VMware's virtual machine monitor has traditionally used segmentation to provide isolation between the guest operating system and the virtual machine monitor. This is necessary because the guest operating system and virtual machine monitor share the linear address space.
To determine whether or not your CPU is suitable for running 64-bit guest operating systems, VMware distributes a free utility. You can download the tool from our web site:
Processor Check for 64-Bit Compatibility .
Note: This utility is provided without support from VMware and does not require ESX/ESXi, VMware Server or VMware Workstation to perform the check.
ESX/ESXi, VMware Workstation, Player, and VMware Server require a 64-bit CPU to run a 64-bit guest operating system.
VMware Fusion requires a 64-bit processor to run a 64-bit guest operating system or to run any Mac OS Guest. Mac OS Guests require hardware virtualization (VT), which VMware supports only on 64-bit processors. The Intel Core Solo and Core Duo processors are 32-bit, but the Core 2 Duo and newer processors are 64-bit
.