Another query for you VMware-experienced people out
there ... What exactly is meant by a "virtual network"
in this context?

It offers the choice of bridged networking (which I
want) or bridged and host-only networking, about which
it says "This allows for the sharing of files between
the virtual machine and the host operating system." Is
this referring to Samba or something?

I'm preparing to set up a virtual WinXPPro system. This
system is going to have to serve as a bit more than a
toy for me. I've used VMware for the last couple of
years, but only sporadically, and I've always just used
bridged networking, and have been able to transfer
files between my virtual machine and my real one using
ftp clients. And of course normal networking via IE,
telnet, etc. all works just fine.

I've got the whole hard-copy manual in front of me but
don't seem to be able to find a satisfactory answer to
the question.

-- 
Lynn David Newton
Phoenix, AZ