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M1 and windows
- Thread starter CMT63
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Use a virtual windows, via something like Parallels. Parallels specifically worked on their latest version to be compatible with the M1 chips and with Windows11.
I’ve been using Parallels to run Win10 and Win11 virtual machines on my 13” M1 MBP and I’ve been very impressed.
I’ve previously run Windows on my 2015 i7 iMac via BootCamp - windows gets to run natively on the processor without being slowed down by virtualisation. It was alright for work related tasks, and could just about run old games like the early Dawn of War games, but any recent games were unplayable really.
But using Parallels on the M1 chip has been great. Admittedly I haven’t tried any AAA games on there, but windows itself is smooth to use and I’ve had several virtual Windows sessions all running concurrently, and being able to easily switch back and forth between the Mac and Windows app, sharing the clipboards, it _almost_ made Windows enjoyable to use
Going to be interesting to see what the performance on the M1 Max in the Studio is like with Parallels.
I’ve been using Parallels to run Win10 and Win11 virtual machines on my 13” M1 MBP and I’ve been very impressed.
I’ve previously run Windows on my 2015 i7 iMac via BootCamp - windows gets to run natively on the processor without being slowed down by virtualisation. It was alright for work related tasks, and could just about run old games like the early Dawn of War games, but any recent games were unplayable really.
But using Parallels on the M1 chip has been great. Admittedly I haven’t tried any AAA games on there, but windows itself is smooth to use and I’ve had several virtual Windows sessions all running concurrently, and being able to easily switch back and forth between the Mac and Windows app, sharing the clipboards, it _almost_ made Windows enjoyable to use
Going to be interesting to see what the performance on the M1 Max in the Studio is like with Parallels.
You’re running the ARM version of Windows 11, correct?Use a virtual windows, via something like Parallels. Parallels specifically worked on their latest version to be compatible with the M1 chips and with Windows11.
I’ve been using Parallels to run Win10 and Win11 virtual machines on my 13” M1 MBP and I’ve been very impressed.
I’ve previously run Windows on my 2015 i7 iMac via BootCamp - windows gets to run natively on the processor without being slowed down by virtualisation. It was alright for work related tasks, and could just about run old games like the early Dawn of War games, but any recent games were unplayable really.
But using Parallels on the M1 chip has been great. Admittedly I haven’t tried any AAA games on there, but windows itself is smooth to use and I’ve had several virtual Windows sessions all running concurrently, and being able to easily switch back and forth between the Mac and Windows app, sharing the clipboards, it _almost_ made Windows enjoyable to use
Going to be interesting to see what the performance on the M1 Max in the Studio is like with Parallels.
Usually I bootcamp over, and actually dreading dealing with virtualisation again, but the Studio purchase means I’ve got no other choice. Always found it clunky and inelegant. Maybe one day virtualisation can mean your desktop simply operates as a machine that magically handles both types of files all mixed up, at least to the user visually. That would be even better than bootcamp.
Yes correct. It was a bit flaky to start with, but has been pretty good for the past couple of months. Although, I guess there may be some specific software that won’t run on ARM Windows. Fortunately I’ve not found that with the apps I’ve tried so far.
Give Parallels a try. They make the Mac drives available to the Windows VMs, and you can browse the contents of the VM‘s drives from the Mac, so you can read and write between the two. They keyboard maps, so cmd-C copies on windows as well as ctrl-C. What you copy on the Mac will paste on windows (so I copy my Steam password from 1Password in the menubar of the Mac, and paste it into Steam running in the Windows VM.
Parallels also has a mode they call convergence i think? It hides the Windows desktop and task bar. The VM’s icon in the dock becomes the Start menu button. And so the Windows application windows will float right alongside the Mac application windows. You can almost forget that it’s Excel in Windows that you are copying data from and pasting into Numbers.
And as I say, on an M1 it feels smooth enough to be useable. I never had that with Parallels on Intel, the windows apps always felt slow to react.
That does sound nice, I’ll give it a shot this weekend. Fingers crossed I get on well with it!
I used to play Lineage 2 on my previous Mac using VM Ware (windows) so I understand with a M1 there’s not going to be any difference?
Quite a bit of difference! The M1 can't run x86 Windows, only Windows on ARM, and there's a grey licensing area with that. Performance might not be what you are used to either and some things don't work. I don't know about Lineage 2.
Also, you'll have to use Parallels rather than VMWare.
Thank you, doesn’t sound very attractive for me but really wanted to buy one! May wait a little longer
If you’re waiting for better windows support it’s not going to happen.Thank you, doesn’t sound very attractive for me but really wanted to buy one! May wait a little longer
Windows will always have to be virtual for the foreseeable future.
I’d make your purchasing decision based on that information.
To be honest I don’t use the computer as much I would like.
I have a windows computer right now and it’s perfectly fine for my game however I enjoy some of the macOS apps since I’m already into the Apple ecosystem.
I’m aware that for the best gaming experience, windows is always going to be better but VM Ware was a good solution, I’m not even saying boot camp, I was fine with virtualisation but if I can’t even do that now then I don’t see any point to move
You can do virtualisation. But you need to do the Arm version of windows.To be honest I don’t use the computer as much I would like.
I have a windows computer right now and it’s perfectly fine for my game however I enjoy some of the macOS apps since I’m already into the Apple ecosystem.
I’m aware that for the best gaming experience, windows is always going to be better but VM Ware was a good solution, I’m not even saying boot camp, I was fine with virtualisation but if I can’t even do that now then I don’t see any point to move
So you will be running windows virtually and then emulating x86 software within the virtual machine.
VMWare isn’t supporting Windows on Apple silicon unless Microsoft changes their licensing to officially allow Windows on Arm virtualization. If you want to use the unlicensed version of Windows, you’ll need Parallels.To be honest I don’t use the computer as much I would like.
I have a windows computer right now and it’s perfectly fine for my game however I enjoy some of the macOS apps since I’m already into the Apple ecosystem.
I’m aware that for the best gaming experience, windows is always going to be better but VM Ware was a good solution, I’m not even saying boot camp, I was fine with virtualisation but if I can’t even do that now then I don’t see any point to move
You can keep your old machine around for the game.Thank you, doesn’t sound very attractive for me but really wanted to buy one! May wait a little longer
I'm getting the Studio Max with 64G RAM and I'm positive I'll be happy with it. I already have a Windows desktop around for my Windows stuff.
You might want to look at an M1 Mac Mini to satisfy your MacOS urges, it's a lot cheaper than the Studio.To be honest I don’t use the computer as much I would like.
I have a windows computer right now and it’s perfectly fine for my game however I enjoy some of the macOS apps since I’m already into the Apple ecosystem.
I’m aware that for the best gaming experience, windows is always going to be better but VM Ware was a good solution, I’m not even saying boot camp, I was fine with virtualisation but if I can’t even do that now then I don’t see any point to move
Parallels on the Mac Studio runs like a dream, not only is Windows 11 super smooth but if you like Linux an arm version of Ubuntu is also available.
VMWare fusion is in the preview stage, not fully released, and they don't support Windows on Arm at all.
Cheers. Is there an ETA on the M1 native version of VMware Fusion?
Hopefully after M$'s timed exclusivity with Qualcomm we'll get Win11 support in VMwF.
I really don't know, I haven't been following it. I use VMWare on my Intel Mac, but haven't bothered with it yet on my M1.
As for the second part, I kind of doubt that, but who knows. Microsoft isn't talking about it. I'm going the other way and using remote desktop into a Windows PC for now, instead of a VM.
Here's an interesting review of Parallels against VMWare:
oofhours.com
M1 Mac virtualization: Parallels Desktop vs. VMware Fusion
2022-08-17: Feel free to read through this post and then check out the new follow-up post that compares the latest versions of Parallels and VMware Fusion. Also see this post that clarifies Microso…
oofhours.com
You'll have to purchase a new license if you want to personalise it as it won't be activated.