Say you want to let people you don't quite trust use your computer, but you don't want those people mess up anything of value. With virtual computers, you can let guests use your computer and mess it up as much as they want, while your true computer remains safe. Here's how.

[edit] Steps

Insert your Operating System installation CD-ROM into your computer's CD-ROM tray. It can be whatever you want to let the guests of your computer use. If the CD-ROM starts running any kind of program ("autorun" programs) after you insert them in your computer, you can safely exit these. We won't be needing them.
Register to receive a serial number for VMWare Server at this webpage: http://register.vmware.com/content/registration.html. You will use this serial number later to register your copy of the software.
Download and install the binary (installer program) of VMware Server, which you can find at this webpage: http://www.vmware.com/download/server/
Start the VMWare Server Console application by finding the newly created shortcut in your Start Menu. You will be prompted by the application to choose a VMWare instance to connect to. Pick "Local host" as your connection location.
Click "new virtual machine" in the VMWare Server Console application to get started with the wizard. Follow the new Virtual Machine wizard according to what operating system you are going to let your guests use on your computer.Start with the "Typical" configuration option, then pick "Microsoft Windows" as the guest Operating System Type, and then give it a name like "My Virtual Computer". Then pick "Use Network Address Translation (NAT)", specify a disk size of approximately 10gb, and chose the option to "Allocate disk space now". This should finish the wizard dialogue. Click "Finish" to proceed.
Select the new virtual machine icon (it will be labeled with the name you gave it in during the wizard in the previous step) in the "inventory" list, visible inside the VMWare Server Console application. Click the green arrow button ("Play") to start the virtual machine. You will see what looks like a new computer booting up inside VMWare Server Console screen.
The new virtual machine should try to boot off the installation CD-ROM you inserted in your real computer from step 1. Follow the Operating System's installation process. Here are web links to guide on Windows XP: http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-XP, Mac OSX: http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Vmware_how_to and Ubuntu Linux: http://enterprise.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/07/05/1533204 The steps used to install these operating systems as guests in VMWare may slightly differ and is beyond the scope of this tutorial.
Now you will have a virtual computer running on your computer. While it is running, you can make it full screen by clicking the "enlarge" icon. It will look like a regular new computer operating system, but it may be a bit slower than your own. To get back to your real computer, press CTRL-ALT on your keyboard.
That's it! Your virtual computer is now isolated from your real computer. Your computer is called the "Host" and the virtual computer is called the "Guest". You can let the guest operating system contract viruses, spyware and any other harmful things without affecting your real computer.

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[edit] Tips

There are some alternatives, you may purchase and install Faronics Deep Freeze[1], require they run their applications to run in a Sandbox[2], run an operating system from a live cd[3], or simply only give them access to a user with limited access.

[edit] Warnings

Do not to leave your virtual computers running when you don't need them. This may slow down your real computer significantly.
Do try to take care of your virtual computers as if they were real. Shut them down as you would a normal computer. Hitting the "stop" button in VMWare Server is just as bad as pulling the power cord out of a real computer.