In all the years I use WS I always considered the virtual networking to be rock-solid.
I never had any problems with bridged networking myself and was able to fix all related problems when somebody else reported them to me.
Yesterday during normal use (creating Linux LiveCDs to be used as replacement for Viewzero-clients) WS 12 stopped vmnetbridge in a way that shows a new behaviour.
net stop vmnetbridge
net start vmnetbridge
should fix it but the service itself as well as the registry-key that configures it disappeared.
Recreating the key from a different controlset was possible but ineffective.
I dont have use for a version that may interrupt my work and requires hours of troubleshooting at a random time.
I will go back to an earlier version now: the poor handling of unexpected Windows reboots and the unstable vmnetbridge is something I cant bear any longer.
@vmware - please reconsider the roadmap for this product
If it goes on like this nobody will have use for a version 14 ...
Basically all I see in the history is that working functions will get slower and less stable in newer versions.
Sharing the VM-format with vSphere is the last reason why I still need Workstation - if the overall quality of the product gets worse and worse in all new versions we see - having vSphere compatibilty may no longer be enough one day.
Sorry for the rant - but it was necessary
Ulli
