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VMware Workstation Pro 26H1: What’s New?
Broadcom recently released VMware Workstation Pro 26H1 (build 25388281), the new version of its virtualization solution for Windows and Linux. What are the main new features? Here’s what you need to know.
A native 64-bit architecture for Workstation Pro
Let’s start by looking at a notable change in the application’s own architecture. VMware Workstation Pro has made a full transition to 64-bit. Broadcom states that the binaries, libraries, installation components, and related services now run as 64-bit processes. As a result, if you install VMware Workstation Pro on a Windows machine, this will affect the installation path:
- Previous versions were installed by default in the following directory:
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation - This 26H1 release moves the application to the standard location for 64-bit applications, namely:
C:\Program Files.
There is also a documented known issue directly tied to this move from one directory to another. In fact, if the new installation path differs from the old one, the ISO files from the previous version are not automatically removed. Broadcom gives the example of the file C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\windows.iso. To work around this issue, it is recommended to uninstall the old version before upgrading while backing up the tool’s configuration, or to manually delete the old folders and ISO files once the upgrade is complete.
On the virtual machine management side, Workstation Pro 26H1 includes a few small improvements:
- The application now records and displays the VM creation time as well as the time it was last powered on, making it easier to quickly identify outdated machines.
- Notes associated with your virtual machines now appear directly in folder tabs.
- The storage format for saved credentials (especially for Windows 11 machines with a vTPM) has been changed to make encrypted VMs easier to identify in Windows Credential Manager. This also applies when you connect a remote ESXi server to Workstation Pro.
Connection to ESXi ARM and newly supported guests
For a long time, VMware Workstation Pro has been able to connect to remote hypervisors, especially VMware ESXi hosts. In this release, there is a new feature: it is now possible to connect to remote ARM-based ESXi hosts to perform basic operations on virtual machines.
This 26H1 version also expands the list of compatible operating systems:
- New supported guest operating systems for VMs: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Fedora 43, Fedora 44, SUSE Linux Enterprise 16, openSUSE 16.0, and FreeBSD 15.0.
- New supported host operating systems for installing Workstation Pro: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, Fedora 43, Fedora 44, SUSE Linux Enterprise 16 GA, and openSUSE 16.0.
As a result, Workstation Pro works with the latest versions of Linux distributions.
Finally, VMware Workstation Pro 26H1 is available through the Broadcom Support Portal. It remains completely free for personal or professional use (including in a commercial setting). Also check out my guide to learning how to use VMware Workstation.
