VMware Workstation 8.0.0 Released

guest · Sep 14, 2011

What's new in VMware Workstation 8.0.0 Build 471780:

Installation Changes and Enhanced Keyboards:
· The hardware requirements to install this version of Workstation have changed. Workstation now requires a relatively modern 64-bit CPU.

· The keyboard filter driver is no longer installed by default. When the driver is not installed, the enhanced keyboard functionality is unavailable and you must press Ctrl-Alt-Ins instead of Ctrl-Alt-Del to send a Ctrl-Alt-Del keystroke to the guest. To use the enhanced keyboard functionality, you must perform a custom installation and select the component. If you select the component, you must reboot whenever you install or uninstall Workstation.

Virtual Hardware Improvements:
· This version of Workstation includes many hardware improvements. 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.
· The display technology has been changed to provide a better experience for Unity users and users who have multiple monitors. These changes also allow you to add a projector to your laptop without restarting your virtual machine.
· Virtual machines can now support up to 64GB of memory. The host system should have more than 64GB of memory to use this feature.
· An HD Audio device is available for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 2008, and Windows 2008 R2 guests. The HD Audio device is compatible with the RealTek ALC888 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio Codec.
· USB 3.0 support is available for Linux guests running kernel version 2.6.35 or later (Ubuntu 10.10) through a new virtual xHCI USB controller. To enable this feature, add the following line to the .vmx file: usb_xhci.present = “true”. Do not enable this feature for Windows guests. Because Windows does not currently have a generic xHCI driver, this feature will not work in Windows.
· Bluetooth devices on the host can now be shared with Windows guests. With the latest hardware version, Bluetooth devices that are paired to the host system radio are available to Windows guests and can be paired from within the guest. You should not pair Bluetooth audio devices, such as headphones, or Bluetooth input devices, such as keyboards and mice, to a guest.
· You can now enable Virtual VT-X/EPT or AMD-V/RVI in the processor settings interface. With this feature, applications running in a guest can take advantage of these virtualization technologies. You can also run 64-bit guest operating systems inside of vSphere running inside Workstation.

New User Interface:
· The Workstation user interface has been updated to include new menus, toolbars, and an improved preferences screen.
· The favorites sidebar has been replaced with a virtual machine library. Instead of identifying every virtual machine created in Workstation as a favorite, the library is a comprehensive list of all of the virtual machines that Workstation users create, open, or access.
· A new folder summary page helps you to better manage a group of related virtual machines. Live thumbnails make it easy to see what is happening in running virtual machines.
· The full screen toolbar has been updated so that you can do more without having to leave full screen mode. Quick switch mode is no longer needed.

What Happened to Teams:
· Although at first it might appear that the teams feature has been removed, you can add team attributes to any virtual machine in this version of Workstation.
· The team structure has been converted to a simple folder of virtual machines.
· A new advanced settings dialog box has been added for network adapters to let you throttle the bandwidth of incoming and outgoing transmissions and simulate packet loss.
· You can perform power operations on several virtual machines at the same time by selecting virtual machines on the folder tab and pressing the power button on the toolbar. If all of the virtual machines in a folder are in the same power state, you can select the folder to perform a power operation on all of the virtual machines in the folder.
· You use a global Workstation preference to configure the delay between powering on virtual machines.
· To implement LAN segments, you can use traditional VMnets or put all of the virtual machines that you want to communicate on the same custom VMnet.

Shared Virtual Machines and AutoStart:
· You can share virtual machines with remote users in this version of Workstation. A shared virtual machine can be accessed remotely by other instances of Workstation. Workstation moves virtual machines to the shared virtual machines folder, where the VMware Host Agent service manages them. The VMware Host Agent service is used by other VMware products, including VMware Server and vSphere, and provides additional capabilities required by professional users. An extensive permissions interface lets you control the users who can access and use shared virtual machines.

· You can use the new AutoStart feature to configure shared virtual machines to start with the host system. You can also configure AutoStart for shared virtual machines on remote hosts running Workstation and ESX 4.x and later.

Remote Connections:
· In this version of Workstation, you are no longer constrained to working only with virtual machines that your computer has enough power to run. You can use the new Connect to Server feature to connect to remote hosts running Workstation, ESX 4.x and later, and VMware vCenter Server. After connecting to a remote host, all of the virtual machines that you have permission to access are displayed in the virtual machine library.

Upload to ESX/ESXi and vCenter Server:
· VMware OVF Tool is now integrated with Workstation so that you can upload a virtual machine from Workstation to a remote server running ESX, ESXi, or vCenter Server. After connecting to a remote server, you drag the virtual machine from the local My Computer section of the virtual machine library to the remote server. A wizard walks you through the process.

Documentation Changes:
· This version of Workstation includes several important documentation changes.
Click to expand...

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/VMware-Workstation.shtml

Screen

http://i1-win.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/VMware-Workstation_1.png

ziaul · Sep 14, 2011

Hi,
Is a clean install required or just overwrite? Please advise.

Thanks,
Ziaul

ExtremeGamerBR · Sep 14, 2011

Thanks for the update, when it comes out VMware Player 8?

ziaul · Sep 14, 2011

Hi ExtremeGamerBR,
It has already come out.

Thanks,
Ziaul

1chaoticadult · Sep 14, 2011

ziaul said:

Hi,
Is a clean install required or just overwrite? Please advise.

Thanks,
Ziaul
Click to expand...

When you launch the setup it will ask you to uninstall if a previous version of VMWare is detected.

ziaul · Sep 14, 2011

Thank you 1chaoticadult, I will install it right now.

Thanks,
Ziaul

1chaoticadult · Sep 14, 2011

ziaul said:

Thank you 1chaoticadult, I will install it right now.

Thanks,
Ziaul
Click to expand...

Your welcome.

ziaul · Sep 14, 2011

Just to inform you guys that on vmware 8 you can install Windows 8 because it requires ACPI 2.0.

Thanks,
Ziaul

Meriadoc · Sep 15, 2011

It was mentioned in guest post but just in case anyone missed it :

The hardware requirements to install this version of Workstation have changed. Workstation now requires a relatively modern 64-bit CPU
Click to expand...

Installation Requirements

When you install Workstation, the installer performs checks to make sure the host system has a processor that meets the following requirements. You cannot install Workstation 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. Workstation 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.
Click to expand...

Release Notes

Peter2150 · Sep 15, 2011

Note that is only the processor requirement. This new version will still run on 32bit XP SP2. It's just the processor has to be 32 bit ready.

Pete

J_L · Sep 16, 2011

Any release dates for VMware Player?

Log in or Sign up

VMware Workstation 8.0.0 Released

guest Guest

ziaul Registered Member

ExtremeGamerBR Registered Member

ziaul Registered Member

1chaoticadult Registered Member

ziaul Registered Member

1chaoticadult Registered Member

ziaul Registered Member

Meriadoc Registered Member

Peter2150 Global Moderator

J_L Registered Member

Log in or Sign up

VMware Workstation 8.0.0 Released

guest Guest

ziaul Registered Member

ExtremeGamerBR Registered Member

ziaul Registered Member

1chaoticadult Registered Member

ziaul Registered Member

1chaoticadult Registered Member

ziaul Registered Member

Meriadoc Registered Member

Peter2150 Global Moderator

J_L Registered Member

Useful Searches