VMware Player is free software that enables PC users to easily run any virtual machine on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player runs virtual machines created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server or ESX Server and also supports Microsoft virtual machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disk formats.

VMware Player can be used by anyone to run 32- and 64-bit guests in virtual machines on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player makes it quick and easy to take advantage of the security, flexibility, and portability of virtual machines.

VMware Player can be used by anyone to run a virtual machine shared by a colleague or friend. For example, customer support and development teams can share a customer scenario encapsulated within a virtual machine.

VMware Player is ideal for safely evaluating pre-built application environments, beta software, or other software distributed in virtual machines. With VMware Player, anyone can easily experience the benefits of preconfigured products rapidly without any installation or configuration hassles. Pre-built applications from leading software vendors are available from the VMware VMTN Virtual Machine Center: homepage

Following are the known issues for Player 2.5.3:

* While attempting to drag and drop a file to or from an Ubuntu 9.0.4 guest while in Unity mode some unusual behaviors have been reported, including failures to move files, screen refresh issues, and the inability to exit from Unity mode.
* Drag and drop or copy and paste operations from a Windows XP guest to a 64-bit Ubuntu 9.04 host might produce the following error message: Error while copying.
* When performing a drag and drop operation from the latest version of a Windows guest to a Ubuntu 9.0.4 host in Unity mode, an error message appears: The source and destination file names are the same. After cancelling the error message, you can drop the file successfully.
* You will receive an error message after cancelling a drag and drop operation from the latest Windows guest to an Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop host.
* If a guest is powered off while a drag and drop operation from a guest to a Linux host is in progress, drag and drop will not work after the guest is restarted. To workaround this issue, restart the host.
* Enabling Assistive Technology on a 64-bit SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10.1 host prevents the Player from starting.
* VMX hangs in an ATI fglrx driver on an Ubuntu 9.04 host.