When I attempt to launch this per the instructions on
the VMware discription page, I get the error "An
Error Occured During Conversation".
Yes, MS changed something in their virtual machines so that the importer built-in to VMWare products fails. Even trying to use Converter on the MS appliance files fails.
The only way I've gotten a current MS appliance to work in VMWare is to start the appliance in Virtual Server, then run VMWare Converter to convert the "physical machine."