Poor "upgrade" policy???

[klkitchens]

So when I first got on board VMWare, Player was just a Player (could not create) and Workstation was the thing to have to create and manage VMs...

Now they've made Player more of a Workstation light for core functionality (when licensed) and Workstation Pro has more bells and whistles that I no longer have need of.

So for my purposes, a licensed Player would be the best choice for me.

I'm a license holder of Workstation Pro 12 (now, not when I started), but for some very silly reason I cannot get the upgrade price for Player from this.  The upgrade path clearly states "Upgrade from Workstation 12 Player or greater"  and obviously Workstation 12 PRO is greater than Workstation 12 Player.  Yes, I know they technically have a different SKU, but in nearly almost all software upgrades I've done for nearly 30 years a superior version of essentially the same product counts for an upgrade path.

Workstation 12 works fine and I really don't WANT to change anything, except now Windows 10 won't update to the newer version.  I don't need all the feature of Pro anymore, but it seems I'm stuck paying either $150 for a 15.5 Pro upgrade (no valid sales or coupons it seems ever) or $150 for a full version of 15.5 Player (that just seems dumb).

Or risk buying from one of the shady license sellers on ebay, but I'm not sure how legal that is.  Would rather pay a fair amount to VMWare directly.

Is there any chance of talking to customer service and getting this clear oversight corrected?

[a_p_]

Just a quick note. VMware Workstation Player is free for personal, non-commercial use (see e.g. What is VMware Workstation Player? | FAQs).

André

[T180985 · Accepted solution]

Not that it really answers your question but if youre going to spend $150 anyway, you might want to look into VMUG advantage as it gives you a workstation pro licence as well as a large number of other licences and discounts for $200 (you can find 10% off fairly easily). Depends whether you lab things up and do certs etc

No harm in dropping customer service a ticket to see if there is anything that can be done though....

p.s. I personally wouldnt risk ebay licence keys

[klkitchens]

VMware Workstation Player is free for personal, non-commercial use

Unfortunately, I'm a software developer using it for work, so that does not help me

[RDPetruska]

Then you need Workstation Pro

[klkitchens]

RDPetruska​ -- In light of the question, your answer makes absolutely no sense.

Player Pro IS for commercial use if licensed.  I already (as stated in the OP) own Workstation Pro.  There is nothing in my question or needs to REQUIRE Workstation Pro.

Thanks for the attempt (I think).

[RDPetruska]

Player Pro IS for commercial use if licensed

There is no such product.  There is Workstation Player (free for non-commercial use, and apparently also some sort of license for it), and Workstation Pro.