VMware Refreshes Desktop Virtualization Lineup with New Releases
VMware may be pushing into the software-defined data center with new solutions for virtualizing networks and storage arrays, but that doesn’t mean its abandoning its roots. The company just unleashed the latest version of its Workstation desktop virtualization software, along with new releases of Fusion 6 and Fusion 6 Professional.
Workstation is VMware’s enterprise desktop hypervisor. It’s based on vSphere, just like the Fusion family, but it ships with a number of advanced features such as ESXi compatibility and VM testing. Workstation 10 introduces several major additions, including set of virtual sensors – an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass and an ambient light sensor – that let developers test data-driven Android apps on a guest OS.
Other enhancements include flash optimization and the ability to expire virtual machines, features that are also available with the developer-centric Fusion 6 Professional. The platform includes a commercial VMware Player license, linked VMs that share the same disk space, and a Single Virtual Machine Mode that blocks users from accessing management functionality.
Like Fusion 6 Professional, the new version of Fusion features improved support for OS X Mavericks and Windows 8.1. Users can now leverage AirPlay to use an Apple TV as a Windows display, run Windows Store apps side-by-side with Mac software, and use Mavericks’ improved dictation capabilities with PC applications.
VMware’s big desktop virtualization rollout comes on the heels of VMworld 2013, where the vendor and its top partners unveiled a slew of next generation enterprise solutions. Notable launches include the vCloud Hybrid Service and NSX, a tool that leverages from Nicira to treat physical network infrastructure as an abstracted pool of transport capacity.
NSX is joined by Virtual SAN, a software-defined storage platform that collapses hard drives and and flash into a unified data store.
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