ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

VMware Workstation

Ok kiddo, you know how you have a toy box full of different toys? Well, imagine if you could have different types of toys on your computer all at the same time, even if they didn't normally work together. That's kind of what VMware Workstation does!

You see, normally when you use your computer, you can only run one thing at a time. But with VMware Workstation, you can create something called a "virtual machine" (VM) which acts like a whole separate computer inside your main one. This means you can have two different operating systems (like Windows and Linux) running at the same time, or different versions of the same operating system.

So, let's say you're playing with your favorite game on your computer, but now you also want to practice using a program that only works on a different kind of computer. With VMware Workstation, you can make a virtual machine that acts like that different kind of computer, and run the program on there without having to switch back and forth.

But wait, there's more! You can also use VMware Workstation to do things like test new software or changes to your computer without worrying about it messing up anything important, since you can just run it in a virtual machine that you can delete if anything goes wrong.

So basically, VMware Workstation lets you play with different "toys" on your computer at the same time without them getting in the way of each other. Cool, huh?