Hasta La Gadget!

Nov 02

VMware Workstation 6 Beta: Free Serial Number

Posted in: Pre-Release, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on December 23, 2006 by CyberNet.

VMware Workstation 6 Beta

For those of you looking to test out different Linux distribution or maybe tinker around with Vista (if you downloaded a pre-release version while it was available) this is your time to do it. VMware Workstation 6.0 Beta is currently available for download and they will even give you a free serial number to use with it. The registration process asks for the typical information as well as a few questions like what you plan on using VMware for, but it took me less than a minute to complete. Then they provide you with a window that lists serial numbers for both the Windows version and Linux version.

I have downloaded it and got it installed in Windows Vista without a problem. The interface isn’t really any different so I wouldn’t expect to see anything new there, but I’m just happy that Vista is finally supported as the host operating system (the host operating system is where VMware is installed while a guest operating system refers to the OS that is installed within VMware).

Here’s a complete list of what’s new in this version:

Support for Windows Vista – Use Windows Vista as host operating system
Multiple monitor display – You can configure a VM to span multiple monitors, or multiple VMs to each display on separate monitors
Integrated Virtual Debugger – Workstation integrates with Visual Studio and Eclipse so you can deploy, run, and debug programs in a VM directly from your preferred IDE
Automation APIs (VIX API 2.0) – You can write scripts and programs to automate VM testing
Headless mode – You can run VMs in the background without the Workstation UI

I haven’t been able to tell whether there is a time limitation on this Beta version but there doesn’t appear to be. Even though this is still pre-release software I would eat up the chance to get it for free while you can. This is my favorite way to test out new Linux distributions because you don’t have to worry about partitioning your hard drive just to test them out.

Okay, I’ll close up the article with one last screenshot that I took of the interface:

VMware Workstation