Virtual machines are commonly used for a variety of purposes, including testing software, running legacy applications, and isolating applications from one another. They are also used in cloud computing environments to provide a flexible and scalable platform for running applications.
VMs are created using virtualization software, which allows the user to allocate resources such as CPU, memory, and storage to the virtual machine. The VM operates independently of the host system, with its own operating system and applications running within a virtual environment.
Overall, virtual machines provide a cost-effective and efficient way to maximize the use of hardware resources and run multiple operating systems and applications on a single physical machine.