1. In a computer system, a method for generating a display list of virtual machines (VMs) that include VMs running locally in the computer system and VMs running remotely in one or more remote computer systems, the method comprising: detecting a user input event that specifies a search criteria for VMs, wherein detecting a user input event comprises receiving a search criteria selection at a search interface that includes a set of search targets; generating a list of VMs that meet the specified search criteria, the VMs including one or more VMs that are running locally in the computer system and one or more VMs that are running remotely in the remote computer systems; displaying the list of VMs in a graphical user interface, wherein each VM in the list of VMs is displayed with an indication of an associated host machine in which the corresponding VM has been initialized; updating the displayed list of VMs based on a detected VM state update event; detecting a second user input event that specifies a selected VM from the list of VMs; and displaying a second graphical user interface provided by an operating system of the selected VM, the second graphical user interface enabling the user to interact with the operating system of the selected VM.