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thewul
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

VMware v12 Pro - What is meant with "P2V - Migrate Windows 10 PC to VM" ?

Windows 10 activation is based on the hardware it is installed on, i.e. the physical pc.

Any spare(!), i.e. non-used Windows 8, or 8.1 version that has been upgraded to Windows 10, can not be activated anymore when installed as virtual machine.

The keys have been replaced by new, Windows 10, keys, based on hardware-ID's.

On Compare VMware Workstation 11 to VMware Workstation 9 and 10 and VMware Player Pro | United States

it says: P2V - Migrate Windows 10 PC to VM

Q: what is being meant with this?

Also v12 Pro is "Ready for Microsoft Windows 10".

Isn't v11 as well?

I have v11 running on Windows 10 x64 and I installed Windows 10 x64 Enterprise as a virtual machine.

Thanks

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rcporto
Leadership
Leadership

Q: what is being meant with this?

Means that the P2V process of a physical PC with Windows 10 is fully supported by VMware, see the release notes: VMware Workstation 12 Pro Release Notes

  • Full support of Windows 10
    VMware Workstation Pro provides the following support for Windows 10:
    • Run Windows 10 as a virtual machine
    • Run Windows 10 as a host operating system
    • Windows 10 Auto Detect and Easy Install
    • Unity support for Windows 10
    • Migrate Windows 10 PC to a virtual machine

And about the fact you can run Windows 10 on VMware Workstation 11 doesn't mean that is is fully supported, at least according with VMware Software Compatibility Guide, VMware Workstation 11 does not support Windows 10.

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Richardson Porto
Senior Infrastructure Specialist
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/richardsonporto
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mfelker
Expert
Expert

Somebody at VMware should be aware the the Software Compatibility Guide is at odds with the supported guests in the VMware WS 11.1.2 program itself.  If you choose to install the OS later and pick fromn the Windows list Windows 10 x64 is one of the choices.  In fact I run WS 11 on the Windows 10 Insider Preview builds and have installed Windows 10, Windows 10 Enterprise, and for good measure Windows Server 2016 TP3.

The compatibility guide doesn't show Windows 12 Pro as one of the VMware products - only VMware 11.  This is because WS 12 will have problems supporting any mainstream Linux distro which uses gcc 5.2 or kernel 4.1 and above.

For those not looking at the VMware Player forum it has been posted by a VMware employee that WS 12 will no longer support Unity mode on Linux because "nobody uses it".  WS 11 unity mode works fine on versions of Ubuntu hosts and I have used it and very much I'm not  alone.

IMHO the future of VMware on Linux is very much in doubt and if you look at the advertising WS is not being pitched to non-corporate users at all. If you are using other peoples money $149 for an upgrade or $249.99 new isn't very steep.

Here is the advertising blurb - you (and I don't mean you specifically Mr. Porto) decide for yourself.

Introducing Workstation 12 Pro

VMware Workstation 12 Pro continues VMware’s tradition of delivering leading edge features and performance that technical professionals rely on every day when working with virtual machines. With support for the latest version of Windows and Linux, the latest processors and hardware, and the ability to connect to VMware vSphere and vCloud Air, it's the perfect tool to increase productivity, save time and conquer the cloud.

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thewul
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thank you for your reply. I am just a 'simple end-user' - so please bear with me.

I am unsure of what is being meant with 'P2V process' .

Now I can endlessly search on Internet and sure there are a lot of explanations, such as wikipedia and there is even a video

'VMware Training - Physical to Virtual (P2V) Migrations with the VMware vCenter Converter '

But I am using Windows 10 x64 Pro single user version. Could this be of any practical use for me?

Meanwhile, when running Windows 8.1 Pro on Workstation v11 the windows update cannot be performed due to a compatibility issue.

Seems this issue has been reported on many occassions, like

Will I be able to reserve a copy of Windows 10 using my Windows 8.1 VM?

Will I be able to reserve a copy of Windows 10 using my Windows 8.1 VM?

or

Win 10 upgrade is now being blocked due to "Get Windows 10" Fails due to VMWare SVGA 3D driver

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_upgrade/win-10-upgrade-is-now-being-...

Is this simply a matter of vmware video driver update or does this issue not occur on 12 Pro ?

Thanks

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