As expected, new version of desktop virtualization product released from VMware after release of Oracle VirtualBox 3.2. VMware workstation and VM Player are updated and latest versions available for download. I always compare VM player with VB because of both products are free for home users.
Latest version of VMware Player 3.1 is having small changes noticeably to compete with VirtualBox 3.2.
Here are the new features in VM Player 3.1 which you can see if you upgrade from 3.0
1) Some new guest and Host support
Operating System | Host and Guest Support |
| Ubuntu 8.04.4 | Host and guest |
| Ubuntu 10.04 | Host and guest |
| OpenSUSE 11.2 | Host and guest |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 | Host and guest |
| Fedora 12 | Guest |
| Debian 5.0.4 | Guest |
| Mandriva 2009.1 | Guest |
2) Memory slider to allocate memory for Virtual Machine.
3) Create shortcut and launch guest applications from host desktop by Direct Launch
When Virtual machine is running is unity mode, you can create short cut for specified guest application on host desktop. This icon remains even after quit unity mode and shutdown the guest.
To create direct launch shortcut in VMware Player, enter in to unity mode for virtual machine (you must have latest VMware tools). Click on guest start menu and go to the program, right click on it and select Create Shortcut on Desktop as shown above. ‘Desktop’ means host desktop.
If unity mode not working in VMware, try this method.
Shortcut on host desktop property shows as below,
4) Graphics Performance Improved well for Windows guest machines such as Windows 7 and Vista.
5) Auto Log on.
Save your login credentials and bypass the login dialog box when you power on a Windows guest. Use this feature if you restart the guest frequently and want to avoid entering your login credentials. You can enable Autologon and use direct launch to open guest applications from the host.
6) Processor and Virtual Disk support
Eight processor cores support for virtual machines in VMware Player 3.1 and Virtual disk support extended from 950GB to 2TB
Download and find out more details about latest VMware Player 3.1 here.
These are the major new features from VMware Player 3.1. I like VM Player than VMware workstation, because of performance. These new features added in VMware Workstation 7.1 too. I will be happy to use VMware Player permanently if it has snapshot feature. So, other option is Oracle VirtualBox.
Find out VM Player 3 vs VirtualBox 3 a small comparison.
If you use both above products, just share your experience with both products. It will help to compare VMware Player 3.1 vs VirtualBox 3.2, coming soon.
