TrustRadius Insights
VMware Workstation Pro provides a versatile solution for a range of use cases across different industries. For businesses, it offers a …
Overview
What is VMware Workstation Pro?
VMware 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.
Recent Reviews
Awards
Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards
Popular Features
- Live virtual machine backup (20)9.696%
- Virtual machine automated provisioning (19)8.989%
- Management console (21)8.181%
- Live virtual machine migration (20)7.777%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
N/A
Unavailable
What is VMware Workstation Pro?
VMware 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.
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Would you like us to let the vendor know that you want pricing?
17 people also want pricing
Alternatives Pricing
Product Demos
VmWare WorkStation Pro 15 Demo installation Procedure in Tamil
YouTube
VMware Workstation pro 16 Download new install windows 10
YouTube
How to access BIOS screen on VMware Workstation Pro
YouTube
VMWare 15 5 Demo
YouTube
VMware Workstation Pro 14 Crack Tutorial - Latest Version for Windows - free install
YouTube
VMware Workstation Pro v14.0.0 FULL Installation
YouTube
Features
Return to navigation
Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is VMware Workstation Pro?
VMware 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.
This enable users to build, test and demo software across an array of different devices, platforms and clouds. IT professionals, developers and businesses can use Workstation Pro every day to support their projects and customers. Workstation Pro makes it easy to run complex local virtual environments to simulate operating systems, platforms and clouds, all from the same desktop PC.
This enable users to build, test and demo software across an array of different devices, platforms and clouds. IT professionals, developers and businesses can use Workstation Pro every day to support their projects and customers. Workstation Pro makes it easy to run complex local virtual environments to simulate operating systems, platforms and clouds, all from the same desktop PC.
Workstation Pro Features
- Virtual Machines - Uses the same hypervisor technology that powers vSphere to run virtual machines and guest operating systems.
- High-Performance 3D Graphics - Provides a fluid and responsive experience for running 3D applications. Workstation Pro supports DirectX 11 and now OpenGL 4.3 in virtual machines.
- Containers and Kubernetes Clusters - Developers on Windows have a new CLI tool, vctl, that can build and run containers and Kubernetes clusters with VM-level isolation and networking.
- Virtual Networking - Supports complex IPv4 and IPv6 virtual networks for VMs, with added network latency and bandwidth simulations to help recreate real-world scenarios.
VMware Workstation Pro Technical Details
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
|---|---|
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
VMware 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.
Reviewers rate Live virtual machine backup highest, with a score of 9.6.
The most common users of VMware Workstation Pro are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(88)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Recommendations
VMware Workstation Pro provides a versatile solution for a range of use cases across different industries. For businesses, it offers a secure environment to test software and ensure its safety by running it in a virtual setting with malware. This feature has been widely appreciated by users looking to safeguard their systems. Additionally, users leverage VMware Workstation Pro to deploy development web servers in Linux on Windows machines, enabling efficient software testing. The ability to easily simulate different networking conditions using the Network Editor feature is another valuable use case, as it allows users to test scenarios that would be difficult to replicate physically. IT operations teams rely on VMware Workstation Pro for running lab environments, conducting tests, and validating software solutions and updates. This capability has proven to be indispensable in minimizing risks and ensuring smooth transitions in production infrastructure changes. Furthermore, departments find value in VMware Workstation Pro for running Android applications by virtualizing the Android platform. The software's ability to virtualize old applications that require maintenance has provided an efficient solution compared to running them on outdated hardware. In addition, users appreciate being able to try new features, software, or system updates without encountering real problems through the use of VMware Workstation Pro. This feature has allowed for seamless experimentation and risk-free exploration of new technologies. Overall, from simulating and testing operating systems or production machines to managing virtual labs or supporting older software versions, VMware Workstation Pro serves as a reliable tool for diverse user needs. Its optimized performance, resource utilization capabilities, and flexibility have made it a popular choice among users across various sectors and fields.
Users recommend trying out Hyper-V first for minimal needs, but overall, they believe VMWare is the best hypervisor in its budget range. They find VMWare easier to use and more feature-rich than Oracle VM Virtual Box.
The most common recommendations from users include:
Using VMWare Workstation for testing new security features and bugs. Users find it slightly difficult to set up initially, but once configured appropriately, it becomes easy to use. Although VMWare Workstation Pro is expensive, it provides a rich virtual machine experience with customizable settings. Users suggest using it as a sandbox for testing applications or programs before installing them on the actual system.
Running multiple virtual machines on a single host machine and creating multiple environments. Users highly recommend VMWare Workstation for this purpose. It allows for easy rollbacks to previous instances of virtual machines and is beneficial for teams working on the same project globally. It is also valuable for IT professionals who need to test code or actions in a virtual environment before deploying to a live production environment.
Considering an upgrade to the new version of VMWare Workstation and utilizing features such as a user-friendly interface and RDP access point. Users suggest exploring the additional features available in the latest version of VMWare Workstation. They also recommend using one computer as an access point to remote desktop into multiple virtual machines. This allows for streamlined management of multiple VM containers in a business use case.
Overall, users highly recommend VMWare Workstation due to its ease of use, extensive features, and ability to create multiple environments efficiently.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-25 of 27)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
June 15, 2023
Fast, simple and reliable virtualization solution
We actively use VMware Workstation Pro for virtualization. Thanks to virtualization, we can do cost-oriented studies. In this regard, the best product on the market belongs to WMware Workstation Pro. Apart from classical virtualization scenarios, we see the benefit of creating test environments before we incorporate new technologies into our projects. In addition to what I wrote, sometimes it may be necessary to use more than one operating system on a computer. At this point, it would be a good solution to quickly set up the system and get your work done.
- It offers a safe working environment.
- Fast and solution-oriented work.
- It does very well creating temporary or virtual machines.
- It creates safe areas for your new and testing projects.
- I think the resource consumption is too much. Improvements can be made, especially in terms of CPU usage.
We have Controls Engineers that use VM's where the software only supports older Windows versions. So that we can keep the users laptop up to date. I use Workstation Pro for testing Policy changes and testing software. Also, duals as a sandbox area where I can test server changes from clones made from our production environment.
- Testing Environment
- Supports pretty much every OS
- Networking options for VM's
- Sometimes the networking setup can be a little confusing. Kind of wish there was a network map with the current setup with vSwitches and vNics which would make it easier to visually be able to see all network connections and what adapters they are running through.
March 29, 2022
Powerful Virtualisation Tool
We are using VMware Workstation Pro for testing temporary environments during the development life cycle. VMware Workstation Pro is very convenient for creating, managing, and moving environments from one PC to another for testing the code level changes. We have deployed Oracle local environment on VMware Workstation Pro and it is performing as expected.
- Virtual Machine deployment.
- Best for creating temporary environments.
- Flexibility.
- Resource Sharing.
- License Cost.
- More OS support.
March 28, 2022
My view of VMware Workstation Pro
Currently we use VMware Workstation for a number of reasons.
1. We utilize it for the benefit of testing where we will have applications running and to test it within our network we will utilize a virtual machine to simulate its run and completeness.
2. It is used also to run production systems so users can remote into the system. This also allows us to make precise backups in the event of any changes made that may deem the VM unusable we can quickly revert.
1. We utilize it for the benefit of testing where we will have applications running and to test it within our network we will utilize a virtual machine to simulate its run and completeness.
2. It is used also to run production systems so users can remote into the system. This also allows us to make precise backups in the event of any changes made that may deem the VM unusable we can quickly revert.
- allow virtualization of physical system
- creation of a wide range of virtual systems from linux to windows
- adapting to your current networking
- ability to virtualize with other software such as GNS3
- as with the latest, option for shared vm
- improved network configuration manager
- improved compatibility with other virtual machine software
March 27, 2022
Flexible Cloud Services Management Product which offers the Easy and Effective Options with Various IT Solutions.
Highly powerful and easy Cloud package for the business data easy visualization and the management of multiple running services for the companies is effective. The VMware Workstation Pro provides us with great production workflow management possibilities and the ability to create required reports via this platform is fantastic and the ability to protect data through their Cloud services channels is effective.
- I like the easy to integrate the solution.
- Functionalities on data migration is good.
- Useful platform for the project time management.
- Very easy platform but the interface is not that friendly to new user.
- For those new providing productive data analytics for multiple data is challenging.
- The performance on poor hardware machine is very poor.
March 27, 2022
VMware - Benefits for user implementation
I've been using VMware Workstation Pro for project development using different software through all VMs integrating all software’s using a virtualized environment for performance testing and software debugging. Also, software’s are implemented in customer servers in bigger server-client structures.
- System Creation.
- Network Management.
- Easy implementation.
- Great performance.
- Video Graphic performance.
- Updates are usually not well received by users due to problems.
March 26, 2022
Easy to use and reliable tool
I primarily use a MacBook and there are some requirements that will need me to use other operating systems. VMWare Workstation Pro is very handy in these situations for me to run virtual machines, especially Windows ones. It is extremely helpful in switching between tasks and managing environments is very easy with this.
- Easy to install and use.
- Doesn't lag even on extensive usage.
- Probably the best tool for managing different virtual environments simultaneously.
- Network setup could be tricky at times.
- I didn't really find anything negative for my level of usage other than network issues.
March 26, 2022
VMWare Workstation Pro is a must for Network Engineers.
VMWare Workstation pro is used in many different scenarios. The main use case is for lab environments for Engineers. We use VMWare workstation pro on a user's machine so they can run simulation programs like GNS3 and Eve-NG. With a high-end machine, you can dedicate enough resources to create a network or multiple networks in a lab and test.
- Virtualization
- Easy Setup.
- Quick to learn the basics.
- Licensing can always be improved.
- Installation instructions.
- Could be a free program to encourage users to pick VMWare workstation over other options like Virtual Box.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
VMware Workstation Pro is being used by our IT department. We use it for training, testing and beta debugging purposes. It's so easy to install and manage. Also it is useful if you have a Vcenter environment. With the help of VMware Workstation Pro you can easily connect to Vcenter servers, ESXi servers and you can do most of the management tasks from there with comfort. I use it with a portable M2 SSD drive. I can carry my VM's with ease to where ever I work. That's my favorite. I backup and convert my old pc's to virtual and keep them because sometimes old software needs the hardware and environment they were used to working in. Instead of keeping them physically with the help of VMware Workstation I always keep them virtually. And last but least it is a must have tool for learning, developing, testing environments.
- VM Creating
- VM Converting
- VCenter Basic operations
- VM Mobility
- Snapshot speed
- Display enchancements
September 30, 2021
Perfect software for new features and deployments testing
I use VMware Workstation Pro to try new features, software, or updates of my system without the need to deal with real problems. VMware Workstation Pro is a great virtualizing software that fits multiple scenarios. You can use it to test new features, try new software before installing on your production system or just to take a look at new operating system.
- Virtualize physical machines to test new updates.
- Provide a controlled environment to try out new software without compromising your production system.
- Great tool to try on new features or updates.
- For my level of utilization I didn't find any feature that was missing.
September 23, 2021
Probably the best virtualizing solution
VMware Workstation Pro is a tool we use to simulate or to make tests on operative systems or production machines without being to deal with possible performance impact or disasters in the production infrastructure. We recently migrated our production server from Windows Server 2012 to Windows Server 2019 and VMware Workstation Pro was a crucial tool to make all the tests on our migration plan before even touch our actual infrastructure.
- Test new software on an actual server, previously virtualized
- Make all the changes to our production server before deploy
- Deal with real problems without any impact on production infrastructure
- We found that some network settings were hard to set up
July 14, 2021
VMware Workstation Pro helps with management of VM's
I currently use VMware Workstation Pro to manage the various VMs in our environment, as well as a few local VM's stored on my workstation. We have around 1,000 VM's in Vcenter, and VMware Workstation Pro is much more easier to use when needing console access to them.
- It uses tabs to navigate between VM's when opened, which is great when updating multiple servers
- The management for VM's stored locally works great
- I like it's integration with Vcenter
- It could use more monitoring features
- They should rethink the licensing, such as having to pay for an upgrade right after purchasing
- The version I'm on randomly freezes sometimes when launching, then works fine after a few minutes.
VMware Workstation is used to run VM's that can be discarded and recreated with little effort. These VM's run on our location desktop or laptop with the intended purpose to obfuscate the work that goes on within our organization and that of our production use. These virtual machines are running and supported within VMware to act as a barrier between production access and regular access to our corporate environments allowing up to have a separation of duties within the working environment.
- Create test systems to validate specific builds.
- Allow for a separation of duties as well as keep network traffic segregated.
- Some changes could be made to help with multi screen support.
- VMware Workstation is difficult to span between different host OS (Windows vs Mac).
May 01, 2021
Workstation integration and you!
I currently use VMware Workstation Pro to manage the VM's in our production environment as well as some locally hosted test machines that may or may not go into production. Workstation allows me to access all of my clusters and VM's with ease on a client based environment rather that web portal based access which can sometime be subpar.
- Not HTML based - Web applications are not always the best method to access VM's
- Isolation - VM's can be pulled off production networks for testing in a safe environment
- Operability - The interface mirrors the HTML format giving the user all of the features necessary to modify, access and manage VM's
- Stability - The client will sometimes randomly crash
- Consistency - I have run into issues where VM hardware can only be modified through vSphere so you must bounce back and fourth from time to time
March 19, 2021
Must have developer tool
We use VMware Workstation (on Windows) and Fusion (on mac) to test our software and to test it safely with malware. We also use it to deploy development web servers in Linux on Windows development machines. We also use the Network Editor to test different networking conditions that would be harder to replicate physically.
- You can have different test machines on a single developer host.
- It's almost as fast as a physical machine.
- You can use snapshots to quickly experiment with new things and updates without worrying you will lose everything.
- With the Network Editor, you can configure whole LANs, which would require a lot of effort and equipment to set up physically.
- The VMX configuration file is easily editable for more advanced features.
- 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.
January 14, 2020
Virtually head and shoulders above the rest
VMware Workstation is used in IT operations for running lab environments, testing software solutions/updates. It also allows us to run multiple operating systems on one virtual host. We also have some other departments that required Android hardware in order to run ONE android application. Instead, what we did was deployed VMware Workstation for them and now they run Android through this virtualized platform. There are also some really old applications we have that are required more maintenance for one or two people. Instead, of trying to run it on old hardware we virtualized it and it runs as a Windows XP/2000 virtual machine on a Workstation host.
- Segregates networking
- Virtualizing multiple operating systems
- Resource management
- Device redirection (USB, printers)
- Integration with other VMware products
- More flexible networking functionality, like VLANs etc
- Pricing
VMware Workstation is being used by a few departments to do a variety of things. It is being used by some to access VMs on our host clusters, it is being used by others to create and run local sandbox VMs, and we have used it to copy deprecated VMs to an end-users desktop giving them the opportunity to start that VM and do data recovery on into the future. Workstation provides a good alternative to a remote desktop for managing your servers if they are all virtual. It also provides a great way to do testing and one-off application usage on your desktop in a sandbox.
- 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.
- It's not free? With all the money spent on a VMware environment, they could easily give this product away as a tool to use with the overarching products.
- Initial licensing can be a bit of a challenge as with any VMware product.
- We have never needed support as the product is very easy to use, but VMware as a company doesn't provide the greatest support.
- As you read the three things above, you will notice that we really don't have any ideas on how to improve the product as it works very well over all.
February 05, 2019
Workstation: great for home use and development
For at home development of virtual machines, it is hard to find a better solution. VMware Workstation is primarily used as personal Linux and web development solutions. It is a super simple/flexible product that allows individual users very robust options. We use it for developing exploit capable boxes and ranges allowing staff to work from home while remaining productive without having to have a cloud solution from home. Currently, roughly 70% of our organization is using VMware workstation in some form or another, whether it's on BYOD, or assigned org devices.
- VMware Workstation is very easy to use and learn. Little to no knowledge of virtual computing is needed to operate Workstation.
- The price point is not that bad. While there are free solutions out there that provide simple and basic virtualization solutions, VMware Workstation is definitely worth the money. Also, they offer educational discounts.
- While being easy to use it has advanced options, it can integrate into remote clouds as well.
- The snapshots offered on Workstation is a great feature many of the free virtual tools do not have. This allows you to save a live state or dead state of a machine. Allowing immediate rollback or roll forward to points you've saved.
- Making it easy to export VMS is something that Workstation struggles with; exporting to OVA which is the primary type of VM we export to is cumbersome and can be difficult without proper knowledge on how to do this.
- Management of VMS could be a little bit more in depth.
- I think the networking portion of Workstation could use some slight improvements, more in-depth segmentation to support containers, however, this is a small issue and not something many people will miss or need.
January 22, 2019
There is no Image that VMware Workstation cannot handle.
VMware Workstation has been used as our main virtual lab environment tool, this is where we do all our testings before publishing any new updates, as well as to troubleshoot and get more familiar with new features our product has to offer. For instance, I have multiple images set where I can quickly switch between them and spot any new changes that have been developed.
- Mounting and creating multiple images.
- Creating restore point.
- Managing your PC resources efficiently.
- Multi-monitor setup can be a problem.
- Some random problems with the mouse cursor not clicking where it should but on some other spot.
December 13, 2018
Throwing up Virtual Machines like a magic trick
VMware Workstation automatically chooses adequately the settings needed in order to perform best, given you have "automatically" set in the relevant settings. Workstation Pro is also very efficient with the usage of your resources. The software is really full-featured for the price; it's money well spent. You can not get it wrong with this one. If you read the documentation, you can even get more benefits from the advanced usage of the tool. Allows for security research without causing harm to real machines, and it's easy to spin up to new or saved VM then reimage a machine.
- I love VMWare Workstation because it is software that is fairly easy to use. The most exciting use of VMware Workstation is that it allows anyone to create a virtual machine in order to prevent viruses.
- Able to install any operating system you want quickly.
- Able to customize the machine operating system with RAM, Hard Disk, CPU, etc.
- Audio can be a bit on the laggy side.
- Having to reboot for every update and VM reboots for VMtools updates.
April 16, 2018
Virtual machines made easy!
Oh where to begin. The uses for VMware Workstation are almost endless. First and foremost in my case, I use it to build Windows 7 and 10 images, and then capture them using FOG. Building images this way is so much cleaner and faster because they are universal, meaning they are not dependent on any hardware type. I love that I can make snapshots along the way, and if I run into any issues I can restore the snapshot, and keep on building.
- Extremely fast image creation.
- VMware allows the user to boot into bios, unlike some other virtualization software.
- Customer support is remarkable, always willing to assist with even the smallest issues.
- VMware to me is a little too simplistic during setup, and this has led to me having to go back through and change some of the options afterward. This, however, is subjective.
- Occasionally after an update, I have experienced freezing.
- I have had issues when backing up a VM to another PC, I would get an error when I start the machine on the new PC.
February 08, 2018
A Perfect VM Manager
From my personal experience, VMware Workstation is a wonderful software. I can use different development environments using a single machine (with very accelerated performances). Thanks to VMWare I can develop different solutions and perform tests and debugging easily without any risk and with an immediate rollback speed.
- immediate rollback speed with VM Snapshot
- connection with VSphere
- no risk of unwanted impacts
- requires a minimum of system knowledge
- different VMs running at the same time can use a lot of resources
- the machine running VM Workstation must be very high performing
We use VMware Workstation to develop, test and demo our software which works with a dozen different databases - so we need virtual machines for numerous setups that we do not want to have running on our computers at all times. Plus some of those databases do not run on Windows so the ability to have a Linux server running as a VM also is extremely useful. In short, we could not do our jobs as easily without VMware Workstation.
- Excellent tool for creating, running and sharing virtual machines
- Straightforward and easy to create and manage numerous virtual machines of different types
- Has the ability to deploy from VMware Workstation to the VMware corporate product - ESX
- Better built in and automated support for keeping virtual machine file growth to a minimum without 3rd party tools user must download and install
- A simple wizard for exporting a complete working VM from VMware Workstation to Oracle Virtual Box with minimal user effort and expertise
- A simple wizard for importing a complete working VM from Oracle Virtual Box to VMware Workstation with minimal user effort and expertise
April 18, 2017
VMware is where it's at!
I am currently the sole user of VMware Workstation to manage various virtual machines that serve as our Windows Imaging build and test environment. This solves the issue we had with hardware-based image building where the various drivers for the hardware could cause issues with sys prepping and capturing images for our computers.
- Managing multiple virtual machines. I can have many virtual machines open and the resources it utilizes puts a minimum drain on hardware it is running on.
- Snapshot management is great in this software. Being able to take snapshots before a major update or software install is great to rollback to when or if something goes wrong.
- The interface for the software is pretty intuitive. Not a whole lot of things buried in menus that you have to dig around to find.
- Don't have much negative to say about it. The GUI could maybe use a little more modernization but that's really pushing it.
It's used by engineers to run various solutions in a sandbox, either for checking a new version or testing the current versions on customers' sample data.
- Network Connections.
- Mounting images.
- Smooth and easily configurable interaction with the host.
- The networking part could benefit from a more visual view so you see what is connected to where.
- Some sort of tool so you can easily understand what is causing slowdowns of your guest OS such as your hosts I/O or too little memory provisioned for the guest.