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 27 October 2016
| Bug fixes, security updates for undisclosed vulnerabilities and performance improvements.
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.2&nbsp;Pro<ref name="X6cRj">{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1252-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.2 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=14 November 2016 |archive-date=14 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114235241/http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1252-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 13 November 2016
| This 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.
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.3&nbsp;Pro<ref name="1B0nB">{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1253-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.3 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=14 March 2017 |archive-date=13 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313041814/http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1253-release-notes.html? |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 9 March 2017
| Bug 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
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.4&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1254-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.4 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=14 March 2017 |archive-date=15 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315000716/http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1254-release-notes.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 14 March 2017
| This 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.
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.5&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1255-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.5 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=2 April 2017 |archive-date=1 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401184325/http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1255-release-notes.html? |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 28 March 2017
| This 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 (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifiers {{CVE|2017-4902}} (heap issue) and {{CVE|2017-4903}} (stack issue) 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 (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier {{CVE|2017-4904}} to this issue.
* VMware Workstation Pro has uninitialized memory usage. This issue might lead to an information leak. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier {{CVE|2017-4905}} to this issue.
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.6&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1256-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.6 Release Notes |publisher=VMware }} </ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 18 May 2017
| This release includes the following highlights:
* Day 0 support of the Windows 10 Creators Update (v1703)
* Bug fixes and security updates
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.7&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/workstation/12pro/workstation-1257-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.7 Release Notes |publisher=VMware }} </ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 22 June 2017
| This release of VMware Workstation Pro includes some bug fixes and security updates.
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.8&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/12.0/rn/workstation-1258-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.8 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2017-12-04|archive-date=2017-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205194615/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/12.0/rn/workstation-1258-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 16 November 2017
| Support added for:
* RHEL 7.4
* Oracle Linux 7.3
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 12.5.9&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/12.0/rn/workstation-1259-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 12 Pro Version 12.5.9 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-date=2018-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429091825/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/12.0/rn/workstation-1259-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 10 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 {{CVE|2018-5715}} (also called by the name "Spectre").
|-
| style="background:salmon;" | 14.0.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14.0.0/rn/workstation-14-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.0.0 Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=2017-09-28 |archive-date=2017-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927202311/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14.0.0/rn/workstation-14-release-notes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|style="white-space:nowrap;" | 26 September 2017
| This major version release includes the following highlights:
* Updated to support the newest versions of [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] (including Enterprise), and [[Software:Windows Server 2016|Windows Server]] editions, as well as various [[Software:Linux|Linux]] distributions
* Updated support for the latest [[Company:Intel|Intel]] and [[Engineering:AMD|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 (VBS)
* Improved Virtual Networking
* New and improved support and controls for working with [[Software:VMware vSphere|vSphere]] and the [[Software:VMware Server|vCenter Server Appliance]]
* Network latency simulator
* New remote vSphere controls
* Last version for [[Software:Windows 8|Windows 8]] and [[Software:Windows Server 2012|Windows Server 2012]] on hosts
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-141-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-date=2018-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126125831/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-141-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 21 December 2017
|
* This release delivers improved guest support of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (v1709)
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1411-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.1 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2018-03-26|archive-date=2018-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326202342/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1411-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 9 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 {{CVE|2018-5715}} (also called by the name "Spectre").
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.2&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1412-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.2 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2018-05-22|archive-date=2018-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522181513/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1412-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 21 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 (v1803)
* Ubuntu 18.04 support as host and guest
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.3&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1413-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.3 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2018-08-15|archive-date=2018-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815091207/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1413-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 14 August 2018
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.4&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1414-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.4 Release Notes|publisher=VMware}}</ref>
| 11 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 (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2018-6981 to this issue.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.5&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1415-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.5 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2020-11-30|archive-date=2020-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214025746/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1415-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 23 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 (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2018-6983 to this issue.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.6&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1416-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.6 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2020-11-30|archive-date=2020-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210092756/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1416-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 14 March 2019
|
This 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 (cve.mitre.org) 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 (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2019-5512 to this issue.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.7&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/workstation-1417-release-notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.7 Release Notes|publisher=VMware}}</ref>
| 29 March 2019
|
* Workstation contains an out-of-bounds read/write vulnerability and a Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) vulnerability in the virtual USB UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface). These issues may allow a guest to execute code on the host. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifiers CVE-2019-5518 (out-of-bounds read/write) and CVE-2019-5519 (TOCTOU) to these issues.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 14.1.8&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/VMware-Workstation-1418-Pro-Release-Notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 14 Pro Version 14.1.8 Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2019-12-12|archive-date=2019-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212200643/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/14/rn/VMware-Workstation-1418-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 12 November 2019
|
This 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&nbsp;KB updates were applied.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.0.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-15-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2018-09-25|archive-date=2018-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925142139/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-15-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 24 September 2018
| This major version release includes the following highlights:
* Support for new [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] builds (including Enterprise) as well as various [[Software:Linux|Linux]] distributions
* [[4K resolution|4K resolution]].
* [[Software:Direct3D#Direct3D 10|DirectX 10.1]].
* Shared graphics memory limit increased to 3&nbsp;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.
* [[Software:Wayland (protocol)|Wayland protocol]].
* Improves performance for virtual NVMe storage.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.0.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-1501-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15.0.1 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2019-01-26|archive-date=2021-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124060816/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-1501-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 9 November 2018
|
* Support for the new versions of various [[Software:Linux|Linux]] distributions.
* Bug fixes and security updates.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.0.2 Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-1502-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15.0.2 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware}}</ref>
| 22 November 2018
|
* Support for new [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] builds (including Enterprise) and [[Software:Windows Server 2019|Windows Server 2019]].
* Bug fixes and security updates.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.0.3&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-1503-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15.0.3 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2019-03-16|archive-date=2019-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331225905/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-1503-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 14 March 2019
|
* Bug fixes and security updates.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.0.4&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-1504-release-notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15.0.4 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2019-03-31|archive-date=2019-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331225846/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/workstation-1504-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 29 March 2019
|
* Bug fixes and security updates.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.1.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15/rn/VMware-Workstation-151-Pro-Release-Notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15.1 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware}}</ref>
| 14 May 2019
|
* Support for new guest operating systems
** New [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] builds (including Enterprise)
** [[Software:Ubuntu version history#1904|Ubuntu 19.04]]
** [[Software:Red Hat Enterprise Linux|RHEL 8]]
** [[Software:Fedora Linux release history#Fedora Linux 30|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
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.5.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-155-Pro-Release-Notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15.5.0 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2019-09-20|archive-date=2019-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920154312/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-155-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 19 September 2019
|
* Support for new guest operating systems
** New [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] builds (including Enterprise)
** [[Software:Debian version history#Debian 9 (Stretch)|Debian 9.11]] & [[Software:Debian version history#Debian 10 (Buster)|10]]
** [[Software:Oracle Linux#Release history|Oracle Linux 8.0]]
** [[Software:SUSE Linux Enterprise#Version history|SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1]]
** [[Software:FreeBSD#Version history|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 (PVSCSI)
* Open Virtual Machine Tools (<code>open-vm-tools</code>), previously known as VMWare Tools, is made default for applicable Linux guests in this version
* Bug fixes and security updates.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.5.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1551-Pro-Release-Notes.html|title=VMware Workstation 15.5.1 Pro Release Notes|publisher=VMware|access-date=2019-11-14|archive-date=2019-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114235827/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1551-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 12 November 2019
| rowspan="2" |
* Bug fixes and security updates
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.5.2&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1552-Pro-Release-Notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 15.5.2 Pro Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=2020-03-15 |archive-date=2020-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616100715/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1552-Pro-Release-Notes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 12 March 2020
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.5.5&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1555-Pro-Release-Notes.html |title=VMware Workstation 15.5.5 Pro Release Notes |publisher=VMware |access-date=2020-06-16 |archive-date=2020-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615134900/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1555-Pro-Release-Notes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 28 May 2020
|
* VMware Workstation 15.5.5 now runs on Windows hosts with Hyper-V features (For example: virtualization based security) enabled.
* Support for new guest operating systems
** New [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] builds (including Enterprise)
** [[Software:Ubuntu version history#Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)|Ubuntu 20.04]]
** [[Software:Fedora Linux release history#Fedora Linux 32|Fedora 32]]
* Bug fixes and security updates
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.5.6&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 15.5.6 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1556-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2020-06-16|archive-date=2020-06-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616100712/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1556-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 9 June 2020
|
* Bug fixes and security updates
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 15.5.7&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 15.5.7 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1557-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2020-11-26|archive-date=2020-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124162946/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1557-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 19 November 2020
|
* Bug fixes and security updates
* Last version for [[Software:Windows 7|Windows 7]] on hosts. Note: If version 16 did not drop [[Software:Windows 7|Windows 7]] support until version 16.2.5, it would not require Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 8 or later.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16/rn/VMware-Workstation-16-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2020-09-15|archive-date=2020-09-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917060059/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16/rn/VMware-Workstation-16-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|15 September 2020
|This major version release includes the following highlights:
* Support for new guest operating systems
** New [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] builds (including Enterprise)
** [[Software:Ubuntu version history#Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)|Ubuntu 20.04]]
** [[Software:Fedora Linux release history#Fedora Linux 32|Fedora 32]]
** [[Software:Debian version history#Debian 10 (Buster)|Debian 10.5]]
** [[Software:Red Hat Enterprise Linux#RHEL 8|RHEL 8.2]]
** [[Software:CentOS|CentOS]] 8.2
** [[Software:SUSE Linux Enterprise#Version history|SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 GA]]
** [[Software:FreeBSD version history#FreeBSD 11|FreeBSD 11.4]]
** VMware ESXi 7.0
* [[Software:Direct3D#Direct3D 11|DirectX 11]] and [[Software:OpenGL#OpenGL 4.1|OpenGL 4.1]]
* USB 3.2 Gen 2 controller (up to 10 Gbit/s)
* VMs up to 32 virtual CPUs, 128&nbsp;GB RAM and 8&nbsp;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 (drag and drop, copy and paste), VMs shutdown time and virtual NVMe storage performance
* Improves accessibility (compliant with [[Web Content Accessibility Guidelines#WCAG 2.1|WCAG 2.1]] criteria)
* The deprecation of shared VMs and restricted VMs features
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.1.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.1.0 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.1.0/rn/VMware-Workstation-1610-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2020-11-21|archive-date=2020-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120084223/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.1.0/rn/VMware-Workstation-1610-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|19 November 2020
|
* Support for new guest operating systems
** New [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] builds (including Enterprise)
** [[Software:Ubuntu version history#Ubuntu 20.10 (Groovy Gorilla)|Ubuntu 20.10]]
** [[Software:Fedora Linux release history#Fedora Linux 33|Fedora 33]]
** [[Software:Red Hat Enterprise Linux#RHEL 8|RHEL 8.3]]
* <code>vctl kind</code> updated to support Kubernetes IN Docker v0.9.0
* Docker Machine VMware Driver (<code>docker-machine-driver-vmware</code>)
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.1.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.1.1 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.1.1/rn/VMware-Workstation-1611-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2021-04-10|archive-date=2021-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414020802/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.1.1/rn/VMware-Workstation-1611-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|1 April 2021
|
* Bug fixes
** VMNet driver related security improvements
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.1.2&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.1.2 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.1.2/rn/VMware-Workstation-1612-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2021-06-06|archive-date=2021-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606152830/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.1.2/rn/VMware-Workstation-1612-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|17 May 2021
|
* Security updates
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.2.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.2.0 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.0/rn/VMware-Workstation-1620-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2021-10-15|archive-date=2021-10-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014202824/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.0/rn/VMware-Workstation-1620-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|14 October 2021
|
* Added support for [[Software:Vulkan|Vulkan]] renderer on a Linux host with Intel, Nvidia, and AMD GPUs
* Added partial support for [[Software:Windows 11|Windows 11]] as host or guest machines<ref name="win11">{{Cite web |last=Michael |first=Roy |date=October 14, 2021 |title=Workstation 16.2 Now Available |url=https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2021/10/workstation-16-2-now-available.html |access-date=February 26, 2022 |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226124018/https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2021/10/workstation-16-2-now-available.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Host GPUs that do not support [[Software:DirectX|DirectX]] feature level 11.1 are supported but deprecated<ref>{{Cite web | title=Fix 3D acceleration disabled - DirectX 11.1 not supported issue since VMware Workstation 16 - VMware - Tutorials - InformatiWeb Pro | url=https://us.informatiweb-pro.net/virtualization/vmware/vmware-workstation-17-16-3d-acceleration-disabled-directx-11-1-not-supported-solution.html | access-date=2025-08-18 | website=us.informatiweb-pro.net}}</ref>
* Host CPUs that do not support Mode-based Execution Control are supported but deprecated
* Security updates and bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.2.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.2.1 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.1/rn/VMware-Workstation-1621-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2021-11-10|archive-date=2021-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110155020/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.1/rn/VMware-Workstation-1621-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|9 November 2021
|
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.2.2&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.2.2 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.2/rn/VMware-Workstation-1622-Pro-Release-Notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2022-01-22|archive-date=2022-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123041051/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.2/rn/VMware-Workstation-1622-Pro-Release-Notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|18 January 2022
|
* Security updates
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.2.3&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.2.3 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.3/rn/vmware-workstation-pro-1623-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2022-03-27|archive-date=2022-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317001913/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.3/rn/vmware-workstation-pro-1623-release-notes/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|10 March 2022
|
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.2.4&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.2.4 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.4/rn/vmware-workstation-1624-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2022-07-23|archive-date=2022-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723025608/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.4/rn/vmware-workstation-1624-pro-release-notes/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|21 July 2022
|
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 16.2.5&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 16.2.5 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.2.5/rn/vmware-workstation-1624-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware}}</ref>
|7 December 2022
|
* Bug fixes
* Last version for [[Software:Windows 8.1|Windows 8.1]] on hosts. Note: If version 16 did not drop [[Software:Windows 7|Windows 7]] support until this version, it would not require Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 8 or later.
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.0&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.0 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.0/rn/vmware-workstation-170-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2022-11-18|archive-date=2022-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118014157/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.0/rn/vmware-workstation-170-pro-release-notes/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|17 November 2022
|
* Support for new guest operating systems
** New [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 11|Windows 11]] builds (including Enterprise)
** [[Software:Windows Server 2022|Windows Server 2022]]
** [[Software:Ubuntu version history#Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)|Ubuntu 22.04]]
** [[Software:Red Hat Enterprise Linux#RHEL 9|RHEL 9]]
** [[Software:Debian version history#Debian 11 (Bullseye)|Debian 11.x]]
* New auto-start virtual machine feature
* New virtual [[Software:Trusted Platform Module|Trusted Platform Module]] (TPM) 2.0
* New full or fast encryption features
* Support for OpenGL 4.3 and WDDM 1.2
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.0.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.0 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.0.1/rn/vmware-workstation-1701-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware}}</ref>
|2 February 2023
|
* Security updates and bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.0.2&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.0.2 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.0.2/rn/vmware-workstation-1702-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2023-05-21|archive-date=2023-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521030159/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.0.2/rn/vmware-workstation-1702-pro-release-notes/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|25 April 2023
|
* Security updates and bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.5&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.5 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.5/rn/vmware-workstation-175-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware}}</ref>
|19 October 2023
|
* Support for up to 256 NVMe devices (4 controllers and 64 devices per controller)
* Support for NVMe 1.3
* Upgraded encryption algorithm from [[Disk encryption theory#Cipher-block chaining (CBC)|CBC]] to [[Disk encryption theory#XEX-based tweaked-codebook mode with ciphertext stealing (XTS)|XTS]]
* New {{code|VMRUN}} 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
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.5.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.5.1 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.5.1/rn/vmware-workstation-1751-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2024-02-28|archive-date=2024-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228015131/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.5.1/rn/vmware-workstation-1751-pro-release-notes/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|27 February 2024
|
* Fixed CVE-2024-22251 vulnerability
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.5.2&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{Cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.5.2 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.5.2/rn/vmware-workstation-1752-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2024-05-14|archive-date=2024-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514170936/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.5.2/rn/vmware-workstation-1752-pro-release-notes/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|14 May 2024
|
* Copyrights of program now link to [[Company:Broadcom|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<ref name=":0" />
* Fixed CVE-2024-22267, CVE-2024-22268, CVE-2024-22269, and CVE-2024-22270 vulnerabilities
* Last version for Windows Server 2012 R2 and [[Software:Windows Server 2016|Windows Server 2016]] on hosts
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.6&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{Cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.6 Pro Release Notes|url=https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.6/rn/vmware-workstation-176-pro-release-notes/index.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=2024-09-03|archive-date=2024-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240903095351/https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/17.6/rn/vmware-workstation-176-pro-release-notes/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|3 September 2024
|
* Support for new guest operating systems
** New [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]] [[Software:Windows 11|Windows 11]] builds (including Enterprise)
** [[Software:Windows Server 2025|Windows Server 2025]]
** [[Software:Ubuntu version history#Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)|Ubuntu 24.04]]
** [[Software:Fedora Linux release history#Fedora 40|Fedora 40]]
* New {{code|vmcli}} 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 (still available for separate download)
* Bluetooth hub pass-through
* Physical [[Parallel port|parallel port]] pass-through
* Unity mode
* Enhanced keyboard driver
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.6.1&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{Cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.6.1 Pro Release Notes|url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1761-pro-release-notes.html|publisher=Broadcom|access-date=2025-01-18|archive-date=2025-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118022759/https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1761-pro-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|10 October 2024
|
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.6.2&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{Cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.6.2 Pro Release Notes|url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1762-pro-release-notes.html|publisher=Broadcom|access-date=2025-01-18|archive-date=2025-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118022738/https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1762-pro-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|17 December 2024
|
* Bug fixes
* Introduced a free licensing model for commercial, education, and personal use
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.6.3&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{Cite web|title=VMware Workstation 17.6.3 Pro Release Notes|url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1763-pro-release-notes.html|publisher=Broadcom|access-date=2025-03-10|archive-date=2025-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310023707/https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1763-pro-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|4 March 2025
|
* Fixed CVE-2025-22224 and CVE-2025-22226 vulnerabilities
* Bug fixes
|-
|style="background:salmon;" | 17.6.4&nbsp;Pro<ref>{{Cite web |title=VMware Workstation 17.6.4 Pro Release Notes |url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1764-pro-release-notes.html |access-date=2025-08-04 |publisher=Broadcom |archive-date=2025-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250813120724/https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/release-notes/vmware-workstation-1764-pro-release-notes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|15 July 2025
|
* Fixed CVE-2025-41236, CVE-2025-41237, CVE-2025-41238, and CVE-2025-41239 vulnerabilities
* Fixed CVE-2025-2884 vulnerability
|-
|style="background:salmon;" |Pro&nbsp;25H2 (25.0.0)<ref>{{Cite web |title=VMware Workstation Pro 25H2 Release Notes |url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/25H2/release-notes/vmware-workstation-pro-25h2-release-notes.html |access-date=2025-10-16 |publisher=Broadcom |archive-date=2025-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251016121753/https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/25H2/release-notes/vmware-workstation-pro-25h2-release-notes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|14 October 2025
|
* Support for new guest operating systems
** [[Software:Red Hat Enterprise Linux#RHEL 10|Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10]]
** [[Software:Fedora Linux release history#Fedora 40|Fedora 42]]
** [[Software:SUSE Linux Enterprise|SUSE Linux Enterprise]] 16 (Beta)
** [[Software:OpenSUSE#Leap 16.x series|OpenSUSE Leap 16.0]] (RC)
** [[Software:Debian|Debian]] 13
** [[Software:Oracle Linux#Release history|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 (RC)
** SUSE Linux 16 (Beta)
** Debian 13
* USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 controller (up to {{val|20|ul=gbit/s}})
* Update hardware compatibility to version v22
* Support for Hyper-V/WHP detection
* New {{code|dictTool}} command line utility for examining and modifying VMware configuration files
|-
|style="background:#a0e75a;" |Pro&nbsp;25H2u1 (25.0.1.25219725)<ref>{{Cite web |title=VMware Workstation Pro 25H2u1 Release Notes |url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/25H2/release-notes/vmware-workstation-pro-25h2u1-release-notes.html |access-date=2026-02-28 |publisher=Broadcom |archive-date=2026-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260228212706/https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/25H2/release-notes/vmware-workstation-pro-25h2u1-release-notes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|26 February 2026
|
* Re-enabled the Check for updates option
* Fixed CVE-2026-22715, CVE-2026-22716, CVE-2026-22717, and CVE-2026-22722 vulnerabilities
|}

==Host OS support==
{{Div flex row |justify-content= center}}
{| class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"
|+Current operating systems compatibility matrix
|-
! Operating system
! Workstation release
|-
| [[Software:Windows 11|Windows 11]]
| 16.2 and later<ref name="support1">{{Cite web|url=https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/80807|title=Supported host operating systems for Workstation Pro 16.x, 17.x and Workstation Player 16.x, 17.x (80807)|date=2022-11-18|work=VMware Knowledge Base|access-date=2024-10-10|archive-date=2024-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422034125/https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/80807|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2025|Windows Server 2025]]
| 17.6 and later
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2022|Windows Server 2022]]
| 17.0 and later
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2019|Windows Server 2019]]
| 15.5 and later
|-
| Windows 10 October 2020 Update (v20H2) and up
| 16.0 and later
|-
| [[Software:List of Linux distributions|Linux distributions]]
| Varies{{r|support1}}<ref name="support2">{{Cite web|url=https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2088579|title=Supported host operating systems for VMware Workstation (2088579)|date=September 25, 2018|work=VMware Knowledge Base|access-date=January 26, 2019|archive-date=January 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112191721/http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2088579|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="support3">{{Cite web|url=https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2129859|title=Supported host operating systems for Workstation Pro 12.x, 14.x and 15.x (2129859)|date=September 24, 2018|work=VMware Knowledge Base|access-date=January 26, 2019|archive-date=September 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911055824/http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2129859|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}
&nbsp;
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="display: inline-table;"
|+Legacy operating systems compatibility matrix
|-
! Operating system
! Workstation release
|-
| Windows 10 May 2020 Update (v2004)
| 15.5.5–17.6.4
|-
| Windows 10 November 2019 Update (v1909)
| 14.1.8–17.6.4
|-
| Windows 10 May 2019 Update (v1903)
| 15.0–17.6.4
|-
| Windows 10 October 2018 Update (v1809)
| 14.0–17.6.4
|-
| Windows 10 April 2018 Update (v1803)
| 14.0–15.5{{r|support3}}
|-
| Windows 10 Creators Update (v1703) / Fall Creators Update (v1709)
| 15.0–15.5{{r|support3}}
|-
| Windows 10 Anniversary Update (v1607)
| 12.5–14.0{{r|support3}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows 10|Windows 10]] RTM and November Update (v1511)
| 11.0–14.0{{r|support3}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows 8.1|Windows 8.1]]
| 10.0–16.2{{r|support1}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows 8|Windows 8]]
| 9.0–14.0{{r|support3}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows 7|Windows 7]]
| 7.1–15.5{{r|support3}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows Vista|Windows Vista]]
| 6.0–15.0
|-
| [[Software:Windows XP|Windows XP]]
| 3.0–10.0.7<ref name="rOGBe">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/whatsnew_ws.html|title=VMware Workstation 3.2|work=VMware|access-date=January 26, 2019|archive-date=January 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126113931/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws3/doc/whatsnew_ws.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| [[Software:Windows 2000|Windows 2000]]
| 2.0–6.5<ref name="ixUrs">{{Cite web|url=https://www.itprotoday.com/compute-engines/vmware-workstation-20|title=VMware Workstation 2.0|website=ITProToday|author=William F. Katz|date=January 16, 2001|access-date=January 26, 2019|archive-date=January 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126165756/https://www.itprotoday.com/compute-engines/vmware-workstation-20|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="fCuUd">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws65/doc/releasenotes_ws650.html|title=VMware Workstation 6.5.0 Release Notes|work=VMware|date=October 15, 2008|access-date=January 26, 2019|archive-date=February 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216215533/https://www.vmware.com/support/ws65/doc/releasenotes_ws650.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| [[Software:Windows NT 4.0|Windows NT 4.0]]
| 1.0–4.5
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2016|Windows Server 2016]]
| 14.0–17.5{{r|support1}}
|-
| Windows Server 2012 R2
| 10.0–17.5{{r|support1}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2012|Windows Server 2012]]
| 9.0–14.0{{r|support3}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2008 R2|Windows Server 2008 R2]]
| 8.0–15.5{{r|support3}}
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2008|Windows Server 2008]]
| 6.0–10.0.7
|-
| Windows Server 2003 R2
| 6.0–10.0.7
|-
| [[Software:Windows Server 2003|Windows Server 2003]]
| 4.0–10.0.7<ref name="anr7i">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vmware.com/support/ws4/doc/intro_supguest_ws.html|title=VMware Workstation 4.0|work=VMware|access-date=January 26, 2019}} </ref>
|}
{{Div flex row end}}

==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 (released at the same time as Workstation 11). 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''' (which also included commercial support).<ref name="2iHkt22">{{Cite web |title=VMware Web site, VMware Workstation Player Pro |url=https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation |access-date=2015-08-25 |archive-date=2015-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150826213710/http://www.vmware.com/products/workstation |url-status=dead }}</ref> VMware Workstation Player, like VMware Player<ref name="nCvFS22">{{cite web |title=VMware Player 4.0 EULA |url=https://www.vmware.com/download/eula/player40.html |access-date=27 April 2012 |publisher=VMware }} </ref> before it, was free of charge for non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement.<ref name="download22">{{cite web |author=<!--not stated--> |title=Download VMware Workstation Player |url=https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0 |access-date=11 May 2016 |website=VMware |archive-date=20 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620024158/https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0 |url-status=dead }} Download site for VMware Player 7.x and Workstation Player 12.x</ref><ref name="qDl0P22">{{cite web |author=Michael Roy |date=26 September 2017 |title=Workstation 14 Pro and Player Now Available! |url=https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2017/09/workstation-14-now-available.html |access-date=19 October 2017 |website=VMware Workstation Zealot - Official blog of VMware Workstation |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020033203/https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2017/09/workstation-14-now-available.html |url-status=live }} VMware Workstation v14 (September 2017) continued to be free for non-commercial use.</ref> VMware Workstation Player was discontinued in 2024<ref name=":023">{{Cite web |last=Roy |first=Michael |date=13 May 2024 |title=VMware Workstation Pro: Now Available Free for Personal Use |url=https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2024/05/vmware-workstation-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html |access-date=14 May 2024 |website=VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog |archive-date=17 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517110514/https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2024/05/vmware-workstation-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html |url-status=live }}</ref> due to redundancy after VMware Workstation Pro was made free for personal use.<ref name=":023"/> Before discontinuing VMware Workstation Player in 2024, VMware's website used to list the differences<ref name="compare2">{{cite web |title=VMware Player Pro: Compare to VMware Workstation 11 |url=https://www.vmware.com/uk/products/player/compare |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011200237/http://www.vmware.com/uk/products/player.html#compare |archive-date=11 October 2016 |newspaper=Vmware}} Version archived 11 October 2016 compares Workstation 12 Player to Player 7 Pro; Workstation 12 Player (Unlicensed) to Workstation 12 Player (Licensed); and Workstation 12 Player to Workstation 12 Pro. Page is updated; as of October 2017 compares Workstation Player and Workstation Pro, only</ref> 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.<ref name="uvwEm">{{cite web|date=26 September 2025|title=VMware Tools 13.0.5.0 Release Notes|url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/tools/13-0-0/release-notes/vmware-tools-1305-release-notes.html|publisher=VMware|access-date=17 January 2026|archive-date=25 November 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251125120145/https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/tools/13-0-0/release-notes/vmware-tools-1305-release-notes.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]]/[[Software:Desktop Window Manager|Desktop Window Manager]]
** Network drivers for the vmxnet2 and vmxnet3 [[Engineering:Network interface controller|NIC]]
** [[Engineering:Ensoniq AudioPCI|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 (Host Guest File System), 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 (guest synchronizes with host machine's clock)
* Support for Unity, dropped for Linux from v12<ref name="disunity">{{cite web |url=http://planetvm.net/blog/?p=2936 |title=VMware Workstation 12 discards unity support for Linux » PlanetVM |newspaper=Planetvm.net |author=Wil van Antwerpen |date=10 September 2015|archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210124922/https://planetvm.net/blog/?p=2936 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and for Windows from v17.6,<ref>{{cite web | title=VMware Workstation Pro 17: Use Unity Mode |publisher=Broadcom| date=10 October 2025 | url=https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/desktop-hypervisors/workstation-pro/17-0/using-vmware-workstation-player-for-windows-17-0/changing-the-virtual-machine-display-win/use-unity-mode-win.html}}</ref> a feature that allowed seamless integration of applications with the host desktop<ref name="8a02S">{{cite web | url = https://pubs.vmware.com/workstation-9/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.ws.using.doc%2FGUID-8C477788-7700-4030-8C4A-039C02AABB74.html | title = Use Unity Mode | website = VMware Workstation 9 Documentation Center | publisher = VMware | access-date = 2015-08-25 | quote = In Unity mode, virtual machine applications appear on the host system desktop | archive-date = 2015-02-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150228063312/http://pubs.vmware.com/workstation-9/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.ws.using.doc%2FGUID-8C477788-7700-4030-8C4A-039C02AABB74.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> 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 (VMs) which run on VMware Workstation Player, VMware Workstation Pro, and other virtualization software are available<ref name="spktV">{{cite web |url=https://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/ |title=VMware Virtual Machine Marketplace, with 3691 entries (not all still available) as of 2 June 2016 |publisher=Vmware.com |access-date=2 June 2016 |archive-date=15 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215083331/http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> with software for specific purposes ready-installed, either for purchase or free of charge. As one among many examples, there are free [[Software:Linux|Linux]]-based "browser appliances" with the [[Software:Firefox|Firefox]] or other browser installed<ref name="lYGW1">{{cite news | title=VMware Delivers VMware Player | website=VMware | date=12 December 2005 | url=https://news.vmware.com/releases/player | archive-date=13 April 2024 | access-date=11 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413081602/https://news.vmware.com/releases/player | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ba">{{Cite web|url=https://deprez.ca/browser/|title=Browser Appliance|access-date=2024-07-31|archive-date=2024-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731203554/https://deprez.ca/browser/|url-status=live}} Includes brief documentation, including "autoRevert on shutdown"</ref> 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.<ref name="ba" /> VMs distributed legally only have freely distributable [[Operating system|operating system]]s, 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<ref name="kmEN8">{{cite web |url=http://www.powerwf.com/ |title=powerwf.com |publisher=powerwf.com |access-date=2012-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815180250/http://powerwf.com/ |archive-date=2012-08-15 |url-status=dead}}</ref> - 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.

==See also==
* [[Software:Comparison of platform virtualization software|Comparison of platform virtualization software]]
* [[OS-level virtualization]]
* [[Software:VirtualBox|VirtualBox]]
* [[Software:VMware Fusion|VMware Fusion]]
* [[Software:VMware Workstation Player|VMware Workstation Player]]
* [[X86 virtualization|x86 virtualization]]

==References==
{{reflist|1=30em}}

==External links==


{{Virtualization software}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vmware Workstation}}
[[Category:Virtualization software]]
[[Category:Windows software]]

{{Sourceattribution|VMware Workstation}}