M1 Macs - options for running Windows software

[cwa107]

I have installed spice tools also. But after installation of spice tools, net I can connect. Once connected to net, settings is not opening. Until spice tools installed, settings opens after that it is not opening.

That's odd. I don't have any trouble with networking or getting connected to web sites. One potential difference may be that I paid for UTM from the Mac App Store. I'm not sure if there are any differences between the entirely free version and the one from the App Store.

 

[cwa107]

I wasn't entirely satisfied with the performance of UTM and downloaded the Mac AppStore version of Parallels. All I can say is "WOW", Parallels has come a very long way since the last time I used it. It's really fast on the M1 and the downloading of Windows 11 was entirely seamless, as was activation.

I installed a few Steam games just to test the x86 emulation and vGPU support... again, holy moly, it's fast AND playable even at Retina resolutions. It's $79/year on subscription, but I think it's impressive enough that I will keep it for a while. I'm just dumbfounded at how well everything works - it's clear Parallels has put a ton of effort into making this the best option for ARM-based Windows.

 

[lclev]

I wasn't entirely satisfied with the performance of UTM and downloaded the Mac AppStore version of Parallels. All I can say is "WOW", Parallels has come a very long way since the last time I used it. It's really fast on the M1 and the downloading of Windows 11 was entirely seamless, as was activation.

I installed a few Steam games just to test the x86 emulation and vGPU support... again, holy moly, it's fast AND playable even at Retina resolutions. It's $79/year on subscription, but I think it's impressive enough that I will keep it for a while. I'm just dumbfounded at how well everything works - it's clear Parallels has put a ton of effort into making this the best option for ARM-based Windows.

I know - isn't it awesome! But I get if someone hasn't used Parallels for a long time they don't realize the improvements. It is actually worth having now. For years I preferred bootcamp but Parallels is definitely a viable option now. And yes, I know bootcamp is not available for Monterey M1's.

Lisa

 

[cwa107]

I know - isn't it awesome! But I get if someone hasn't used Parallels for a long time they don't realize the improvements. It is actually worth having now. For years I preferred bootcamp but Parallels is definitely a viable option now. And yes, I know bootcamp is not available for Monterey M1's.

Lisa

I was a VMWare Fusion user up until the switch over to Apple Silicon. Fusion is a great product, but it's clear they just sat on their hands when Apple announced the move away from Intel, whereas Parallels got to work on making a rock solid product.

Between the performance, build quality, raw performance of the M1 Pro, battery life and now capability of running Windows at equally impressive speeds... I'm really happy with this upgrade. Makes me wonder why I railed against it early on. I'm happy to have been entirely wrong about it!

 

[L.V.Gandhi]

I wasn't entirely satisfied with the performance of UTM and downloaded the Mac AppStore version of Parallels. All I can say is "WOW", Parallels has come a very long way since the last time I used it. It's really fast on the M1 and the downloading of Windows 11 was entirely seamless, as was activation.

I installed a few Steam games just to test the x86 emulation and vGPU support... again, holy moly, it's fast AND playable even at Retina resolutions. It's $79/year on subscription, but I think it's impressive enough that I will keep it for a while. I'm just dumbfounded at how well everything works - it's clear Parallels has put a ton of effort into making this the best option for ARM-based Windows.

What version of windows you have installed? Is it intel or ARM specific.

 

[cwa107]

What version of windows you have installed? Is it intel or ARM specific.

It is the ARM version of Windows 11.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I was a VMWare Fusion user up until the switch over to Apple Silicon. Fusion is a great product, but it's clear they just sat on their hands when Apple announced the move away from Intel, whereas Parallels got to work on making a rock solid product.

Between the performance, build quality, raw performance of the M1 Pro, battery life and now capability of running Windows at equally impressive speeds... I'm really happy with this upgrade. Makes me wonder why I railed against it early on. I'm happy to have been entirely wrong about it!

I've railed against Parallels myself because of their predatory business practices. They started artificially neutering their software from running on new releases of OS X when in some instances there was no technical reason it couldn't run. They just wanted you to pay for an upgrade to their software along with every OS update also. They also pulled a really evil bait and switch with a lite version of Parallels on the App Store that was free for running OS X VMs. Without announcement, they changed the terms to require a license and I recall reading some reviews from students who got burned when they literally woke up to find it unusable unless they paid up and were relying on it for school work requiring an older version of OS X that they used the VM for. As best as I can recall now anyway. It was utterly despicable. I was using it myself at the time, but it wasn't a critical need for me. It did push me to look into VMware Fusion and eventually get a license for that.

I am disappointed that VMware isn't "officially" supporting Windows on ARM yet, though I understand why they aren't (MS doesn't license its use on 3rd party hardware). Although I am baffled as to how Parallels is getting away with it. ANYWAY, although I have yet to try it myself, I have read that you can install it nonetheless with the Tech Preview version of Fusion for Apple Silicon and the performance is supposed to be on par with Parallels at least in some respects.

 

[cwa107]

I've railed against Parallels myself because of their predatory business practices. They started artificially neutering their software from running on new releases of OS X when in some instances there was no technical reason it couldn't run. They just wanted you to pay for an upgrade to their software along with every OS update also. They also pulled a really evil bait and switch with a lite version of Parallels on the App Store that was free for running OS X VMs. Without announcement, they changed the terms to require a license and I recall reading some reviews from students who got burned when they literally woke up to find it unusable unless they paid up and were relying on it for school work requiring an older version of OS X that they used the VM for. As best as I can recall now anyway. It was utterly despicable. I was using it myself at the time, but it wasn't a critical need for me. It did push me to look into VMware Fusion and eventually get a license for that.

I am disappointed that VMware isn't "officially" supporting Windows on ARM yet, though I understand why they aren't (MS doesn't license its use on 3rd party hardware). Although I am baffled as to how Parallels is getting away with it. ANYWAY, although I have yet to try it myself, I have read that you can install it nonetheless with the Tech Preview version of Fusion for Apple Silicon and the performance is supposed to be on par with Parallels at least in some respects.

Agreed about Parallels' unsavory business practices in the past. I know there were several times I went to test the waters to see if Parallels had a better product, particularly when my Fusion version was dated, and they often offer "upgrade" pricing to Fusion users and then refuse to honor it when push came to shove. That alone used to annoy me. I feel like the subscription model offered through the MAS is at least a little less disingenuous.

Yes, I read VMWare's statements on the ARM build of Win11. As I understand it, this situation is the result of a Microsoft agreement with Qualcomm. I do respect their decision to keep everything above board.

 

[lclev]

I have purchase older versions of Parallels - actually I purchased one and they kept offering upgrades, free at first. I was not impressed. It was too cumbersome and slow. This latest one is much much better.

But I have not heavily invested in any programs that run on Windows 11 at I am concerned Microsoft will drop support and abandon the ARM version.

Lisa

 

[cwa107]

I have purchase older versions of Parallels - actually I purchased one and they kept offering upgrades, free at first. I was not impressed. It was too cumbersome and slow. This latest one is much much better.

But I have not heavily invested in any programs that run on Windows 11 at I am concerned Microsoft will drop support and abandon the ARM version.

Lisa

Judging by how fast these M1 Macs are... I think they'd be crazy not to maintain the line, especially to use with their own hardware (Surface), as a competitor to Apple. I'd imagine the next generation Surface devices will be Qualcomm ARM powered with the public version of Win11 locked to those devices. Then eventually once that agreement expires, this developer preview of Win11 will be released generically for ARM so that M$ doesn't lose out on that revenue stream.

 

[jpdemers]

M1 Mini here, with 8GB RAM, runs Parallels and ARM Windows 11 without breaking a sweat. Legacy Win applications run just fine in the emulation provided by Win11, but the ones I use aren't very demanding, so ymmv.
Long term (and probably not all that long), Microsoft is going to have to deal with ARM displacing x86, so if anything we're ahead of the game here.
(Fun fact: ARM Win11 download was free of charge. At some point MS might demand their tribute, but for now it's a freebie.)

 

[lclev]

When I down loaded Windows 11 ARM it was free but I had to eventually provide a product key from another Windows version to activate it. I use a Windows 10 key that was no longer being use since I wiped my 2020 MBP.

What was really weird was there was no way to actually buy Windows 11 ARM to activate it and get a product key. If they are now providing it free that is awesome!

Lisa

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Eh, I've been using Windows 10 for a couple years or more without a license. No hacks, they just don't let you use certain personalization options until you do license it. Same applies to Windows 11, from what I've read. Now Windows for ARM is an "Insider" edition and I believe technically a beta or tech preview release, so the normal licensing restrictions wouldn't apply.

 

[cwa107]

M1 Mini here, with 8GB RAM, runs Parallels and ARM Windows 11 without breaking a sweat. Legacy Win applications run just fine in the emulation provided by Win11, but the ones I use aren't very demanding, so ymmv.
Long term (and probably not all that long), Microsoft is going to have to deal with ARM displacing x86, so if anything we're ahead of the game here.
(Fun fact: ARM Win11 download was free of charge. At some point MS might demand their tribute, but for now it's a freebie.)

When I down loaded Windows 11 ARM it was free but I had to eventually provide a product key from another Windows version to activate it. I use a Windows 10 key that was no longer being use since I wiped my 2020 MBP.

What was really weird was there was no way to actually buy Windows 11 ARM to activate it and get a product key. If they are now providing it free that is awesome!

Lisa

Yeah, I was able to use the Win10 product key from my old Intel VM and it worked fine. Fully unlocked now.

 

[nasacpa]

I'm a CPA, and my tax software runs only on Windows. As my 2013 MB Pro was getting dodgy, I bought a 2020 MB Air, with M1 chip. I then bought Parallels 17, and have been running Windows 11 just fine on my MBA since this past January. I used BootCamp on my MBP.

It's a lot better running Para 17, as I no longer have to switch from OS to Windows. I did NOT have to do any workarounds; everything runs fine right out of the box.

 

[L.V.Gandhi]

I'm a CPA, and my tax software runs only on Windows. As my 2013 MB Pro was getting dodgy, I bought a 2020 MB Air, with M1 chip. I then bought Parallels 17, and have been running Windows 11 just fine on my MBA since this past January. I used BootCamp on my MBP.

It's a lot better running Para 17, as I no longer have to switch from OS to Windows. I did NOT have to do any workarounds; everything runs fine right out of the box.

Is windows 11 windows insider's preview arm or intel version running via parallel?

 

[lclev]

Windows 11 running on an M1 has to be the ARM version. Mine says it is an evaluation copy what ever version that is. And yes, it is running on Parallel 17. I do the same on my M1 MBP. The intel version will not run on an M1.

Lisa