VMware Workstation Pro lets you run Windows, Linux, and BSD virtual machines on a single Windows or Linux PC. VMware Workstation Pro is great for developers and system admins, for software development, testing and deployment.
Build, test and demo software across an array of different devices, platforms and clouds.
IT professionals, developers and businesses rely on 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.
The licensing model changed in 2024 and Workstation Pro became free for all: commercial, educational, and for personal use. You can download VMware Workstation for free, with no license key required.
The VMware Workstation product line consists of two products: Workstation Pro and Workstation Player. Collectively they are referred to as 'VMware Workstation,' and when there are differences, they are called out.
Workstation Pro and Workstation Player share the same hypervisor technology, but with unique user interfaces for different types of use.
Workstation Pro is designed for IT professionals and developers, providing a more fully featured interface with capabilities for running multiple virtual machines at the same time. Workstation Pro can provide and configure virtual networking, create clones, connect to vSphere, show multiple VMs at the same time in a tabbed UI and more.
Workstation Player is designed for a single graphical VM operation, or for command line operation with 'vmrun' for running a different operating system in a secure isolated sandbox on a PC.
No, VMware Workstation uses your computer's file system and creates files that map to a virtual machine's disk drives, so there is no need to create a partition for each operating system. If you already have another OS with dual boot installed on your computer, you can use VMware Workstation to run the other OS in a virtual machine on your host operating system.
Instead of dual booting, you can run both operating systems simultaneously and seamlessly switch from one to another with a click of your mouse.
You can simply copy the entire VM folder (including the .vmx and .vmdk files) to the new host and open it using VMware Workstation Pro. Make sure both systems use compatible versions and consider choosing "I moved it" rather than "I copied it" when prompted, to preserve MAC addresses and settings.
Most recommend using a single virtual CPU "socket" and then assigning multiple cores to it (e.g. 1 × 4 cores) rather than splitting across many sockets, unless specific software licensing dictate otherwise.
Common reasons include insufficient host resources (RAM, CPU), lack of virtualization support (VT-x/AMD-V not enabled), or running multiple intensive VMs simultaneously. Performance can often be improved by allocating more resources, installing VMware Tools, enabling hardware virtualization in BIOS, and using SSD storage.
No, a snapshot only records the changes made to a VM since the snapshot was taken, so it's not a self-contained copy of the entire virtual machine. Snapshots are best used as short-term safety nets – for example, before applying an update or testing a configuration change. For actual backup, copy the entire VM folder to a separate location while the VM is powered off, or use dedicated backup software.
VMware Tools is a package of drivers and utilities that installs inside the guest operating system – not on the host. It significantly improves the VM experience: enabling higher screen resolutions, smoother mouse integration, clipboard sharing between host and guest, drag-and-drop file transfer, and better overall performance.