Yes. This is getting ridiculous. The Intel line is being phased out. This shouldn't still be a thing now.
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Do we really have to deal with this software compatibility crap again?
- Thread starter TurboCoder2022
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I attempted to install Ubuntu x86 under QEMU just out of curiosity. The performance was painful, takes about 20 minutes just to boot.
The pro audio industry does not work that way. Most recording systems are not connected to the internet nor are they updated regularly. When you start a recording project, changing any aspect of the system mid-project is a huge no-no. It’s all about stability. I would wager that most hardware vendors didn’t even look at the initial M1 stuff because the releases were consumer targeted. Only with the M2 machines that support more RAM and higher throughput was there any real interest. The software that accompanies the hardware audio interface is last in line.
I have a 2015 iMac with 32 GB of RAM and can run Windows in a virtual machine. Last week, someone needed Windows 10 on Intel so I just created a BootCamp partition on my 2015 MacBook Pro and gave it to them for a day and it worked out just fine. You can get Intel Macs pretty cheap for when you want to run Windows.
I run Windows 11 ARM on my M1 Pro MacBook Pro and it gets the job done for me.
If you primarily run Windows, get a Windows computer or an Intel Mac.
I run Windows 11 ARM on my M1 Pro MacBook Pro and it gets the job done for me.
If you primarily run Windows, get a Windows computer or an Intel Mac.
Same in a lot of specialized industry uses. I used to work a lot with photo reproduction houses in NYC and they all would have fairly crusty old Macs connected to expensive, calibrated displays. Whatever version of Photoshop they had was probably fairly old as well. If a mission critical hardware/software setup works, you definitely don't want to "fix" it unless you're ready to invest a bunch of time making sure the new setup isn't going to put a crimp in your workflow.
And that's something the Windows world has traditionally been a lot more willing to accommodate. Less so in the past few years since they've been trying hard to prevent running older versions of Windows on newer hardware compared to the old days when, say, most 2003-era motherboards/chipsets/video cards/etc were supported for Win98 SE or when most 2012-era motherboards/peripherals/etc were supported for XP.
I can only think of one instance where Apple did something to help people in this kind of situation, and that's the return of the OS 9-capable MDD G4 in 2003. And I suppose they have the refurbished store which will have older systems with older OSes for a little while.
Internaut
macrumors 65816
Even if you’re mainly Mac, if you need Window it’s sometimes best just to get a Wintel system to complement your Mac. Caveat YMMV - ARM Windows on Parallels almost, almost did everything I needed and is probably good enough for most. It’s fine to have a foot in both worlds.
I’m surprised nobody has yet mentioned the cloud.
Just a few weeks ago I found myself in need of an Intel-based Windows system to install software that, no way no how, is going to install on anything emulated.
With minimal fuss, I was able to get a Microsoft Azure account and spool up a VM with the needed OS and configuration (Windows 10 Pro, single-core CPU, modest minimum RAM). Connect to it with RDP, and you can’t tell the difference from sitting in front of a physical PC.
It’s got a generous-enough free trial period that, unless something goes seriously worng, I won’t have spent a single penny by the time I’m done with the project. And, if something does go seriously worng, it shouldn’t break the bank to finish the project — at the least, much less than buying an entire PC.
Unless you need to physically connect some sort of device to control, this is the way to go for random one-off Windows installations. (Note that you can connect to local filesystems, printers, that sort of thing, without trouble. You might be able to connect some USB devices, maybe.)
The only catch is that they require a valid credit card number before you can open the account … a really sleazy move, but Microsoft is unlikely to screw you over. I don’t forgive them for that, but I’m tolerating it as part of the price of being forced to deal with the whole thing.
b&
Just a few weeks ago I found myself in need of an Intel-based Windows system to install software that, no way no how, is going to install on anything emulated.
With minimal fuss, I was able to get a Microsoft Azure account and spool up a VM with the needed OS and configuration (Windows 10 Pro, single-core CPU, modest minimum RAM). Connect to it with RDP, and you can’t tell the difference from sitting in front of a physical PC.
It’s got a generous-enough free trial period that, unless something goes seriously worng, I won’t have spent a single penny by the time I’m done with the project. And, if something does go seriously worng, it shouldn’t break the bank to finish the project — at the least, much less than buying an entire PC.
Unless you need to physically connect some sort of device to control, this is the way to go for random one-off Windows installations. (Note that you can connect to local filesystems, printers, that sort of thing, without trouble. You might be able to connect some USB devices, maybe.)
The only catch is that they require a valid credit card number before you can open the account … a really sleazy move, but Microsoft is unlikely to screw you over. I don’t forgive them for that, but I’m tolerating it as part of the price of being forced to deal with the whole thing.
b&
When it "burned up 60 days in" you should claim for warranty. That is unless you got it from a shady refurb shop. Apple official refurbs come with the same warranties and optional extended warranties available to new units.
You can remote-erase from iCloud - no worries. As long as the internal drive was encrypted (and nobody else has the password or recovery keys), your data there is secured.
I'm surprised Microsoft isn't pushing that to Mac consumers, and instead are encouraging people to use Parallels. But cloud based VMs are the way to go for something extremely niche and limited
It becomes quite expensive for those that will always need Windows compatibility -- a local PC is the cheapest...
The other interesting question is those Windows cloudy desktops like Windows 365 or Amazon Workspaces. Right now I think these are way too expensive for occasional use, but... that could change over the next decade.
(Also, Amazon Workspaces still does not have an ARM-native Mac client. *sigh*)
Hmmmm... I think I was about to but forgot to hit the post button, but the real issue is cost...
I've played with Windows on ARM on Parallels... but I made it a point to only run arm64 software. Good luck doing that if you are trying to do real work though... what software has an ARM windows version and not an ARM Mac version?
I've used cheap third party chargers from eBay for over a decade almost exclusively (as have my family) and not once had any issues beyond a charger occasionally just failing to work at some point due to age.
Have you tried using CrossOver to run Lotto Pro? You’ll need to use a tool like process monitor within a working environment to get a list of required native DLLs and registry keys it touches, then in theory you might be able to get it working with appropriate winetricks and a bit of luck.
When it comes to console emulation, RetroArch is natively supported on Apple Silicon and “just works” with PS3-compatible controllers. If you use EmulationStation as the frontend, it gives you all the scraped boxart, ratings etc. that LaunchBox does.
Software compatibility will always be an issue with macOS, even had they stayed with Intel due to aggressive deprecation policies, while fundamental system security will always be an issue on Windows for the opposite reason. Best approach is to build a PC as a games console and use your Mac for all your personal computing needs (at least until major Linux distros get their houses in order)
Maybe I'm just showing my age here, but a hand-built Windows machine without drive bays just seems odd to me. And I've noticed, too, that the number of PCI-E slots on motherboards is dropping. The modern enthusiast machine seems to be a giant PCI-E GPU, possibly even mounted sideways, some very funky cooling solutions, and NVMe SSDs.
(... then again, if motherboards still had floppy controllers, my main Windows machine probably still would have one of those lovely 3.5" Mitsumi combo card reader/floppy drive things. It's a Windows machine with a giant case, not 12-inch MacBook, what's the downside to keeping another drive type or two around?)
Haha! Maybe? When was the last time you hand-built a PC? NVMes have been around for over a decade. I've used them in the last two builds ( a new one about every three years ).
The one above is running 4TB (2TB x2).
PS. I remember purchasing a new Gateway 486DX2/66 and being nerd king for several months.
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