It may because of the opensource EMUs like QEMU, VMWare player 2.0 is released as open source software.
To retain some value to its VMWare Workstation, EMC kept VMWare player to be "play" only, you don't have GUI to configure a Virtual Machine.
Ironically, the configuration of the VM (the vmx file) is a plain text file. So you know if you are handy enough, you can do without a GUI. (well, you'd better by their stuff as I own their stock).
For you to get a quick jump start on that, here is a sample vmx configuration file enables most (read: not all) of the features available to VMWare Player 2.0
### sample vmx file ###
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "4"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
memsize = "512"
MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"
ide0:0.present = "TRUE"
ide0:0.fileName = "GL_WXP2C623A.vmdk"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.fileName = "auto detect"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
floppy0.fileName = "A:"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
usb.present = "TRUE"
sound.present = "FALSE"
sound.virtualDev = "es1371"
sound.fileName = "-1"
sound.autodetect = "TRUE"
displayName = "SAP IT Office Image - GL_WXP2C623A"
guestOS = "winxppro"
nvram = "winxppro.nvram"
ide1:0.autodetect = "TRUE"
floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"
workingDir = ""
toolScripts.afterResume = "TRUE"
toolScripts.beforeSuspend = "TRUE"
ide0:0.redo = ""
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
uuid.location = "56 4d 3c e6 4c ee 29 a3-f6 26 00 51 eb 87 50 70"
uuid.bios = "56 4d 3c e6 4c ee 29 a3-f6 26 00 51 eb 87 50 70"
uuid.action = "create"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:87:50:70"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
ide1:0.startConnected = "FALSE"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
annotation = "SAP IT Office Image - GL_WXP2C623A"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "TRUE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "bridged"
checkpoint.vmState = ""
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
tools.upgrade.policy = "manual"
extendedConfigFile = "winxppro.vmxf"
sharedFolder.option = "alwaysEnabled"
sharedFolder0.present = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.enabled = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.readAccess = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.hostPath = "C:\"
sharedFolder0.guestName = "C"
sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"
sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"
