Well, I wasn't sure what to expect from a "VMWare-KVM" interface.
I thought it may have meant VMWare uses the builtin /dev/kvm interface for virtualisation. This would be very nice, if it would no longer require the compilation of custom modules into the kernel of the host OS. See i.e. Ubuntu Saucy Salamander 13.10 and Ubuntu 13.10 / kernel 3.11 support. For a tech preview boasting with "Support for new OSses", it does not do well, at least from the host perspective. If one cannot decently compile the modules without hacking them on recent distributions / kernel versions, they are out-of-date, plain and simple. The KVM driver, is simply always up-to-date and in "sync" with your kernel.
The fact the same patches apply to vmnet and vmblock as the 9.0.2 Workstation version, indicates this is one area which haven't been touched since then.
Secondly, KVM is simply fast. VMWare workstation is definitely not bad, but, especially when using multiple VMs, it starts to swap like crazy for no reason (running 5x2 GB vRAM VM's, 4 GB free, thanks to KSM, but VMWare decides it's time to swap out...).
There are things missing from KVM, such as a decent management GUI (virt-manager just doesn't cut it) and graphical performance, which just plain sucks (except when using SPICE, remote desktop, which is too much work). And, KVM does not require any guest tooling.
I kinda hoped VMWare Workstation could now be used as a management interface, so I could have my VMs from Workstation, VirtualBox and KVM all in one place.
You didn't ask me for a comparison between KVM and VMWare. But there are some situations when I like to use KVM:
- Kernel modules of VMWare do not compile, and I haven't found a patch yet
- I need very high performance (paravirtualised hardware)
- VMWare is refusing to power on VMs "because I'm out of memory", with several GBs of memory free