>> Given that the main disk image is 1.5GB but the snapshots are only 
>> 300MB each, I figured it was doing some sort of compression.
> 
> No, it's just keeping a list of sectors you've ever written anything to.

I assumed that's what the main image file was doing also.

>> Oh, definitely. And that's why I was hoping that the VMware Tools 
>> might include a tool to zero unused sectors. But apparently not...
> 
> Linux does.  I don't know of anything in vmware to deallocate sectors, 
> even if they're all zeros.

Linux has a way to zero unused disk blocks?

(I'm not surprised that this doesn't make VMware release those blocks, 
however... Should make the file more compressible though.)

>> More annoyingly, to get VMware Player they demand that you register an 
>> account using a real name, etc.
> 
> Why is that a problem?

I dislike having to "register" to get my hands on supposedly "free" 
software.

In my mind, "free" software is software that you can use anywhere you 
want. But from the looks of this, the software has to be "activated". So 
even though it's "free", you can only have it on a single computer, and 
so on. And you have a serial number to not lose, and... it's just more 
hassel.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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