VMware Workstation Reviews

We use the product for testing environments and technologies before implementing business solutions.

VMware Workstation’s most valuable feature is virtualization technology. It has all the essential features and capabilities to use one computer for implementing solutions in many environments.

The product’s virtual machine data backup feature needs upgrading.

We have been using VMware Workstation for many years.

The product is very stable. I rate its stability an eight out of ten.

We used Oracle VirtualBox before. We switched to VMware Workstation for better stability.

The initial setup is very easy for creating virtual machines. It does not require any prior experience. The deployment time depends on the number of machines and services to be implemented. It takes approximately ten minutes to deploy one machine.

The product generates a return on investment for us. It allows us to test the solutions in test environments before publishing them in production. 

I recommend VMware Workstation for IT technicians and rate it an eight out of ten.

On-premises

It was in March 2010, when I first experienced VMware Workstation when my superior asked me to setup a LAMP server in my desktop computer. At first I was hesitant but I started to love it because of the following reasons: • It is very easy to use and no complications in installation • It runs multiple operating systems such as Linux, Ubuntu, XP, Vista, Windows 7 and 8 at the same time without rebooting • It replicates server and desktop environments using snapshots, replays and clones • It has web interface which easily manage and control virtual machines • It integrates Visual Studio, Eclipse and many applications including MySQL, MSSQL and IBM DB2 • It supports 3D Graphics, HD audio, USB 2.0 and 3.0, folder sharing and hardware devices sharing such as Camera and Bluetooth

VMware Workstations is for desktop use only and is pricey. The latest VMware workstation which is Workstation 9 costs $249.

VMware workstation is expensive but with its excellent features and performance for a desktop, the cost is nothing. You can use VMware Workstation to develop softwares and applications, test, check and analyze the performance of softwares and experience different virtual network environments such as stand-alone or client–server environments. I am definitely recommending VMware workstation to my fellow programmers, IT professionals, software and systems engineers, teacher and students who want to explore and take advantage of the power of desktop virtualization.

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.

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.

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. 

I have been using VMware Workstation for approximately six years.

VMware Workstation is highly reliable and stable.

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.

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.

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.

Network virtualisation allows the recreation of an entire network including multiple subnets, this is required to correctly recreate live deployment scenarios. It can interact with vSphere/Esxi to allow VMs to be moved directly into vSphere, or copied out and stood-up in Workstation; full support to import/export from OVF templates is also supported. This functionality has proved extremely beneficial in pre-staging supporting servers for DR recovery tests as well as testing system upgrades.

It has given us the flexibility to recreate live server scenarios including the supporting networks and AD domain controllers; these are then used to test upgrades or migrations with no impact on the live servers or network. These actions can then be repeated on the live servers, or the upgraded test VM can simply replace the original server (depending on the service requirements and server role). This can be completed by transferring the test VM directly from Workstation to the ESXI host or vSphere environment. If the transfer is the preferred method, the original VM remains available as a failback.

The addition of a built-in virtual router would be a good addition. Currently, I run my own virtual router in order to provide conectivity between virtual subnets.

I've been using it for several years; VMware Workstation since v6 (released in 2008). Initially, it was just for building test servers for training purposes, and versions 7, 8 and now 9 for creating test implementations of live server deployment scenarios, to assist in resolving live issues or to test change controls.

There were no issues.

In v6, it was a 32bit environment with a maximum memory of 4Gb RAM. Therefore, this required a high level of swap out of RAM to disk in order to provide sufficient memory space to run VMs, this occasionally caused system crashes. Since v8 this has not been an issue.

None, Workstation scales to 32Gb of RAM.

Customer Service:

No VMware support is provided with Workstation.

Technical Support:

No VMware technical support is available with VMware Workstation.

The initial set-up is straight forward, however, you need to ensure that virtualisation is switched on in the BIOS.

Workstation is a one off licence payment.

Make sure you have at least four cores available on an Intel i5 (i7 with eight cores recommended) a minimum of 8Gb RAM (32Gb recommended) and lots of internal storage (SSD preferable). Having a virtual SCSI SAN is also recommended if you wish to evaluate vSphere or Hyper-V deployments including shared storage for VM failover.

We work on issues for the banking and education sectors. As well as for virtual workstations.

The simplicity of the deployment and the implementation, and the footprint for the hardware are some of the solution's valuable features.

The support can be improved.

I have been working with VMware Workstation for 35 years. 

It is not a very stable solution. I rate the stability a six out of ten. 

It is a scalable solution. I rate the scalability a seven out of ten. 

It should be easy to reach out to them. There should be a stable service engineer that will connect to the process and then to the solution.

Neutral

The initial setup is easy. I have programed it on-premises. The deployment can take hours. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten.

I programed the solution myself.

The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten. 

I recommend using the solution. I rate the overall solution a seven out of ten. 

On-premises

It is used to spin up games on a desktop. It can also run VMs on a desktop on-premises.

The performance is good and depends on your PC.

It could have more platforms and CPUs.

We have been using this solution for more than ten years. It is deployed both on cloud and on-premises.

It is a stable product.

I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

There were no problems with the initial setup, and the deployment was good.

It is not an expensive solution, and I rate the pricing a nine out of ten.

I rate this solution a ten out of ten and recommend it to others.

It's a VDI.

We have some virtual machines for testing purposes. The machines are our VMware. I don't remember the version. We use VMware Player to create a tester environment.

It's really easy to build testing environments with VMware Player. The solution is very user-friendly.

The package is similar to when you build other virtual machines. With this, you have to have everything in the package.

It’s the type of solution that is pretty simple to set up.

It’s not really lacking any features. It has everything a company would need.

For maybe the web component that you need to deploy, you do requires a web server or something like that.

The tool has limited scalability.

I’ve used the solution for one year, more or less.

The stability has been very good. We have no real complaints in that regard. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s very reliable. The performance is good.

The tool is really small. The scalability is therefore limited.

We only have two or three people using the solution right now. They are administrators and software developers.

We have local support from our providers. We do not directly deal with VMware if issues arise. Therefore, I can’t speak to their customer service capabilities.

It’s not difficult to set up. It’s very, very straightforward.

We’re just customers and end-users.

It's a great product that we would advise others to implement it.

I’d rate the solution nine out of ten.