We compared VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion based on our user's reviews in several parameters.
VMware Workstation is praised for seamless virtual machine creation and reliability, but lacks feedback on customer service and ROI. In contrast, VMware Fusion offers exceptional customer support, reasonable pricing, and positive ROI. Fusion users also suggest areas for improvement, such as performance enhancements and better customer support.
Features: Valuable features in VMware Workstation include seamless VM creation, efficient resource use, reliable performance, helpful snapshots, and compatibility with different OS. In contrast, VMware Fusion emphasizes seamless integration, powerful VM performance, and extensive operating system support.
Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for VMware Workstation is not specified in the available data. However, for VMware Fusion, users have expressed concerns about the setup cost, as it may require technical expertise., The ROI for VMware Workstation is not provided, while user feedback for VMware Fusion describes a positive and beneficial ROI. Users found value in its ability to run multiple operating systems, improving productivity and cost savings.
Room for Improvement: VMware Workstation has no feedback for improvements, while VMware Fusion needs enhancements in performance, hardware compatibility, user interface, customer support, and software updates based on user feedback.
Deployment and customer support: From the user reviews, it is unclear how long it takes to deploy, set up, or implement VMware Workstation. However, for VMware Fusion, some users took three months for deployment and an extra week for setup, while others only needed a week for both. This suggests the terms deployment and setup may refer to the same period, and evaluating user context is crucial., The customer service for VMware Workstation cannot be assessed due to a lack of information. In contrast, user experiences with VMware Fusion's customer service have been exceptional, with prompt and helpful assistance, knowledgeable staff, and efficient and reliable support.
The summary above is based on 31 interviews we conducted recently with VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"The whole point of it is to run Windows VMs on a Mac. This is the most valuable feature. There is snapshotting, but we don't really use that. The Pro version allows me to actually attach to the Windows ESXi infrastructure at the backend, and I'm able to create a session that I can attach to the VMware hooks at the backend, so one is running a VM, and the whole operating system is running on the actual Mac. The other one is literally a frontend to the VMs that are running in the infrastructure at the backend. These are the two main features I use."
"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"It is a highly stable solution."
"VMware Workstation’s most valuable features are backup and data transfer from one server to another."
"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"Because the setup is so easy, this is a solution that can be used at a moment's notice."
"Technical support is very good."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the DirectX support, you can run Microsoft Hyper-V in virtual environments which is good for me to test different installations. Additionally, you can set up different VLANs, and overall it is a complete solution."
"It's stable."
"The most valuable features of the VMware Workstation solutions are the ESXi and vCenter."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is an easy-to-use product."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."
"Its installation process could be simpler."
"It could have more platforms and CPUs."
"Lacks the ability to clone onto another system rather than starting from scratch."
"It would be great if VMware Workstation had more networking options and compatibility, that would be great. I would like to deploy virtual switches and play around with networking a bit more. Otherwise, I have to deploy ESXi Virtual Edition and emulate it, which is painful and clunky."
"It would be helpful if VMware Workstation included an in-built monitoring tool for monitoring things."
"I have had issues with the virtual network adapters in the past that has taken some time to troubleshoot."
"My experience with Workstation is limited, so I don't know all the functionalities of this tool. Maybe Workstation could add some more compatibility with other vendors."
"The solution should provide a guide on its installation."
"They could add more integration between them, and compatibility with the standard virtualization format."
VMware Fusion is ranked 7th in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 5 reviews while VMware Workstation is ranked 2nd in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 42 reviews. VMware Fusion is rated 9.0, while VMware Workstation is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of VMware Fusion writes "Robust software with efficient snapshot and cloning features". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware Workstation writes "An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players". VMware Fusion is most compared with Parallels Desktop, VMware Player, VMware Horizon View, VMware Horizon and Citrix Workspace, whereas VMware Workstation is most compared with Hyper-V, VMware vSphere, KVM, Proxmox VE and Oracle VM VirtualBox. See our VMware Fusion vs. VMware Workstation report.
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