Software update: VMware Workstation 11.1.0 build 2496824

VMware has released version 11.1 of its virtualization software Workstation. With this program it is possible to create one or more virtual computers on which a large number of different operating systems can be installed. That way, they can be used side by side, as opposed to a dual boot setup, where you have to choose one or the other. VMware Workstation is available for Windows and Linux, and a license costs just under 200 euros. More information about the possibilities of this package can be found on this page are being found. The release notes for version 11.1 can be found below.

New: Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand

Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand is a secure, pay-as-you-go, cloud computing service offered by VMware that gives IT organizations a VMware compatible platform to create virtual machines, dynamically scale virtual machines and resources up or down, and pay for resources allocated .

• Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand provides on-demand resources with granular metering and usage-based billing.
• Resources are pool-based, allowing deployment of virtual machines with customized configurations.
• Costs are billed monthly only for the aggregate amount of resources consumed across all of your virtual machines.
• On-demand resources complement the subscription services for vCloud Air.

The following issues were resolved in VMware Workstation 11.1.

• 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. This issue has been resolved.
• Outlook 2010 would occasionally crash when running in Unity mode. This issue has been resolved.
• You could not compact or defragment a persistent disk. This issue has been resolved.
• The UI sometimes crashed when a user copied and pasted a file between two Windows guests. This issue has been resolved.
• Rendering corruption in UI elements in Fedora 20 guests with 3D enabled has been resolved.
• When creating a new virtual machine with SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) 12, the Easy Install path was not available. This issue has been resolved.

The following issues might occur in VMware Workstation 11.1.

• 3D rendering is not available in some guest operating systems if you use virtual hardware version 11
  If you upgrade a virtual machine from virtual hardware version 10 to 11, you might lose 3D functionality in the virtual machine.
  Workaround: For Windows guest operating systems, upgrade VMware Tools to the latest version, which is included with Workstation 11. For Linux guests, only the following distributions are currently supported for virtual hardware version 11:
  • Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and above
  • Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS and above
  • Fedora 20 with latest updates and above

  For other Linux distributions and versions, if you plan to use 3D functionality, downgrade the virtual hardware version to 10.

• Virtual machines that you upload to vCloud Air cannot access the Internet
  You must use the VMware vCloud Air portal to configure outbound Internet connectivity.
  Workaround: Follow the instructions in the Knowledge Base article Allowing outbound Internet connectivity to a virtual machine within VMware vCloud Air (2053464)
• Using certain Microsoft Office 2013 applications in a Windows 7 or later guest operating system can cause the guest to crash or the Workstation UI to become unresponsive.
  For example, if you use Outlook 2013 to compose and read email, after a while, the guest might crash, or after you use Word 2013 for a while, the Workstation UI might stop responding.
  Workaround: Turn off the 3D acceleration feature. From the menu bar, select VM > Settings > Display, and deselect Accelerate 3D Graphics.
• Using a USB headset with a Windows 8 or later guest operating system does not work
  Because most USB headsets expect a USB 2.0 controller, whereas Windows 8 and later guest operating systems use a USB 3.0 controller by default, you cannot use USB headsets with Windows 8 or later guests.
  Workaround: Change the USB controller of the guest from USB 3.0 to USB 2.0.
• The Easy Install feature is not supported for OpenSUSE 13.2
  Easy Install is not supported for the OpenSUSE 13.2 guest operating system.
  Workaround: Manually install the guest operating system and VMware Tools.
• Using the Easy Install feature with a virtual machine that uses EFI will fail if the disk size is larger than 2TB
  If you attempt to select a hard disk larger than 2TB, the following error message appears: The specified virtual disk size is incompatible with Easy Install and may prevent the guest from booting properly. The disk must be smaller than 2 TB to use Easy Install.
  Workaround: Either choose a hard disk whose size is equal to or smaller than 2TB, or manually install the guest operating system.
• Uninstalling Workstation from a Linux host and removing the configuration can prevent a shared virtual machine from being opened again
  If you are sharing virtual machines and then uninstall Workstation from a Linux host, remove the configuration, and then reinstall Workstation, you receive an error message when you attempt to open a shared virtual machine.
  Workaround: Stop sharing any virtual machines before you uninstall Workstation from a Linux host.
• The fusemount feature works only if the fuse module is installed
  If you have a virtual machine with an operating system that does not have the fuse module installed, such as CentOS, you might receive an error when you select VM > Settings > Hardware > Hard Disk and select Mount Disk from the Utilities drop-down list . The error message reads The VMware fuse daemon failed to start.
  Workaround: Install the fuse module in the host operating system.
• Cannot upload a virtual machine to VMware vCloud Air Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand
  Uploading a virtual machine to VMware vCloud Air Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand is not yet supported by Workstation 11.
  Workaround: None.
• Cannot access Help from Virtual Machine Settings dialog box
  You cannot access the Help system by clicking Help on the Virtual Machine Settings dialog box.
  Workaround: Select Help > Help Topics (Windows host) or Help > Contents (Linux host) to access the help system and use the Search tab or Contents tab to find the help topic.