TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

VMware Workstation Player

Score9.9 out of 10

31 Reviews and Ratings

Get a Demo

What is VMware Workstation Player?

VMware Workstation 17 Player is a platform for running a single virtual machine on a Windows or Linux PC to deliver managed corporate desktops. Organizations can use Workstation Player to deliver managed corporate desktops, while students and educators use it for learning and training.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about VMware Workstation Player.
View all reviews

VMware Workstation ability to create easy VM environment

steven mikutel
Information Technology Auditor in Information Technology at Medicareinsurance.com (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I have been using this VM ware for virtual machines and it appears to be working well.

Pros

  • easy to load new VM
  • VM works seamlessly with other applications
  • works very well
  • Good software

Cons

  • Documentation could be more robust
  • Needs higher technological knowledge than most users
  • can be very expensive

Most Important Features

  • ability to test software
  • sandbox
  • external documentation

Return on Investment

  • BILITY TO TEST MULTIPLE OS
  • sandbox
  • great

Other Software Used

Amazon RDS on VMware, Five9 Inference Solutions (Inference Studio), AgencyBloc

VMware Workstation Player is solid

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use VMware Workstation Player to run virtual machines on Windows or Linux PCs. I can easily run multiple operating systems as virtual machines on my Windows or Linux PCs.

Pros

  • Create VM of Linux OSes on my WIndows machine.
  • Create VM of Windows OSes on my Linux machine.
  • Create VM of WIndows OSes on my MAC.

Cons

  • Easier use with MAC machines.
  • Support for x32 computers.
  • Easier sharing of host physical drives and usb devices.

Most Important Features

  • Create VMs of Windows OSes on my Linux machines.
  • Create VMs of Linus OSes on my windows machines.
  • Create VMs of Windows OSes on my Mac machines.

Return on Investment

  • A positive impact is that it require little to no funding to use.
  • Negative impact is that because it is free it can be hard to get support.

Other Software Used

Veeam Backup & Replication, Pure Storage FlashArray, Zerto

Virtual machine management "on the go"

Incentivized
Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology (201-500 employees employees)

Pros

  • Small installation footprint.
  • Easy to install and manage.
  • You have a small virtual environment "to-go".

Cons

  • All depends on the power of your workstation.
  • Network management can sometimes be tricky.

Most Important Features

  • Network management.
  • Performance on lower power machines.

Return on Investment

  • It enables you to take VMs and settings away from production environment.

VMware Workstation Player for all your OS sandboxing needs

Incentivized
Verified User
Consultant in Information Technology (10,001+ employees employees)

Pros

  • Overall performance is great, the program feels light (and should be) when running a virtual machine.
  • The interface is really user friendly and you quickly get the hang of it.
  • Ability to go full screen is also really convenient but make sure to remember how to leave full screen!

Cons

  • Managing the VMs is not really handled (unless I used it wrong). If you have just a few VM available it's ok but keep in mind that you can't really regroup them. Using a naming convention is an easy way around the problem though.
  • I had occurrences where my VM was corrupted and the error message was mentioning the possibility of restoring the state but stating that it could corrupt the VM itself. I had to do it a couple of times over the last year and a half and never got any problems but this warning always scared the heck out of me. I wish VMware would be able to provide some more details on why this thing happens every once in a while and how to avoid it.

Return on Investment

  • For me the benefit was really high as I could use a solution that had a free educational version with VMware player. Without it, I would've needed to buy the SAS software itself which would have cost a few thousand dollars.
  • Although I have no details about the ROI, I know that software testing teams that use the software are saving a lot of money buy using virtual machines. It is obviously a great saving both in physical machine count but also in workstation lab sizes.

Alternatives Considered

Oracle VM VirtualBox

Usability

Still a great workstation

Incentivized
Tom ThomasView profile
Student Lab Instructor (SLI) for Computer Science II at Rochester Institute of Technology (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

  • Ideal for testing new software
  • Can switch between OS without restarting
  • Supports 4k and multiple monitors