Virtual machines are often called virtual computers because that is what they are. A virtual machine emulates a computer and can run an operating system and a collection of applications, just like any physical computer would.
However, while it provides the exact same functionality, it is not based directly on physical hardware. Instead, the virtual machine uses virtual hardware with characteristics determined by a set of files, and “it is this virtual hardware that a guest operating system is installed on” (Fitzhugh, 2014, p. 8). Thus, virtual machines are also called virtual computers because they emulate the structure and functionality of an actual physical computer by means of virtual hardware.
The applications of virtual machines vary, and there may be many reasons for and benefits of having one. One of the distinct advantages is that a virtual computer allows having more than one operating system on one physical machine (Nurdianah & Wahidah, 2018). Thus, having a virtual machine with another operating system installed would allow a user to run applications designed specifically for different operating systems.
Apart from that, virtual machines have the advantage of mobility, as the lack of a rigid connection to any physical hardware provides for greater convenience in this respect. Virtual computers can be quickly and nondisruptively “migrated to different ESXi hosts, datastores, or both” without any loss of functionality (Fitzhugh, 2014, p. 221). As one can see, virtual machines have significant advantages for those interested in running more than one operating system on or making the once configured system less dependent on physical hardware. If one faces such concerns, having a virtual machine is a useful and reasonably efficient way of dealing with them.
References
Fitzhugh, R. (2014). vSphere Virtual Machine Management. Packt Publishing.
Nurdianah, N. F., & Wahidah, N. I. (2018). The implementation of virtual machine simulation methods on learning the operation system installation in state vocational high school 5 Makassar. International Journal of Education, Information Technology, and Others, 1(1), 116-125.