Reasons to use VMware Workstation Player

There are many scenarios in which you would want to use Player, some of which are:

• try other operating systems – let’s say that you’ve been using Windows all your life, and finally decided to give Linux a try. Instead of dual-booting or installing Linux on an older machine you don’t quite use anymore, you could simply install Linux inside a virtual machine and try it out.
• run older software incompatible with your current OS – there are plenty of applications that were written way before Windows 7, 8, or 10 became popular. If the application that you would like to run is not compatible with your current operating system, you can install an older operating system in a VM and run the application from there.
• deliberately execute malware – security researchers commonly use virtual machines to execute programs known to contain malware. This is done in order to take apart the malware to see what vulnerabilities the malicious software is exploiting. Of course, virtual machines that are used for such purposes are isolated from the rest of the network and the Internet.
• experiment with another operating system – you could install an OS inside a virtual machine and tinker with it, without fear of repercussion. For example, if you install a Windows OS, you can modify the registry, delete system files, kill processes, and do other dangerous things that could otherwise damage your system.
• run virtual appliances – virtual appliances are prebuilt and preconfigured virtual machine images that can be deployed on Player. A virtual appliance usually contains a complete software stack needed to run a particular service. For example, if you want to run WordPress in your virtual machine, you can simply download the prebuilt virtual appliance that already contains the server, database, and WordPress installed and have a fully functional WordPress installation in a matter of minutes.