Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial![](https://ecs-static.teamtreehouse.com/assets/views/marketing/shared/community-banner-white-47072046c51352fe6a69f5e691ff5700b28bb11d45197d7bdf066d9ea3f72d0c.webp)
![Cody Wilson](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b2a41cbde16f7632caa623a057f996ca?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fecs-static.teamtreehouse.com%2Fassets%2Fcontent%2Fdefault_avatar-445fbbabfc8dc9188fb5967fe43322ee0c3e0dd1e10f378bf8343784af5a13eb.webp&r=pg)
Cody Wilson
859 PointsWhy?
Not trolling. I just want to know why we use the virtual machine. I get that it runs the rails app but why not just run it on our own machine? Why the extra step?
1 Answer
![Kevin Korte](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/86647/micro_me.jpg)
Kevin Korte
28,148 PointsMakes it really easy to set up multiple environments on the same machine, which might be common in a professional setting. You might need to work in ruby 2.0 on one app and ruby 1.9 in another.
Also, you're not actually installing anything on your "main" computer, so if something goes horribly wrong, you can destroy the box and restart, and since you weren't' actually modifying your main machine, there is no harm.