VMware Workstation

If you need to test a new application on different operating systems, you could test it on virtual machines, to make your work easier. A suitable tool for this purpose is VMware Player, but if you are looking for a more professional approach to virtual operating systems, you should opt for VMware Workstation. The software looks and feels like its lightweight counterpart and it is just as easy to use, but it has a more powerful functionality to offer. More control over your virtual machines, sharing options and the possibility of allocating more resources are just a few examples.

VMware Workstation is free to try for a limited period of time. If you are looking for a free version, you can find VMware Player at <a href="http://vmware-player.findmysoft.com/">here</a>. Downloading and installing the program is not difficult and it doesn't take too long to complete the operation. It works on all modern Windows platforms and it is available for various Linux distributions as well.

The main user interface is a bit similar to that of VMware Player. Virtual machines are listed on the left side of the window. You can view some basic details about a selected machine in the larger area on the right, where you can also find a preview image of the virtual operating system, as well as options for starting up the system and for changing its settings. Also, selected virtual machines will remain on the right side of the interface, on separate tabs.

Another difference from VMware Player is that the virtual machines list will stay visible at all times, even while a machine is running. This gives you the possibility of running multiple virtual machines in parallel, on separate tabs, without any effort, as long as your computer has enough resources. The hardware configurations options are the same, but you can find more options on the second tab, for configuring VNC connections, enabling an auto-protect feature and more.

Creating a new virtual machine with VMware Workstation can be done just like in VMware Player, by selecting an optical drive with an installation disc inserted or a virtual image of an installation disc. The virtual machine can be stored in a location of your choice, as one file or several. In addition, VMware Workstation allows you to go through an advanced operation, during which you can make the virtual machine compatible with other VMware Workstation versions, allocate resources, set up a network connection, choose between different virtual disk types, like IDE or SATA and more.