VMware Ends Distribution of Free Versions of ESXI Hypervisor
In a move announced in November last year, Broadcom, following its absorption of the business VMware, has decided to terminate the unlimited licenses for their VMware products. As a result, one of the effects of this termination is the discontinuation of the distribution of the free versions of VMware VSPhere Hypervisor (ESXI 7.x and 8.x).
The free versions were previously limited by the number of processor cores and memory size, and did not include advanced features. Nevertheless, they still offered basic functionality, making them popular for small-scale, personal, and experimental implementations.
No alternative products have been provided by VMware to replace the discontinued free versions.
For more information, please visit the official VMware blog and the VMware knowledge base article.