Where is VMware Workstation Player 26H1

[pbuechel]

Sorry to bother but the current player is referenced in some docs and blogs but I cannot find a download link.

Does anyone here know a link?

Thanks in advance, Peter

[Morc001]

If I recall correctly the version 17 Workstation had the player installer/installed the player as well, but I don't see it in Workstation 26H1. Since Payer was just a stripped down version of Workstation it makes no sense to maintain besides a free Workstation product that and was discontinued, but documentation not updated.

[pbuechel]

Hmm, sure? The player is referenced as "VMware Workstation Player 26H1" in
many links, not only documentation:



https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud-foundation/2026/05/14/announcing-vmware-works
tation-and-fusion-26h1/

https://www.windowspro.de/news/vmware-workstation-26h1-portierung-64-bit-akt
ualisierter-plattform-support/06109.html

https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/315655/virtual-machine-hardw
are-versions.html

https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/315653/supported-host-operat
ing-systems-for-wor.html



Peter

[Morc001]

  Hi Peter, no, not sure, only think. I guess they did a find-and-replace on the docs and did not properly update them. If anywhere, Player should be under the free downloads, but it's not there. So it's a logical conclusion that it does not exist any more.

[ginahoy]

Not sure if this answers your question, but when I upgraded from v16 to v17, there wasn't a separate Player... I had to use Workstation to open a virtual machine. The player was no longer a separate app. I recently upgraded to v26H1 and it's the same... no separate player. One difference with 26H1 is I had to add -q option to the command line so the Workstation GUI wouldn't remain open after I shut down the virtual machine. 

[RaSystemlord]

I don't know what there is or isn't in the latest version, but ...

1.
When you INSTALLED 17.x Workstation Pro there is a separate VMware Player.

2.
It was never a good idea to download&install VMware Player. The reason was that with the Pro installed, Player was still usable, if you liked less options, BUT you got the Virtual Network Editor usable, also after the evaluation period (30 days) of the Pro version. Player wasn't "for free", but had it's own licensing for business use (for a long time). Network Editor was almost a must, if you wanted your IP-address ranges edited-the-same, when updating&installing&using many physical computers.

[Technogeezer]

Broadcom announced a couple of years ago that they were stopping the sale of Workstation Player. They indicated it would continue to receive updates until a new major version was released. 

it looks like Workstation Player was finally removed from the product in 26H1. It was present in my 25H2 installation, but disappeared from my system when I upgraded to Workstation 26H1.

------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------

[RDPetruska]

In the updated 25H2u1 release notes, they stated that they would NOT be including the Player binaries in future releases (of which 26H1 is the first one).