Key Takeaways:
- VMware Fusion and Workstation are now available for free to commercial, educational, and personal users.
- Both products offer advanced features such as multi-VM support, snapshots, cloning, and seamless integration with macOS.
- Customers will no longer have access to support services.
VMware has announced that VMware Fusion and Workstation are now available for free to all commercial, educational, and personal users. Starting this week, these virtualization tools will no longer require a paid subscription, making them accessible to a broader audience.
VMware Workstation is available for both Windows and Linux, and it’s designed to help customers with more advanced IT-related tasks like software development, testing, and simulation. It allows users to run multiple virtual machines simultaneously and includes features like snapshots, cloning, and advanced networking configurations.
On the other hand, VMware Fusion allows users to run Windows and other operating systems on macOS devices. It seamlessly integrates with macOS features such as Retina displays and the Touch Bar. Additionally, VMware Fusion offers advanced capabilities, including support for Open Container Initiative (OCI) containers and Kubernetes clusters.
“Effective immediately, both VMware Fusion and VMware Workstation will transition away from the paid subscription model, meaning you can now utilize these tools without any cost. The paid versions of these offerings – Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro – are no longer available for purchase,” said Himanshu Singh, Broadcom’s Product Marketing Director.
What existing VMware customers can expect?
VMware mentioned that customers with existing commercial contracts will continue to have their agreements honored until the contract expires. During this time, they will receive the full range of services and enterprise-grade support as specified in their contract.
According to VMware, the free versions of the products will have all the same features as the paid versions. However, customers won’t have access to support ticketing services for troubleshooting issues.
If you’re interested, you can download VMware Workstation and Fusion Pro directly from the official website. Going forward, VMware will keep enhancing these solutions with new features, improved usability, and additional capabilities.