Item: VMware Workstation Pro
Rating: 9
Author: Vlad VARNA

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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.

Pros and Cons

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.

Return on Investment

It saved a lot of development time.
It saved a lot of testing configuration time.
It helped us also with archiving older build machines that would only occasionally be needed so it would be a waste to keep physical machines for them.

Alternatives Considered

Oracle VM VirtualBox

VirtualBox has done a lot of catching up with VMware in the past years, so if you don't need the advanced network configuration or 3D support it's a good alternative, but VMware seems to still be faster, and support for USB devices is a lot more robust. The UI is also more "native" in how it feels and moves.

Key Insights

Do you think VMware Workstation Pro delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with VMware Workstation Pro's feature set?

Yes

Did VMware Workstation Pro live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of VMware Workstation Pro go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy VMware Workstation Pro again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Visual Studio IDE, Docker, NetBeans, Android Studio

Likelihood to Recommend

Out of the desktop VM solutions, it's better than its competitors in terms of speed, features, and reliability (though in the recent releases reliability seems to be going down; probably mainly because of issues with HyperVM). If you want to have a whole Linux environment that you can just move on a stick it's better than WSL. If you need different preconfigured OSes for automated testing it's also very good

Users and Roles

10 - development and QA

Business Processes Supported

Automated Malware testing
Automated QA testing
Software development environments

Likelihood to Renew

9

It's a solid product, and if they make it compatible with HyperVM (WSL, Docker, etc.) it would be great

Products Replaced

No

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Prior Experience with the Product

I've used it for many years and it always gets the job done. Even if you encounter issues, there are fixes available online.

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

Snapshots
File drag and drop (but only when permissions allow)
Compacting disks

Difficult Tasks

Working with some composite USB devices.
Working with HyperVM which is needed by many Windows features.
Compacting disks when you don't have double the space.

Must have developer tool

Overall Satisfaction with VMware Workstation Pro