VMware Academic Program for Students

The VMware Academic Program is a web-hosted service that will allow students to take advantage of many software applications from VMware, a leader in the area of virtualized computing. Their software is in use across various commercial industries.

VMAP offers a wide array of software from VMware and other partners, most notably VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion. Both applications allow virtual instances of multiple operating systems on a single PC or Mac.

Visit Baruch’s VMap site

Use-Case Examples

Students using Apple hardware would be able to run an instance of Windows 7 or Windows 8 if they have the appropriate license for the operating system.
Students using a PC running Windows 7 would be able to test Windows 8.
Students with laptops running Windows 8 would be able to run another version of Windows (such as Windows 7) for compatibility purposes.

Who Has Access?

Any currently enrolled student is eligible to access the service. Students receive a registration e-mail message detailing how they can set up their account. Once setup, students will be able to navigate the site and software offered.

Support Resources

The BCTC Help Desk will be able to troubleshoot any issues with your account. However, the Help Desk will not be able to provide support for a student’s personal computer and virtual machine setup and configuration. VMware provides a number of free support resources to aid students with this:

Workstation Documentation – product documentation and manuals
Knowledge Base – troubleshooting information
Community Forum – users can share their information and experiences with others (registration required)
User Groups (VMUGs) – live, local gatherings of VMware users

VMware also provides step-by-step guides to help with the installation of multiple operating systems here: http://partnerweb.vmware.com/GOSIG/home.html

Here are some of the more commonly used guides for popular operating systems:

Windows 8: http://partnerweb.vmware.com/GOSIG/Windows_8.html
Windows 7: http://partnerweb.vmware.com/GOSIG/Windows_7.html
Mac OS X 10.8: http://partnerweb.vmware.com/GOSIG/MacOSX_10_8.html

*Students currently enrolled in a CIS course can take advantage of the CIS Society
Azure Software Library for free access to common Microsoft operating systems. Students would need to own a paid copy of the operating system they would like to utilize with VMware Workstation (PC) or Fusion (Mac).