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Using VMware Player
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Downloading VMware Player and Virtual Machines
You can download VMware Player from the VMware Web site at
www.vmware.com/download/player/. See Installing VMware Player on page 4.
You can download a virtual machine to use with VMware Player at
www.vmware.com/vmtn/vm/.
What You Can Do with VMware Player
VMware Player gives software developers and vendors great flexibility in marketing and
distributing products. You can package complex, sophisticated applications, complete with a
full working environment, in a virtual machine that can be used by anyone who downloads
VMware Player.
With VMware Player, you can:
• Collaborate with colleagues–Download VMware Player to run any virtual machine.
VMware Player makes it easy for support, development, and QA to share customer
scenarios.
• Transform software distribution–Simplify software distribution by shipping
preconfigured software in virtual machines. End users can experience the benefits of your
products immediately, without setup hassles. VMware Player is ideal for shipping
evaluation copies or beta software.
• Evaluate prebuilt applications easily–Download and safely run prebuilt application
environments in virtual machines that are available from the growing library of virtual
machines in the VMTN Virtual Machine Center at
www.vmware.com/vmtn/vm/.
This library includes virtual machines from various software vendors, as well as virtual
machines that are preconfigured with popular open source software. With VMware Player
you can easily get started with applications from leading software vendors, including
Oracle, Red Hat, Novell, BEA, SpikeSource, IBM, and MySQL.
Key Features
VMware Player combines powerful virtualization features into an application with an intuitive
interface:
• Virtual machine isolation–Safely run virtual machines isolated from the host PC by
making use of the hardware-level security and fault isolation of virtualization solutions.
• Access to host PC devices–Use CD/DVD drives, network adapters, and plug-and-play USB
devices.
• Copy and paste–Copy text and files between the virtual machine and the host quickly
and easily.
• Adjustable memory–Tune virtual machine memory for optimal performance.
• Powerful networking capabilities–Let the virtual machine share or obtain its own IP
address or isolate it from the network and host.
• Configurable shutdown–Power off or suspend the virtual machine when exiting VMware
Player.