Which guest operating systems are supported by VMware?

For a comprehensive, updated list, see http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf.

Pay attention to the noted OS release level in the guide. Newest versions of Linux kernels may cause trouble, and so may Windows service packs until support is offically announced.

Unsupported x86 operating systems such as DOS usually work, too, but VMware will not provide any support for them. With such systems a guest should suppor either Buslogic or LSIlogic SCSI controllers and AMD PCNET 32 or Intel e1000 network cards.