VMware Workstation 7 on Windows 7 Host: Ubuntu Virtual Appliance

On VMware's virtual appliances website, I found a free virtual appliance that appeared to contain a prepackaged Ubuntu 10.10 installation.  I was hoping that I could just download and install this thing, and I would (almost) instantly have a working Ubuntu virtual machine that I could run in VMware on a Windows 7 host.  At the home webpage for this appliance, I found installation notes summarizing the configuration.  As the source requested, I used the torrent download link and downloaded the 700MB appliance.  I did not immediately explore this possibility, but will preserve this post as a reference point if I should decide to do so in the future.