For developers and enthusiasts who want to test their software across many operating systems or who simply want to delve further into an OS without endangering their primary machine, virtualization tools like VMware Workstation are very useful. Today saw the introduction of VMware Workstation 17.0 Pro, which has numerous new features that are sure to excite many users.
The main selling point of this update is the addition of virtual Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 functionality in VMware Workstation 17.0 Pro, which is necessary to run Windows 11 through authorised channels. With the addition of this capability, Windows 11 as a guest OS is now officially supported by the virtualization software (there was a workaround before), along with a number of other new additions like Windows Server 2022, RHEL 9, Debian 11.x, and Ubuntu 22.04.
Other helpful features include support for OpenGL 4.3 (guest operating system requirements include Windows 7 or above, Linux with Mesa 22.0.0, or Linux kernel 5.16.0), the ability to select Full or Fast encryption, and Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 1.2. Having said that, you need to be aware that mounting a virtual machine to a drive on the host operating system is no longer an option.
There are also a few difficulties that are well known. When you choose an ISO image of a FreeBSD, you might notice the wrong version number, but it has no effect on the installation itself. If you have auto start set up, you can also get a blank screen on the virtual machine interface when the host boots up. You may check out several workarounds and a tonne of other little fixes here.
With this update, VMware Workstation Pro has joined VirtualBox in providing a virtual TPM 2.0 that offers official support for Windows 11. It would be interesting to see whether this encourages more users to test out Windows 11 on a virtual machine before installing it on their main computer.
