Программа VMware WorkStation позволяет, работая в одной операционной системе (например - Windows XP), в то же самое время работать и в Windows 2000, Windows 9х, WinNT, FreeBSD, Linux, NetWare, Solaris и т.п. - без необходимости выделять под операционные системы отдельные партиции и перезагружать компьютер при переходе с одной ОС на другую. VMware позволяет, по сути, из одного компьютера получить сразу несколько, причем эти виртуальные компьютеры при необходимости можно полностью изолировать друг от друга, а можно, наоборот, обьединить в единую виртуальную локальную сеть.

VMware Workstation is powerful desktop virtualization software for software developers/testers and enterprise IT professionals that runs multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single PC. Users can run Windows, Linux, NetWare, or Solaris x86 in fully networked, portable virtual machines - no rebooting or hard drive partitioning required. VMware Workstation delivers excellent performance and advanced features such as memory optimization and the ability to manage multi-tier configurations. Essential features such as virtual networking, live snapshots, drag and drop and shared folders, and PXE support make VMware Workstation the most powerful and indispensable tool for enterprise IT developers and system administrators.
With millions of customers and dozens of major product awards over the last six years, VMware Workstation is a proven technology that improves productivity and flexibility. An indispensable tool for software developers and IT professionals worldwide.
VMware Workstation works by enabling multiple operating systems and their applications to run concurrently on a single physical machine. These operating systems and applications are isolated in secure virtual machines that co-exist on a single piece of hardware. The VMware virtualization layer maps the physical hardware resources to the virtual machine's resources, so each virtual machine has its own CPU, memory, disks, I/O devices, etc. Virtual machines are the full equivalent of a standard x86 machine.