IMO
Go with CentOS for a free server. Much better supported by VMware.
No real idea on your issue. What is the hardware this is running on? Also I HIGHLY recommend 5.0.0 U1 Fixed a lot of issues with Machine Check Error purple screens.
Edit:
Under ESX for the VM system options what type od bios are you running I know to run windows server 2012 it needs to be efi