Vmware releases free VM player

For those who haven't used it yet, programs like Vmware and Qemu are software that allows you to run an entire OS, virtually, on top of an existing OS. It has hundreds of uses, for software developers or rollout testers, experimentation and various others. One drawback of Vmware is the high cost for licensing to do this. Taking a proactive step in a market that is quickly moving towards virtualization (that is, running multiple OS'es on a single server), Vmware has released a free “player” for Vmware-created virtual machines.

This means that essentially you have a virtual machine on a disk or on a network location that you can pass around from machine to machine, and run it anywhere you want – for free. Provided, you still need to create the virtual machine with their standard software. The machine can be configured with any sort of virtual hardware you want, perfect for showcasing particular software suites in a variety of operating systems or environments without having to bring the PC around from place to place. Details are available, and it does sound intriguing.