A Virtual Machine is defined as a computer made of software. In other words, a Virtual Machine acts like a PC running inside a PC. Virtual Machines enable the copying of the Operating system to form Guest Operating systems that run inside a separate virtual environment created by the virtual machine.
A free desktop virtualization software, VMware Player is used to run any virtual machine created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server, ESX Server and in some cases Microsoft Virtual Machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disk formats.
VMware contains a feature called VMware Virtual Appliance Marketplace which provides support for pre configured and ready to use software applications. Called the virtual appliance, which can be operated by VMware Player, this utility provides the user with a view on how fast and easy installations are with pre configured products.
Provision is also present for the player to help the user in evaluating new or pre release software present in virtual machines. The existing virtual machines can also be shared with other users by simply running the VMware application on the system.
Some of the features of VMware Player include:
. Ability to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single PC.
. Provision for Integrated Google Search which enables the user to search on the internet without the need to open a browser.
. Ability to evaluate pre configured products hence reducing hassles while installing.
. Ability to share files and folders between host computers and the virtual machine.
. Supported features like copying and pasting of text and files between the virtual machine and the host PC, and dragging and dropping of files between a Windows Virtual Machine and Windows Host PC.
System Requirements:
. Runs on almost all the windows operating systems including Windows 2000/ 2003/ XP/ Vista/ XP64 and Vista 64.