: Following Broadcom's acquisition, Workstation Pro is now available for free to individual users for non-commercial purposes. Maintenance Focus
ISO images for obsolete operating systems are no longer bundled out-of-the-box, though they remain available via manual download lines.
: Developers resolved a bug that prevented the software from correctly detecting new versions on non-English host systems.
the software. Notably, as of late 2025, VMware Workstation Pro is available at no cost for personal, educational, and commercial use. VMware Workstation Pro v17.6.1 Build 24319023 -...
Version 17.6.1 is clearly the more stable choice. Users currently on 17.6.0 should upgrade immediately to resolve the Windows 11 24H2 and SVGA issues.
Broadcom’s security bulletin (VMSA-2024-0019) lists fixed in Build 24319023:
: Supports up to 8GB of graphics memory and DirectX 11/OpenGL 4.3 for improved 3D application performance. System Requirements : Following Broadcom's acquisition, Workstation Pro is now
The official download source is the Broadcom support portal. For Windows users, the direct download path is:
A serious crash was occurring when powering on a virtual machine. Specifically, if the "Allow hardware acceleration for all virtual machine consoles" option was active while 3D graphics were deactivated, the software would crash with a fatal (svga) svga Exception 0xc0000005 error. This stability issue has been resolved.
| Aspect | 17.6.0 | 17.6.1 | |--------|--------|--------| | Windows 11 24H2 ISO detection | Broken (detects as Server 2025) | Fixed | | SVGA error (0xc0000005) | Present | Fixed | | Non-English host installation | Broken | Fixed | | New features | vmcli, new OS support | None | the software
For users still on version 17.5.2, the decision to upgrade depends on your specific needs:
VMware Workstation Pro v17.6.1 Build 24319023: Enhancing Virtualization Performance and Security
With its robust feature set—including native Windows 11 support, fast encryption, and a modern interface—VMware Workstation 17 Pro remains the top choice for developers and IT professionals in 2026.
If you are running any v17 build prior to 24319023 , update immediately.
| | Change | |-------------|--------------| | Guest Tools | Requires manual reinstallation of VMware Tools for Shared Folders to work again (known issue from 17.6.0). | | VMPA (VM Performance Analysis) | Removed in 17.6.0 – not restored in 17.6.1. | | Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) | Now requires AES-NI support on host (CPU feature). Older hosts without AES-NI fail to create vTPM 2.0. |