A new release of VmwAROS is available for download. It's the first official update to add USB mass storage support to VmwAROS, since Michal Schulz added it to AROS some weeks ago. The good news is that you can now plug your USB pendrives in a VmwAROS machine and copy files from/to them. USB code is young, however, so you can still expect some weird results from it, ranging from totally ignored USB mass storages to AROS freezing, but usually you'll see a new volume icon appearing on the desktop.

Please notice that, due to missing cacheing features, FAT and FFS filesystems will be really slow. Files will be transferred at speeds like 150 KB/sec or so, while creating a SFS partition will let you transfer them at full speed: 1,4 MB/sec, as much as USB 1.1 specifications allow. AROS doesn't support yet USB 2.0, so USB 2-class devices will run slower. Moreover, FAT filesystem currently has a little limitation, showing all files as generic tools. Just copy them to RAM: to open them with a double-click. AROS developers are working hard to fix these issues, if someone would be so kind to give 'em a hand, just contact them with the AROS developers' mailing list. If you have issues with a particular pendrive, don't forget to grab my USB-tester and send its output to the bugtracker, adding your hardware configuration.

This is not the only one good news. VmwAROS includes an updated version of Martin's Server Suite, which correctly handles AROS DHCP addresses, simplifying network configuration and allowing file transfers also when using a dynamic IP address. MSS includes both FTP (YAFS) and HTTP (Snug) servers, so you can browse your AROS machine from any other computer connected to the same network, or even use VmwAROS to run your website.

Krzysztof Smiechowicz has made some enhancements to MPlayer, and now VmwAROS can play also DVDs. There are some little limitations, though, that will be addressed really soon: encrypted DVDs are not supported at this stage, due to a problem in the AROS kernel, and DVD menu won't work for now. He has also updated to version 1.8 his port of Eternal Lands, the first MMORPG playable on AROS, which is obviously included in VmwAROS 1.0.2.

In the latest weeks there had been many bugfixes and contributions to AROS' ata.device, extending AROS compatibility to many other motherboards and EIDE/SATA chipsets. People who had problems booting older versions of VmwAROS, or had been stuck to emergency mode kernel, should try the new ISO.

VmwAROS 1.0.2 is available in two formats: the complete Live! DVD ISO file, and an update disk for current 1.0 and 1.0.1 users. Update 1.0.2 includes also stuff of 1.0.1. Enjoy!

PS: since I was told that during installation of VmwAROS Live! (and Live! only), some "overwrite files requests" popped up, I have made a newer Live! 1.0.2 package which is 3 MB smaller and doesn't have this issue anymore. If you have downloaded the former version, you do not need to download the package again, you simply need to answer 'yes (all)' to get rid of the problem. However, if you're planning to seed a torrent for VmwAROS Live! 1.0.2, please ensure the file name is VmwAROS_Live_1_0_2b.7z.exe (there must be a 'b' before .7z.exe). Thanks.

VmwAROS LIVE! is a complete distribution of the AROS desktop operating system. Based on the VmwAROS technologies, VmwAROS LIVE! includes the classic VmwAROS environment, on a bootable live DVD-ROM which runs directly on your hardware (it must be already supported by AROS). VmwAROS LIVE! can be installed on the hard drive and can coexist with Microsoft Windows XP, in a dedicated partition. A quick reference guide and some AROS PDF manuals are included. This version comes also with a Qemu-based virtual machine which allows Windows users to test the distribution in a safer (but slower) environment.

SUPPORT VMWAROS!
After downloading, please consider donating. Every release of VmwAROS requires a lot of time and work, for a hobbyst project. Donations will be spent to enhance VmwAROS and to contribute to AROS bounties.

• Users of VmwAROS 1.0 and 1.0.1 don't need to download the whole package. They should use the 1.0.2 update pack instead.
• During installation on hard drive, you might be prompted to overwrite an already existing file or not. Please answer "Yes (all)".

Second official update for VmwAROS 1.0 is available for downloads. This compressed ISO image includes new system files and applications for VmwAROS 1.0 Live! and VE. It won't run standalone. In order to install it, you need to have already installed VmwAROS 1.0 or 1.0.1 on the hard drive. Burn it on a CD-ROM or mount the ISO in your virtual machine, and launch VmwUpdate from the Tools drawer. This update includes also v1.0.1, so people with v1.0 don't need to apply patch 1.0.1 first.

New from VmwAROS 1.0.1

- added SabreMSN
- faster Amiga emulation with AmiBridge
- updated development chain
- updated ATI™ and Nvidia™ native drivers
- updated mplayer
- updated Eternal Lands MMORPG client
- updated FTP and HTTP server: they now work with DHCP
- added USB mass storage support
- updated VmwAROS preference script
- updated ConfigIP (won't ask for Yafs anymore)
- updated VmwUpdate
- AmiStart now shows 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 programs
- Opaque can be disabled in Preferences
- updated and more compatible ata.device
- added antialiasing to PoorPDF
- reintroduced SFSdefrag

New from VmwAROS 1.0

- updated kernel and system files
- updated development chain
- fixed sdl-config issues when compiling SDL programs
- updated ATI™ Radeon™ native driver
- added movie/music player MPlayer with three different launch scripts
- double clicking on MP3 files will launch MPlayer with GUI
- added ArosAmp 0.21
- added MilkyTracker
- added SDLcalc
- updated MuiBase to latest version
- updated PortablE to latest version
- updated VmwAROS and ConfigIP prefs for VE version
- updated VICE to latest version
- added HFinder
- added some new games and applications

Download locations

> Download from filefront (89 MB, 7z file format)
> Download from AmiKit website (89 MB, 7z file format)

Installation instructions

1. extract the ISO file from the archive
2. burn it on a standard CD-ROM
3. turn on your VmwAROS system or virtual machine and boot your current AROS system
4. insert the update disc in your phisical or virtual CD-ROM device
5. launch VmwUpdate from AROS:Tools or Amistart > My Software > System Apps > VmwUpdate
6. answer "yes" to ALL questions. Ignore any "object not found" messages: they're normal.
7. extract the update CD
8. reset the system and boot VmwAROS again
9. before opening Wanderer, some operations will be performed to complete installation

Important notices:

- VmwAROS 1.0.2 needs to delete older version of some files and change location for the newer ones. These actions will be performed automatically. Before updating, please make a backup of your prefernces for YAFS, if you need them. Older configuration files won't work on the new version, so please don't try to use your older settings as they are, but adapt them to the new format.

- S:user-startup will be changed. Older version will be stored in S:backup.user-startup. Please transfer your custom settings to a newer file called S:vmwuser-startup, it will be executed just before Wanderer.

- All commodities and services automatically run by VmwAROS are now activable by user. To do so, please launch VmwAROS panel in Prefs and let it make all the modifications for you. Don't to them by yourself. You will be prompted either to run or not: USB, Opaque, Networking, file sharing and AmiStart.

I really would like to thank Aros-exec's user Mmartinka, who has posted this wonderful screenshot of VmwAROS running on a Mac with Parallels Desktop 4.0. This virtual machine has a great advantage over the competition: it supports sound as well. In order to gain a fairly nice VmwAROS experience on Parallels, please set up AHI prefs to use AC97 (both for Music and Unit 0), and ConfigIP to use RTL8029 for networking.



PS: NO, I haven't ever tried installing VmwAROS directly on a Intel-based Mac, so I absolutely don't know if it would run natively.

First official update for VmwAROS 1.0 is available for downloads. This compressed ISO image includes new system files and applications for VmwAROS 1.0 Live! and VE. It won't run standalone. In order to install it, you need to have already installed VmwAROS 1.0 on the hard drive. Burn it on a CD-ROM or mount the ISO in your virtual machine, and launch VmwUpdate from the Tools drawer.

New from VmwAROS 1.0

- updated kernel and system files
- updated development chain
- fixed sdl-config issues when compiling SDL programs
- updated ATI™ Radeon™ native driver
- added movie/music player MPlayer with three different launch scripts
- double clicking on MP3 files will launch MPlayer with GUI
- added ArosAmp 0.21
- added MilkyTracker
- added SDLcalc
- updated MuiBase to latest version
- updated PortablE to latest version
- updated VmwAROS and ConfigIP prefs for VE version
- updated VICE to latest version
- added HFinder
- added some new games and applications

Download locations

> Download from filefront (47 MB, 7z file format)
> Download from AmiKit website (47 MB, 7z file format)
> Download from Yandex (47 MB, 7z file format)

Installation instructions

1. extract the ISO file from the archive
2. burn it on a standard CD-ROM
3. turn on your VmwAROS system or virtual machine and boot your current AROS system
4. insert the update disc in your phisical or virtual CD-ROM device
5. launch VmwUpdate from AROS:Tools or Amistart > My Software > System Apps > VmwUpdate
6. answer "yes" to ALL questions. Ignore any "object not found" messages: they're normal.
7. extract the update CD
8. reset the system and boot VmwAROS again