VMware releases Workstation 5.5
EMC subsidiary's new product offers better 64-bit and dual-processor abilities.
Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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EMC subsidiary released version 5.5 of its workstation product Tuesday, bringing better 64-bit and dual-processor abilities to a product that lets customers run multiple operating systems on one computer.
The new version can run 64-bit versions of operating systems in partitions called virtual machines; the earlier version could only run virtual machines with 32-bit operating systems. The 64-bit feature is supported on Advanced Micro Devices' processors but only experimentally supported on Intel's rival chips so far. Also with Workstation 5.5, a single virtual machine can span two processors or processor cores, a useful feature now that dual-core chips are becoming more common.