VMware Workstation Player

VMware Workstation Player

The free virtual machine player

VMware Inc

4.8
Downzen rating
3.8
Users rating

Run virtual machines created with VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion, VMware Server, or VMware ESX or with the player itself. With VMware Player, one can run up to 10 different OS on the same computer.


The good
Add up to 10 different virtual network adapters on a single host OS.
Integrated DHCP service.
Support for USB 3.0.
Free for personal and non-commercial use.
The bad
Updates are not regular.
Limited command-line interface.
Reviewed by
Ammar Kurd
4.8
Reviewer rating

What is VMware Workstation Player

VMware Workstation Player is a virtualization program made available freely for personal non-commercial use by VMware, Inc.

The program enables windows and Linux users to emulate a computer system (a PC inside a PC) where one can install other operating systems inside the host OS, VMware Player makes it seamless to move between the host and guest operating systems.

To learn more about virtual machines, we think the Wikipedia page is a good source.

How to install VMware Workstation Player

First, make sure your PC meets these requirements to run VMware Workstation Player

  • A 1 GHz 64-bit processor is the minimum required (2GHz CPU is more recommended).
  • 2GB RAM is the minimum required (4GB is more recommended).
  • Approximately 150MB of free disk space to install the application.

It is recommended to consult the officialFAQ in case the requirements have changed.

If your PC meets the requirements then proceed to download the latest version of VMware Workstation Player which is 15.0.4 by clicking the download link above, or visit the download page on the official website, then for Windows users the installation is simple, just right click on the downloaded file then run as administratorthen follow the instructions.

How to use VMware Workstation Player

After installing VMware Workstation Player, you can do two things:

Create a VM

  1. Click on "Create a New Virtual Machine" on the main page or navigate to Player > File > New Virtual Machine.
  2. Select how you will install the operating system, three options are available, which are, Installer disc (CD ROM), Installer disc image (ISO file) or Install the OS later (create the VM only).
  3. Select the guest operating system, you will have a list of supported operating systems to select from.
  4. Name the VM and choose a location for it.
  5. Specify the disk capacity, choose the maximum disk capacity for the guest operating system, the virtual machine will start small but can expand to the maximum size specified in this step, you can also choose to store the virtual machine as a single file (better performance) or multiple files (easier to move to another computer).
  6. Click finish.

Run an existing VM

  1. Click on "Open a virtual machine".
  2. Navigate to the directory where you have your VM click on it (it is a .vmx file), this will add it to the top of your library.
  3. Click on "Edit virtual machine settings" if you need to change the settings (for example change the RAM size allocated for the VM).
  4. Finally, click on "Play virtual machine".

What can you do with VMware Workstation Player?

There are many reasons to use VMware Workstation Player, some of them are

  • Safely run programsyou do not trust enough, instead of trying out software that can damage your operating system, run it safely on a virtual machine.
  • Run legacy software, run an older OS on your new OS to run legacy software.
  • Test your softwareon different platforms, this is very useful for software developers where you can test your programs on different platforms or versions of the same platform.
  • Experiment with different operating systems, maybe you are a windows user and you want to try Linux for a change.

VirtualBox a VMware Workstation Player alternative

VirtualBox is another free virtualization software from Oracle that is a very good competitor to VMware Workstation Player, it is also available for both Windows and Linux operating systems.

But unlike VMware Workstation Player, VirtualBox is open-source and fully free software, whereas VMware Workstation Player is a restricted (free for personal use) version of the full workstation (paid) version.

Download the latest version of VMware Workstation Player 15.0.4 right here in Downzen, just click the download button above for a fast and direct download link.

Additional information

  • Version
    15.0.4
  • Last update
    2019-03-29
  • Downloads
    21.6K
  • License
    Free
  • Size
    5.1MB
  • Requires
    Windows