InfoWorld pens an early review of VMware's next Workstation version, and from what the author is saying there's plenty to be excited about:

For example, there's the new hardware-accelerated graphics support. You can now run Direct3D applications (including some games) from within a VM, eliminating a major hurdle to achieving near-local system fidelity. Workstation 6.5 also provides a mechanism for integrating applications running within the host OS. Dubbed "Unity," it allows you to, for example, run a copy of Internet Explorer 6 inside a VM and have its client window displayed seamlessly on the host OS desktop.

Unity is a carryover from the VMware Fusion product on Mac OS X. Another carryover is the new Easy Install feature. Designed to simplify the VM creation process, Easy Install parses the disk structure of an installation CD or ISO image, then applies a preconfigured installation script if it recognizes the guest OS media.

In the case of Windows XP, Easy Install prompts you for the product key, computer name, and administrator password, then proceeds to complete the entire OS installation automatically, no user interaction required. For support professionals or developers who frequently build and tear down lots of test VMs, Easy Install could be a real time-saver. The only downside is that it's a Windows-only feature - no Easy Install for Linux, Unix, and other non-Microsoft platforms.

Another time-saver - and a surefire VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) crowd-pleaser - is the integrated Assured Computing Environment (ACE) authoring features. Now, when you create a new VM, you are given the option of enabling additional ACE configuration options such as VM image encryption and access control. Having all of these features available alongside the normal VM parameters (they appear as an additional tab in the VM's configuration page) makes leveraging ACE technologies a snap and should help new ACE users to find critical options more quickly. There's even a handy Pocket ACE calculator for projecting and configuring an appropriate portable storage model for a new VM.

Other major features included shared Smart Card support (between host and guest OS); better, more granular control over VM snapshots; and more robust networking support for mobile users (including link-state propagation for roaming wireless hosts).

The author goes on to discuss how many of these new features are still a little rough around the edges. But, heck, its still beta code. VMware's betas have traditionally been diamonds in the rough. I myself gave their Server 2.0 beta a C- myself not too long ago, but I've been assured that my concerns will be resolved before the final release. Similar problems in today's versions were resolved when they made the jump from beta to finished product.

Keep an eye on this space for more as I learn it...