Reference: https://www.altaro.com/vmware/install-vmware-tools-guide/

VMware Tools is a software add-on inside the guest Operating System running in a Virtual Machine on a VMware based virtualization platform (vSphere, Workstation, Fusion). It is not mandatory to use it in order to run a VM, but it does provide notable improvements and extra features. For this reason, it is highly recommended by VMware to install it, usually after a fresh OS install for a master image.

VMware Tools is the same for VMware ESXi, VMware Workstation, VMware Player, and VMware Fusion. Only the features required differ. Note that other virtualization platforms have a similar concept: for example, Microsoft Hyper-V has the Integration Services, Nutanix AHV has the NGT (Nutanix Guest Tools).

Why should you Install VMware Tools?

As mentioned, VMware Tools is very useful because it provides a lot of improvements and features:

• New device drivers, also paravirtualized: VMXNet NIC drivers, Paravirtual SCSI driver, Audio driver
• Improved mouse (also in the HTML5 console) and video (with the SVGA driver)
• Memory management improvement: adding the memctl driver used by memory ballooning.
• Virtual machine monitoring: including new graph, VM heatbeat (used for example for vSphere HA VM), detailed guest information (including IP addresses, guest OS hostname, …)
• Guest time synchronization
• Guest Introspection useful for antirust and/or NSX integration
• Support for quiescing a file system
• Capability to run custom scripts
• Customize guest operating systems as a part of the vCenter Server and other VMware products
• Ability to gracefully shut down or restart the VM
• On Workstation, Player or Fusion there are other features like the possibility to share files with the host OS.

Is there any reason not to install VMware Tools?