Virtual machines are a useful piece of software that let you run different operating systems on your PC and treat them as separate computers entirely. You can use this to try different operating systems or use tools that might not be available for your OS of choice, which many do as a hobby.

However, there are some ways in which virtual machines can be handy on a daily basis, even for work. Here are a few ways you can use VMs in your daily workflow that you might not have thought of.

4 Test software without cluttering your PC

Avoid all the junk

If your work involves testing a lot of new programs frequently and you don't intend to keep them after you're done testing them, a virtual machine can actually be a great idea. While you can install and unisntall programs relatively easily, it's not uncommon for some files to be left over after uninstalling a piece of software, and as you do this more and more, those files can start to pile up and take a hit on the performance of your PC.

With a virtual machine, you can set up a separate installation that doesn't impact your main PC at all. You can save a state of your VM before installing any software, and revert back to it whenever you're done, all without affecting the usability of your main machine.

3 Run apps that don't work with your main OS

Sometimes things aren't as easy as they should be

It would be nice if all the apps we need would work on the computer we already have, but many times, that's not the case. Sometimes, if you're using a Mac or a Linux PC, some tools may not be available for you. Or maybe you need something that no longer works with Windows 11 and you need an older version of Windows. This can be particularly useful if you're someone who stores data over many years, as you may find yourself wanting to open a file that was created with a program you can no longer use on your main PC.

Virtual machines can be very useful for accessing specific tools you may need for your usual workflow, and while it's not the most creative use out there, it's definitely handy when you do need it.

2 Self-host services without "dependency hell"

Things can get messy

Hobbyists and tinkerers are probably all too familiar with self-hosting services, whether it's for home automation, cloud storage, or anything else. Self-hosting has plenty of benefits, keeping your data safe from prying eyes in the cloud and removing the reliance on a third-party server you have no control over.

But hosting these services directly on your main machine can be a mess. A lot of the tools needed for self-hosting have a ton of dependencies that can fill up your drive and slow your PC down, so keeping all of that stuff in a virtualized environment might just be for the best. You do lose some performance with virtualization, but it's worth it for the ease of cleaning things up when you're done using a specific program or simply keeping any torubleshooting steps separate from your main machine so you don't have to end up doing a system reset or anything like that.

One good example of this is running AI apps, which have a lot of dependencies that can differ from one program to another. We recently tested a tool called Pinokio that's made specifically for running AI apps, and it's a great way to see this in action.

1 Collaborate across platforms

Jump back and forth as needed

This one kind of builds on another point I mentioned above, but in some situations, having a different operating system in a virtual machine can be especially useful if you want to work on certain projects that require tools only available on either one. Of course, you can have tools on your VM that your main machine doesn't support, and vice versa, but VMs can also offer an easy way to share files between the two, a big advantage over a solution like dual-booting, for example.

Basically, by creating a shared storage space (such as a network location) that both your virtual machine and your host machine can directly access, you can move files between the two operating systems without having to reboot the PC. Edit a specific file in one OS, save it in the shared space, and test the program in the other OS, all without having to interrupt your workflow. It's a pretty efficient setup, especially if you have a PC with enough RAM to run both machines at the level of performance you would expect.

Boost your workflow with VMs

Some of these points may not be immediately obvious when thinking of getting a VM, but they can definitely make things easier for you for a variety of reasons. Snapshots make it easy to revert to a specific point so you can easily test software, or if you're a developer, VMs can provide a better way to test and develop your apps.