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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. VMware Workstation Pro

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ARed Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux distribution mainly used in commercial data centers.N/A

    VMware Workstation Pro

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AVMware Workstation Pro is virtualization software which allows running multiple x86-based operating systems on one PC. Users can run Windows, Linux and BSD virtual machines on a Windows or Linux desktop.N/A
    Pricing
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)VMware Workstation Pro
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)VMware Workstation Pro
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)VMware Workstation Pro
    Considered Both Products
    Red Hat
    No answer on this topic
    VMware by Broadcom
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    295 Answers
    95%
    Would buy again
    18 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    253 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    289 Answers
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    18 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    188 Answers
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    10 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    253 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    19 Answers
    Features
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)VMware Workstation Pro
    Operating System
    Comparison of Operating System features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and VMware Workstation Pro
    Feature
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    8.4
    78 Ratings
    4% below category average
    VMware Workstation Pro
    -
    Ratings
    File Management8.073 Ratings00 Ratings
    Software Application Management8.075 Ratings00 Ratings
    System Update Frequency8.276 Ratings00 Ratings
    Operating System Security9.378 Ratings00 Ratings
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and VMware Workstation Pro
    Feature
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    -
    Ratings
    VMware Workstation Pro
    7.7
    29 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Virtual machine automated provisioning00 Ratings9.222 Ratings
    Management console00 Ratings6.524 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup00 Ratings7.322 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration00 Ratings6.021 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security00 Ratings9.521 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)VMware Workstation Pro
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    Score8.9 out of 10
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    Score9.2 out of 10
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    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
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    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Ubuntu
    Score8.2 out of 10
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)VMware Workstation Pro
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (302 ratings)
    7.7
    (30 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (194 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.2
    (9 ratings)
    7.7
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)VMware Workstation Pro
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Red Hat
    There's a lot of things that can and can't be discussed. But as I mentioned earlier, cloud computing and on-prem, and very much like in the cloud, having a standard image ISO, deploying that, the configurations with Ansible or packages installed via Ansible, instead of just a Kickstart script, you have a set of scripts that run in a pipeline that deploy Red Hat. So I'd say the environments, every time I've used Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a computing solution has been, like I mentioned, reusable, scalable, positive. And I don't think I've ever found any situations where I wish I were using something other than Red Hat Enterprise Linux, because the support is not there for anything else as much as it is for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    I would not recommend using a VM as a complete replacement for your everyday driver, but I would recommend
    it for testing. One way that I use Workstation Pro is with testing GPO's. I can
    make a change to a user or computer GPO, take a snapshot, reboot the computer
    to pull the GPO, see if it worked. If it didn't, I revert to the last snapshot before the GPO was pulled, make some changes to the GPO again, and test on the test VM. The same style
    of testing can be used with creating and changing scripts for computer changes.
    We have a whole computer setup script that installs software and changes a ton
    of settings. On a VM you can test over and over to make sure the script runs
    how you want it to and revert if you didn't like the script outcome. Especially
    handy with software installs, so you don't have to wait for a program to
    uninstall and then edit the script and run the script again. Using snapshots save me so much time in testing!
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Red Hat
    • Virtualization, like the operating system level task. I see this product is very good and it blends very well with the middleware components like all the JBoss and other things. And other than that, either you install it or a virtual machine or physical servers, it works seamlessly anywhere. And if you want to go further, like Red Hat OpenShift or those things also work very nice with it.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • It provides a great remote access tool for accessing and managing servers in virtual environment. With the security risks surround remote desktop this provides a good alternative to do the same functions.
    • The app itself is very lightweight and easy to install/maintain.
    • Sandbox testing can be a time consuming thing to setup and do. Workstation makes this easy to create, use, and put away. This make you more willing to put new things in the sandbox and test them before production usage.
    • The cost of workstation is very affordable for the functionality that you get and you can try it for free before you buy it.
    • We use it to run apps that can be difficult to setup or conflict with other apps. We just spin this app VM up run it, and then shut it back down. The startup and shutdown is very quick.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Red Hat
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) needs better built-in developer-centric tooling.
    • The desktop experience is too barebones, which makes it less attractive for developer workstations.
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) needs to be integrated and available in GItHub Actions as a supported platform so code developed on GitHub can be tested and qualified there.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • At the moment, it's incompatible with Microsoft's HyperVM, which is used in Docker and the Linux Subsystem on Windows 2 (WSL 2).
    • VMware shared files sometimes stop working and need to be reset.
    • 3D support is limited to Windows and only certain scenarios.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Red Hat
    We find RHEL to be a superior OS with stable operations and long life. It is also easier to use and fix then most other OS's.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    It's a solid product, and if they make it compatible with HyperVM (WSL, Docker, etc.) it would be great
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Red Hat
    It's pretty intuitive and easy to use. Everything is adjustable; everything is customizable through a set of yaml's and everything can be undone and re-done. Doing items such a modification and restarting the single app doesnt take down the whole operating system like one of the more popular GUI based operating systems. We can work on live production systems without breaking into a sweat.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    It is well documented since it is a long actor in the virtualization scene. Easy to use for most user cases. Pretty much not maintenance on the software besides the occasional software updates and/or compatibility issues from time to time.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Red Hat
    Product support and regular patches.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Red Hat
    As with any OS enhanced testing will need to be done prior to application integration.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Red Hat
    Red Hat support has really come a long way in the last 10 years, The general support is great, and the specialized product support teams are extremely knowledgeable about their specific products. Response time is good and you never need to escalate.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    I haven't had to call VMware Workstation support. The majority of the time, whenever I have a problem, I can perform an online search and find the answers I need. Online forums and users with similar situations are generally sufficient to answer any questions I have had, though, from previous experience at another company, their support is outstanding and responsive to circumstances. However, that is generally for a paid support contract and should be expected when you are paying for that support.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Red Hat
    Don't be afraid of it, its easy to install and configure for the tasks needed.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Red Hat
    Windows Server can take a long time to patch, waiting for the patch to install, then waiting to apply, after the OS is rebooted it can also take additional time to apply the update. Often times Windows Server patches can fail, leading to long troubleshooting times and application outages. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Patching is extremely quick, I've honestly not seen a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) update fail to install in many years of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) patching.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    VMware ESXi is more enterprise based whereas VMware Workstation offers capabilities at a lower cost and smaller scale. VMware Workstation Pro is also user friendly and easy to install. It can be utilized on a regular desktop system as the name implies. It helps with also demonstrations when needed to clients without having bulky hardware every time.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Red Hat
    Operational ease of use backed by support
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Red Hat
    • It has done wonders for my career because I come from a Linux background, HPUX, Solaris and AIX. So made this transition to Linux 20 years ago. So it has really put my career at the forefront of what we do in the company. We're still primarily a window shop, but with Red Hat and what they're doing with the Kubernetes integration with OpenShift, with the East Satellite Management, the Ansible stuff, all based on Red Hat. It's taken off at my company and we're very happy about it.
    Incentivized
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    VMware by Broadcom
    • When updating multiple VM's, this is a much quicker option vs trying to either RDP to them or console using Vcenter
    • We are required to run a VM locally for certain tasks, and this has been the most effective way to use it
    • The ability to manage a VM without having to worry about the console freezing up helps with management
    Incentivized
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