'Personal' licenses for VMware's Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro software will be going free-to-use

Home users and students arise - no more looking for sketchy cracks and bypasses because VMware announced they are making Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro free to access under the 'Personal' license.

Following Broadcom's $61 billion acquisition of VMware in November was further "dramatized" by things like the end of perpetual licensing and the discontinuation of the free vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), it seems that they are heading in a clear direction - 'Free for Personal' and 'Paid Subscription for Commercial'.

So starting right now, personal users need to get a Broadcom account, download the desired software, and then pick the "For Personal Use" option during installation.

Meanwhile, the previous Workstation Player and Fusion Player applications are being discontinued because they have been integrated into the free-to-use section but one can still "upgrade" via the following steps:

• Workstation Player (Personal) — Download and install the Workstation Pro personal use product. Workstation Player will continue to be bundled with Workstation Pro.
• Fusion Player (Personal) — Update to Fusion 13.5.2 and delete the license key file to remove the 'Player' functionality limitation and unlock the 'Pro for Personal Use' functionality without needing any additional keys.
• Fusion Player 13 and Workstation Player 17 (Commercial License) — Player products will continue to function without new license keys needed. These products will continue to be supported for existing customers according to their existing End of Life and End of General Support dates.

For more information about the changes to the VMware software duo, click here.