Software  When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

VMware Workstation Player 17.6

VMware Player

VMware Player is the easiest way to run multiple operating systems at the same time on your computer.

With its user-friendly interface, VMware Player makes it effortless for anyone to try out Windows 10, Chrome OS or the latest Linux releases, or to create virtual "sandboxes" to test pre-release software in. VMware Player can also be used to run a virtual copy of an old PC so that you can recycle the old machines you have under your desk or stored in the closet.

  • Run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single computer
  • Experience the benefits of preconfigured products without any installation or configuration hassles
  • Share data between host computer and virtual machine
  • Run 32- and 64-bit virtual machines
  • Use 3rd-party pre-configured virtual machines and images
  • Share data between the host computer and virtual machine
  • Broad host and guest operating system support
  • Support for USB 2.0 devices
  • Gain easy access to virtual machines via an intuitive home page interface

What's New in VMware Workstation Player 17.6:

New Guest Operating System Support

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows 11 Version 23H2
  • Ubuntu 24.04
  • Fedora 40

New Host Operating System Support

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows 11 Version 23H2
  • Ubuntu 24.04
  • Fedora 40

Product Support Notices

  • Legacy VMTools ISOs are no longer included by default but are available for download.
  • Bluetooth hub passthrough support has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation.
  • Physical host parallel ports support has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation for Windows.
  • The Enhanced Keyboard driver has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation for Windows.

Known Issues

  • CentOS 9 Stream with kernel versions later than 5.14.0-432 is not supported on Workstation Player 17.6 as a host
  • Inline product upgrade from versions earlier than 17.6 will not be automatic for Workstation Player on Windows Host
  • Due to the migration from VMware services to Broadcom, Workstation Player cannot automatically apply this upgrade.
  • Workaround: Download and install Workstation Player 17.6 from the Broadcom support portal.
  • The multi-monitor feature might not work correctly in specific topologies
  • In specific situations, based on different hardware and topologies, the multi-monitor feature does not work as expected. You might see issues like reverting the topology to a single screen, or not cycling through monitors.

Resolved Issues

  • VMware KVM crashes while running the 'vmware-kvm --preferences' command
  • VMware KVM crashes when you try to open its Preferences dialog by using the 'vmware-kvm --preferences' command.
  • Virtual machines run unusually slowly on Windows hosts
  • Running virtual machines on Windows hosts as a non-administrator user might result in high host CPU usage and poor guest performance.
  • Workstation installation fails on Linux hosts with a compilation error
  • If you try to install Workstation on Linux hosts with kernel version 6.8, you receive a compilation error. For details, see this article.
  • Security Issues

Security Issues

  • OpenSSL has been updated to 3.0.14
  • Expat has been updated to 2.6.2
  • 7zip has been updated to 23.01

Download page: VMware Workstation Player 17.6.0 | 213.0 MB (Free for personal use)
View: VMware Website | Release Notes

Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

Report a problem with article
Next Article

DeskFX 6.30 Beta - Sound enhancer software

Previous Article

Microsoft Edge 128.0.2739.63

Join the conversation!

Login or Sign Up to read and post a comment.

0 Comments - Add comment