We use the solution as a hypervisor to deploy VM workloads for testing.
Senior network engineer at GoTech
Good stability and easy-to-use solution
Pros and Cons
- "The solution's customer service is good."
- "Its price could be better."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable feature is the ease of use compared to other vendors.
What needs improvement?
The solution's pricing could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for more than ten years.
Buyer's Guide
VMware Workstation
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware Workstation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is quite a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's customer service is good.
How was the initial setup?
We need to download the EXE file for the solution and install it. It takes five minutes to complete the process. However, time might vary depending on connectivity, operating system installations, etc.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution has perpetual and subscription-based licensing models. They are pretty expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend the solution to others and rate it as a ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Info Sec Consultant at Size 41 Digital
It's enabled us to fire up speedy sandboxes to test software or malware in a closed environment.
What is most valuable?
Ease of install. Ease of upgrade. We also got to check out w10 so we could see how we wanted it set up for everyone.
It used to be a bit buggy with v7 when you wanted to suspend a machine but those issues seem to have been worked out with v12.
How has it helped my organization?
It's enabled us to fire up speedy sandboxes to test software or malware in a closed environment. We can also run other operating systems at the click of a button. In general, it's saved us time and money. We can also run honeypots to capture information on exploit attempts. Three really great things to have more of.
What needs improvement?
From my POV, I have no real niggles with it. It's fine as it is but I probably use about 40% of the capabilities so I've not delved into every single function provided by VMware player.
To avoid problems you really do need to be on the most recent version, especially if you want to use W10 images.
For how long have I used the solution?
On and off I've used this for 7-8 years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
VMware Workstation
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware Workstation. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Customer experience engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
High performance, reliable, and simple initial setup
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
My company used to manufacture equipment that worked in conjunction with Citrix, VMware, or anything else that had either a cloud-based solution or a thin client or a thin client operating system requirement.
Our clients already were already a VMware Workstation, Citrix, Parallels, or a Microsoft customer, and we were only presenting them with the technology to physically connect to that solution. We provided a way in which they could present a connection to the target operating system or application. We were the OS that sat on the actual physical customer's desktop, and then they would connect to, for example, Citrix, VMware, or Microsoft.
Instead of having a whole full-blown copy of Microsoft Windows on a desktop to access another copy of Microsoft Windows, that's in the cloud, we are were presenting them with an alternative method to get to the virtual desktop or virtual application. We provided an endpoint computer solutions space. We didn't influence what the customers' endpoint was connecting to, we would facilitate the connection only.
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
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.
We have used Citrix and they are very good because they keep both in step with one another. When they release a new endpoint client, very close to the same between the Microsoft Windows OS 10, Apple iOS, and Android. VMware Workstation tends to leave Windows first for its client OS and sometimes doesn't catch up with the other OS's. A good example is the offloading of Teams. Teams works on Microsoft Windows, but there's no Linux client.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware Workstation for approximately six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware Workstation is highly reliable and stable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Citrix previously. I would rate VMware Workstation and Citrix the same. They have small differences and they both have areas to improve.
How was the initial setup?
VMware Workstation's initial setup is straightforward. It's not a difficult solution to implement. It's incredibly similar to Citrix. It's quite easy because most sites that employ Horizon or VMware Workstation have already a VMware implementation, it's not extensive in that respect. However, what is difficult for all clients, it's how to make it work reliably, quickly, and stream well. After the initial installation, it's the second configuration that is what takes more work.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution for customers. However, the solution has to match the customer's use case.
I rate VMware Workstation a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Engineer with 501-1,000 employees
Awesome little program for running VMs on a desktop.
Awesome little program for running VMs on a desktop. Very easy to use and very powerful. Used correctly, it can really increase productivity!
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT consultant at Soeldner consult gmbh
Useful to run VMs on a desktop, stable with a good performance
Pros and Cons
- "The performance is good."
- "It could have more platforms and CPUs."
What is our primary use case?
It is used to spin up games on a desktop. It can also run VMs on a desktop on-premises.
How has it helped my organization?
The performance is good and depends on your PC.
What needs improvement?
It could have more platforms and CPUs.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for more than ten years. It is deployed both on cloud and on-premises.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
There were no problems with the initial setup, and the deployment was good.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is not an expensive solution, and I rate the pricing a nine out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution a ten out of ten and recommend it to others.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Senior Technical Product Marketing Manager at SnapLogic
I've significantly improved my desktop processing productivity
Valuable Features:
By using a VMware player, I've significantly improved my desktop processing productivity. By having multiple VMs running in the background for testing software, running scripts, or doing other CPU intensive tasks, I can get a lot more accomplished without interfering with my programs running in the forefront on a PC or another VM.
Room for Improvement:
The initial setup is quite easy, but can be daunting to someone unfamiliar with desktop computing environments.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
You said that the initial setup is quite easy. Can you tell me, please, how much time did you spend with the initial setup?
Pre-sales engineer
It's helpful for migrating and patching operating systems
Pros and Cons
- "VMware Workstation is great for migrating and patching operating systems."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
It's a very good tool for testing labs on my own computer. This is only the use.
What is most valuable?
VMware Workstation is great for migrating and patching operating systems.
What needs improvement?
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.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used VMware Workstation in a testing lab two months ago, but it was only for internal testing. We only tried it out for about five days.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Workstation is stable and scalable.
How was the initial setup?
Workstation is easy to set up. It only took about 15 minutes.
What other advice do I have?
I rate VMware Workstation nine out of 10. It's a very good product.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Free virtualization on your Windows and Linux desktop
Valuable Features:
Free, That's the most important thing about VMware player. It's available on both Windows and Linux. VMware used to only run a virtual machine / virtual appliance, but now we can create a new VM with VMware player. You can even redistribute VMware player with permission from VMware, it might be useful if you want to send demo of your product as virtual appliance to your client. We don't need dedicated machine to install VMware player, we can just use our desktop to run VMware player.
Room for Improvement:
Not available on Mac OS, so the only virtualization solution from VMware for your Mac OS is VMware Fusion. Lack of some features that only available in VMware workstation or VMware Fusion such as Teams, multiple Snapshots, multiple Clones, and Virtual Rights Management. Compared to Virtualbox, VMware player is slightly heavier on resource usage than Virtualbox.
Other Advice:
Simple free virtualization solution that you can depend on. A lot of virtual appliance on VMware virtual appliance marketplace.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Yes, the resource usage is quite high for VMWare Player application. While you are using this application, other applications becomes quite slow.
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Updated: October 2024
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Very nice software that can be used without any cost. Useful for those who want to play virtual machines on their desktops rather than buying virtualization servers.