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VMware Workstation pros and cons

Vendor: VMware

4.4 out of 5

54 reviews
93% willing to recommend

3,954 followers

Pros & Cons summary

VMware Workstation is popular for test/dev environments, praised for running multiple operating systems with minimal impact. Users appreciate its quick setup and effective support. Extensive third-party support enhances flexibility. However, network adapter issues and clunky performance limit scalability. Price is a concern, and better compatibility with more systems is desired. Improvements in virtual machine import/export are needed, making these key considerations for tech buyers.

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

VMware Workstation is excellent for creating and managing multiple virtual machines, enabling the running of various operating systems simultaneously without impacting performance.

It offers robust support for DirectX and Microsoft Hyper-V, enhancing the capacity to test various installations and configurations in virtual environments.

VMware Workstation is recognized for its quick setup and ease of use that facilitates instant operational readiness for testing and development purposes.

VMware Workstation stands out with its snapshot features which allow users to revert back to previous states without data loss, improving the manageability of testing scenarios.

The product includes comprehensive third-party support and compatibility, providing an extensive ecosystem which assists in diverse testing and operational needs.

CONS

VMware Workstation has issues with virtual network adapters and limited networking features.

Pricing for VMware Workstation is considered too high, with suggestions for better cost management.

VMware Workstation shows limited scalability and compatibility with different platforms and operating systems.

There is a lack of integration with various tools and needs for improvements in virtual machine export/import capabilities.

VMware Workstation requires enhancement in network storage technology and compatibility support for macOS virtualization.

VMware Workstation Pros review quotes

reviewer1754271

Chief Technical Officer at a construction company with 51-200 employees

Feb 23, 2022

We are able to simultaneously run multiple operating systems in a single machine and have virtually no performance hit.

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Engineering Applications Analyst at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Oct 21, 2021

Because the setup is so easy, this is a solution that can be used at a moment's notice.

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System Administrator at MMCY Tech

Aug 28, 2023

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is an easy-to-use product.

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VMware Workstation

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Learn what your peers think about VMware Workstation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.

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TL

CEO at Virtual Consultants Sverige AB

Aug 8, 2022

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.

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Data Center Solutions Architect at MicroAge

Aug 29, 2023

VMware Workstation has tons of third-party support, the largest partner ecosystem. VMware works with a ton of different vendors. They have plugins for almost everything. Other hypervisors lack the flexibility that VMware Workstation offers.

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reviewer1803714

Customer experience engineer at Lakeside Software

Mar 14, 2022

The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the speed of access and quality of upgrade. Those are the more important and pertinent aspects as far as we were concerned. Functionality and features were relevant for the customers. What a customer chose, we had to make sure that it operated.

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Operations Manager at a agriculture with 1-10 employees

Jul 11, 2024

Having ten people working off a single piece of hardware reduces costs.

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Senior Technical Engineer at Netplay Inc

Nov 16, 2023

I appreciate the ease of backup and snapshot creation. The ability to revert to previous versions without losing data is very useful for our team.

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SHUBHAM BHINGARDE

Project Engineer at CDAC

Feb 13, 2024

Instead of relying on dual-boot operating systems, I can utilize open-source tools within my infrastructure. This approach allows me to create an in-house cloud platform suitable for testing. VMware Workstation enables me to perform tasks across various operating systems using a single device. It has helped me save time.

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KV

Solutions Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Jul 28, 2022

The most valuable features of the VMware Workstation solutions are the ESXi and vCenter.

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Show 10 more reviews (out of 45)

VMware Workstation Cons review quotes

reviewer1754271

Chief Technical Officer at a construction company with 51-200 employees

Feb 23, 2022

The interface is a little wonky and needs to be improved.

Read full review

Engineering Applications Analyst at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Oct 21, 2021

Lacks the ability to clone onto another system rather than starting from scratch.

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System Administrator at MMCY Tech

Aug 28, 2023

VMware Workstation uses more resources like CPU and disk space, especially the CPU, which is a shortcoming that needs improvement.

Read full review

VMware Workstation

Free Report: VMware Workstation Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about VMware Workstation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.

816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

TL

CEO at Virtual Consultants Sverige AB

Aug 8, 2022

VMware Workstation has some network limitations which could improve, it is not as flexible as VMware NSX. Additionally, it could support operating systems better. I only run some Linux versions and Windows at the moment but it would be nice to be able to take whatever operating system you want and run it.

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Data Center Solutions Architect at MicroAge

Aug 29, 2023

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.

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reviewer1803714

Customer experience engineer at Lakeside Software

Mar 14, 2022

The big issue that we've always had with VMware, was the disparity between what was presented for a Windows-based client and a Linux-based client. The Windows client was always two or three releases ahead of the Linux client. We always wanted VMware to change and improve the feature sets between the client connector on Linux and on Windows.

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Operations Manager at a agriculture with 1-10 employees

Jul 11, 2024

One improvement is mouse emulation. Some people in the office want to use a five—or seven-button mouse like they're used to at home, but they can't with the workstation setup.

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Senior Technical Engineer at Netplay Inc

Nov 16, 2023

I would like to see more detailed reporting capabilities, particularly around snapshot activity. It would be helpful to have a summary of changes made prior to deploying an application, allowing us to provide comprehensive reports to our management on a regular basis.

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SHUBHAM BHINGARDE

Project Engineer at CDAC

Feb 13, 2024

The solution should provide a guide on its installation.

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KV

Solutions Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Jul 28, 2022

The price of VMware Workstation could improve.

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Show 10 more reviews (out of 45)

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Product Categories

Product Categories

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Popular Comparisons

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Workspace ONE UEM vs VMware Workstation

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VMware Workstation

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs VMware Workstation

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