VMware Player 5.0 Release Notes
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These release notes include the following topics.
What's New
This release of VMware Player adds the following new features and support.
- User Interface Improvements for Windows-Based VMware Player
- Virtual Hardware Improvements
- Documentation Changes
- Ability to Configure Network Adapters
User Interface Improvements for Windows-Based VMware Player
The VMware Player user interface has been completely revamped. The new user interface conforms with Windows standards, menus have been updated, the toolbar now matches Workstation in regular and full screen mode, new device icons have been added, along with many more improvements.
Virtual Hardware Improvements
This version of VMware Player includes the same virtual hardware improvements included with Workstation. See VMware Workstation 9.0 Release Notes To try new hardware features, you must upgrade the hardware version of your virtual machine or create a new virtual machine that uses the latest virtual hardware version.
Commercial Use
VMware Player is also now available for commercial use. A commercial license for VMware Player 5 is included with VMware Fusion 5 Professional to enable customers to run virtual machines on Windows or Linux PCs and on Macs using a single license key!
Ability to Configure Network Adapters
Previously, the standalone version of VMware Player did not give users a way to select what adapter would be used for a virtual machine. With standalone VMware Player, from the menu bar, you can now select VM > Settings > Network, and use the button next to "Bridged" that says "Configure Adapters."
If you launched VMware Player without admin privileges, the button displays a UAC shield. You can click the button and respond to the UAC prompt. This button displays a dialog box for specifying which adapters can be used for automatic bridging. This is the same dialog box currently used in Workstation, in the Virtual Network Editor, under Bridged > Automatic Settings.
Installation Requirements
When you install VMware Player, the installer performs checks to make sure the host system has a processor that meets the following requirements. You cannot install VMware Player if the host system does not meet these requirements.
- 64-bit x86 CPU
- LAHF/SAHF support in long mode
You can use CPU-Z or a similar utility to determine if the host system CPU is 64-bit capable. CPU-Z shows EM64T (Intel) or AMD64 (AMD) if the processor is 64-bit capable.
If you plan to install a 64-bit guest operating system in a virtual machine, the host system must have one of the following processors. VMware Player will not allow you to install a 64-bit guest operating system if the host system does not have one of these processors.
- AMD CPU that has segment-limit support in long mode.
- Intel CPU that has VT-x support. VT-x support must be enabled in the host system BIOS. The BIOS settings that must be enabled for VT-x support vary depending on the system vendor. See VMware KB article 1003944 for information on how to determine if VT-x support is enabled.