Parallels tech preview for M1

[Yebubbleman]

Can't wait to learn about its performance and abilities, also if there is any chance to run win10 for (from) intel.
Thank you and waiting for your impressions.

No chance. Parallels isn't an emulator. Nor is VMware Fusion, for that matter. Apple has also pretty much stated that they're only supporting hypervisor functionality (which is what VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop are going to be doing on Apple Silicon) and not emulating another architecture like was done on Virtual PC in the PowerPC days.

So, ARM64 OSes are what you have to work with here.

So I have now tried:

• Ubuntu 20.10 Desktop
• Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop
• Ubuntu 20.04 Server (with ARM support)
• Debian - ARM64 ISO

None of which are accepted by the installer.

There's an ARM64 version of Ubuntu Desktop?! I thought there was only the version of it for Ubuntu Server...?

I was hoping for a kind of emulation...
With the M1's extra speed I was hoping that it would be fine...

Nope. Likely not happening. Certainly not from Parallels or VMware.

It may well come, as the post said on Parallels, this is their first release, it's early, it's buggy and it's anything but feature complete. I'm paraphrasing of course, because I can't be bothered copy & pasting

They're not going to do x86 emulation. That's an uphill climb and it's looking like Windows 10 for ARM64 will suffice for the vast majority of Mac uses once Microsoft finally starts playing ball here.

Interestingly The current Build of Windows won't let me install Office 64 bit. Says I can't run 64 bit apps. I thought that they said that this build was the first one to have support for 64 bit. But it does not seem like it.

There is an ARM64 native version of the Office apps for Windows. You shouldn't need to install the x86 nor the x64 versions. Though Teams might still be an exception to this.

Are you on Build 21277? 64bit emulation does not present until build 21277.
By the way, isn't there a arm64 native office on Windows?

There is ARM64 native Office. One should not have to install either the x86 nor x64 versions of Office for Windows. Again, I think it might still be lacking in an ARM64 native version of Teams, but I know that's definitely in development.

Here is the funny fact: these apps are 32bit arm apps.

I don't believe that's accurate. Though, I welcome proof to the contrary.

Another fact: Apple M1 is an arm64 exclusive processor(no 32-bit compatibility mode)

This is definitely accurate. Though, I believe that 32-bit x86 Windows application execution is translated to ARM64 directly, making it work okay on Windows 10 for ARM64 on ARM systems (such as Apple Silicon Macs) that lack 32-bit ARM instruction sets. (After all, even ARM is removing ARM32 instruction sets from their designs in the next couple of years, so 32-bit ARM is nearing a dead-end imminently.)

The result: the apps you mentioned cannot run without something like Rosetta.

Rosetta doesn't translate from 32-bit to 64-bit. If it did, Catalina's dropping of 32-bit Intel binary support wouldn't have been so devastating. Just one architecture to another (e.g. PowerPC to Intel; Intel to Apple Silicon)

If they detect a bunch of people running Windows on Parallels Arm, someone in Redmond might take the hint that there would be demand for it.

Even before Parallels put out this preview, I would imagine that talks between Apple and Microsoft were on-going about this. I've said it a ton of times before and I'll keep saying it: Windows 10 for ARM64 running on Apple Silicon has massive benefits for both Apple and Microsoft. Apple gets to keep saying that Windows runs just fine on the Mac for those that need it and Microsoft finally gets a slew of ARM64 users to help build popularity of Windows 10 for ARM64.

Parallels took the time to develop drivers for Windows 10 on ARM for Parallels Desktop, despite the only way to acquire Windows 10 on ARM is through the Insider Program.

Does anyone think Microsoft will work out a deal for buying a virtualized copy linked to a VMware and Parallels account, or does Parallels see Windows 10 on ARM as just for developers using a Mac?

Do I think Microsoft will work out a deal to make it so that Windows 10 for ARM64 can run on a Mac (either via Virtualization or direct booting)? Absolutely. They stand way too much to gain by doing it to not do it, considering they want Windows 10 for ARM64 to eventually succeed and the current state of affairs (weak Qualcomm-based SoCs and a very small selection of devices and form factors) otherwise doesn't allow for that. Having Apple Silicon Macs, let alone VMs on them, is such a huge shot in the ARM (yes, pun intended) for them, that it's hard to ignore.

I am not having to uninstall/reinstall tools or anything. Skyrim runs at playable frame rates too.

View attachment 1696792

Is Skyrim x86 or x64? That's awesome that emulated performance in Microsoft's Rosetta 2 like emulator enables games like that to be playable. Gives hope that this might not be as subpar (compared to the experience of virtualizing and/or native booting Windows on an Intel Mac) as I initially feared it would be.

 

[UCDHIUS]

Will the current parallels 16 subscription transfer over to M1, when its fully released or will it be its own separate product?

 

[badsimian]

No chance. Parallels isn't an emulator. Nor is VMware Fusion, for that matter. Apple has also pretty much stated that they're only supporting hypervisor functionality (which is what VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop are going to be doing on Apple Silicon) and not emulating another architecture like was done on Virtual PC in the PowerPC days.


Is Skyrim x86 or x64? That's awesome that emulated performance in Microsoft's Rosetta 2 like emulator enables games like that to be playable. Gives hope that this might not be as subpar (compared to the experience of virtualizing and/or native booting Windows on an Intel Mac) as I initially feared it would be.

It is 32 bit. It isn't perfect, I have some issues around text placeholders not seeing to load correct values but hard to know if that is a Win 10 Arm issue or x86 emulation/translation layer issue. Anyway even though it is an old game, the fact that I have a 3d game running acceptably like this is pretty amazing.

Regarding x86 emulation...pretty sure I saw a tweet from someone where they had a custom build of QEMU working with it. Whilst it obviously wouldn't use a hypervisor and wouldn't be "supported" by Apple, there is no reason it could be done as pure emulation in software. Probably very slow though.

 

[motech]

If anyone is looking for a walkthrough, I put together a video that goes over download, setup and configuration of Windows 10 ARM on Parallels Desktop 16 Tech Preview.

You first few videos helped me get windows running! Then an hour later i realized parallels preview came out
Thanks for making them!

 

[KPOM]

You are a genius! It worked! I have Windows 10 running successfully in Parallels and just installed Chrome in the Windows VM!

View attachment 1696725

To be fair it was @Gnattu who mentioned it first.

 

[Gerdi]

There is an ARM64 native version of the Office apps for Windows. You shouldn't need to install the x86 nor the x64 versions. Though Teams might still be an exception to this.


There is ARM64 native Office. One should not have to install either the x86 nor x64 versions of Office for Windows. Again, I think it might still be lacking in an ARM64 native version of Teams, but I know that's definitely in development.

There is a ARM64 version of Teams. Do not bother running the x86 version of Teams - albeit it would work.

Makes me wonder why people are so obsessed with running x64 Windows. Even assuming we could emulate the whole x64 system and running x64 Windows, you would never be able to run native ARM64 versions of Teams, Office, Photoshop, Lightroom, VLC player etc.

I don't believe that's accurate. Though, I welcome proof to the contrary.

Not sure what is not to believe here. Above mentioned apps are ARM32 as is the Microsoft Store app - and therefore are not running on M1. Since at least the store is a central component, Microsoft would have to recompile the Store for ARM64 eventually in order to make it run on M1.

This is definitely accurate. Though, I believe that 32-bit x86 Windows application execution is translated to ARM64 directly, making it work okay on Windows 10 for ARM64 on ARM systems (such as Apple Silicon Macs) that lack 32-bit ARM instruction sets. (After all, even ARM is removing ARM32 instruction sets from their designs in the next couple of years, so 32-bit ARM is nearing a dead-end imminently.)

Confirmed, both x86 and x64 are directly translated to ARM64.

Is Skyrim x86 or x64? That's awesome that emulated performance in Microsoft's Rosetta 2 like emulator enables games like that to be playable. Gives hope that this might not be as subpar (compared to the experience of virtualizing and/or native booting Windows on an Intel Mac) as I initially feared it would be.

Skyrim is x86. Keep in mind that x86 is harder to emulate on ARM64 than x64 is.

 

[Macalway]

Right!, if you restart Windows, it seems you have to reinstall Tools, and when you are asked to restart Windowes you choose postpone, otherwise you are back where your started (catch 22). Apparently the video Motech posted has a workaround. In his video (at around 7:42) there's a workaround, but its just to show that it can be done. TO use the features you need to reinstall tools everytime (which is doable). This need to be fixed ASAP.

Otherwise this seems to be functional, and not some hack. In other words, this is the way it's apparently going to go. Arm Windows, that uses MS emulation for Intel apps. Presently, we need this app to support Windows Arm.
Probably down the road MS will support it, so until then this is great. I wonder if VMware is going to jump onboard?

Anyway, I have a Windows music type app running, It works great! (except for no audio LOL). I'm going to work on that now.

Update: Works now. I'm using an external USB audio interface. It it asked me if I would let Windows use it. If I said no, it would still show up in the Parallels menu for sound options. I then select it. There may be other ways, so I will examine what's going on. But the interface is connected to the Mac and not Windows, as it shows up on the Mac side in System Preferences/sound. But then also Parallels. (maybe even Windows, I look at that)

So in summary, some of the Windows apps I use are lightweight Win7 apps, and they seem to work well, except for the tools thing, this looks good.

Frankly, I really didn't expect this so soon. I mean, I figured several months, and until them buggy hacks, but this seems stable, and very easy to set up, thanks to MS's Insider preview. It took me about 5 minutes to install this without ANY sweat (except that Tools issue). Very easy. Way easier than any Vmware install, as a matter of fact. I just installed the Parallels app, and downloaded the Insider Win10. When Parallels started it auto detected the Win10 build and installed it quickly. Progress.

So I'm excited. But having said that, there probably are issues galore. Always are LOL

Update: This Tools issue is annoying. Apparently, it will restart Windows automatically if you leave it alone, and then you need to reinstall Tools again PITA. Maybe there's a way to prevent the auto restart I'm seeing.

 

[ArPe]

I’ll test...Crysis

 

[nobackup]

Parallels took the time to develop drivers for Windows 10 on ARM for Parallels Desktop, despite the only way to acquire Windows 10 on ARM is through the Insider Program.

Does anyone think Microsoft will work out a deal for buying a virtualized copy linked to a VMware and Parallels account, or does Parallels see Windows 10 on ARM as just for developers using a Mac?

More likely Parallels will be the route to Market (If Apple Dows not just offer it direct from their store just like office365) as they already did Bundle deals in the Past .. VMware is not really into that ... and they are owned by Dell at the end of the day

 

[chikorita157]

Finally got it working. Note to fix the mouse capture, you need to disable the time synchronization so you don't need to reinstall Parallels Tools every time you reboot.

I run a Geekbench forcing X64 and it's sadly the single core/multicore speeds are roughly half of what Geekbench 5 results in Rosetta 2. I am going to probably test 3DMark later.

 

[KittyKay]

I saw where one self proclaimed noob posted about network issues and as a fellow noob I am having the same issue. Everything else runs really smoothly but not having internet access is quite the detriment. Any other fixes besides it’s just a bug as someone mentioned? Might try a reinstall to see if it’ll fix the problem-but scared it’s gonna cause more >.<

 

[digitalbreak]

So, Windows VM can run 4k videos in Edge browser! My VM is allocated 2 Processors and 4GB of RAM. Here is the memory usage when running 4k videos for at least 5 mins - the 4k video playback has slight lag if you are able to notice it. I think Parallels VM can expand its memory usage as needed as I see 8GB consumed in the Activity Monitor by the Windows VM.

I think this is a scenario where I would highly recommend MBA with 16GB RAM if you are thinking to use your Windows VM more than just Office or other simple apps. Still, the machine is cold as ice and no heat or warmth coming from this laptop.

Memory consumption:

Video:

 

[Macalway]

Someone needs to contact Parallels and tell them to fix this Tools issue. It auto restarts, so it's an endless re-install of Tools, and it seems like this would be a trivial bug to fix.

So you reinstall Tools, but not really, as you can't let it restart Windows, cuz then you need to re-install tools, but then a pop-up will appear after a while asking you to restart with a timer for 10 seconds to postpone , or else you will have to re-install Tools. Fun.

So it's postpone repeatedly.

But in general, people should be informed about these apps. It seems like the solution to the problem of Windows on M1.

 

[digitalbreak]

Someone needs to contact Parallels and tell them to fix this Tools issue. It auto restarts, so it's an endless re-install of Tools, and it seems like this would be a trivial bug to fix.

As shared by @Gnattu earlier in this thread:
Uninstall Parallels Tools (and click on the box to remove the associated driver) from within Device Manager>System Tools before restarting.

I ams sure Parallels will fix this in the next drop. This is a technical preview and not even beta, so such issues are expected.

 

[landonh12]

I have gotten the W10 ARM 21277 build installed on my M1 with Parallels, will report back with benchmark scores emulating x64.

EDIT: Couldn't figure out how to get x64 Geekbench on there, but I did try out Rocket League through Steam. Absolutely insane experience. Runs great at 1080p, but there is a very noticeable input lag. Not at the fault of Windows, most likely.

 

[Gnattu]

I don't believe that's accurate. Though, I welcome proof to the contrary.

Then see for your self:

Every Arm not marked as Arm64 is 32bit. Neutral means architecture irrelevant.
Full output:

PS C:\Users\gnattu> Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, Architecture | Sort Name

Name                                        Architecture
----                                        ------------
1527c705-839a-4832-9118-54d4Bd6a0c89             Neutral
c5e2524a-ea46-4f67-841f-6a9465d9d515             Neutral
E2A4F912-2574-4A75-9BB0-0D023378592B             Neutral
F46D4000-FD22-4DB4-AC8E-4E1DDDE828FE             Neutral
Microsoft.549981C3F5F10                            Arm64
Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin                       Neutral
Microsoft.AccountsControl                        Neutral
Microsoft.AsyncTextService                       Neutral
Microsoft.BingNews                                   Arm
Microsoft.BingWeather                                Arm
Microsoft.BioEnrollment                          Neutral
Microsoft.CredDialogHost                         Neutral
Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller                        Arm
Microsoft.ECApp                                  Neutral
Microsoft.GetHelp                                    Arm
Microsoft.Getstarted                               Arm64
Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension                         Arm
Microsoft.LanguageExperiencePackzh-CN            Neutral
Microsoft.LockApp                                Neutral
Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer                        Arm64
Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge                          Neutral
Microsoft.MicrosoftEdgeDevToolsClient            Neutral
Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub                         X86
Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection             Arm64
Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes                       Arm
Microsoft.MSPaint                                    Arm
Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.1.7                   Arm
Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.2.2                   Arm
Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.2.2                 Arm64
Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.1.7                     Arm
Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2                     Arm
Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2                   Arm64
Microsoft.Office.OneNote                             Arm
Microsoft.People                                   Arm64
Microsoft.ScreenSketch                             Arm64
Microsoft.SkypeApp                                   Arm
Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp                           Arm
Microsoft.Todos                                      Arm
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.3                              Arm64
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.3                                Arm
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.4                                Arm
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.4                              Arm64
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS                              Arm64
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00                              Arm
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00                            Arm64
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00                              X86
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop                 Arm64
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop                   X86
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop                   Arm
Microsoft.VP9VideoExtensions                         Arm
Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions                         Arm
Microsoft.WebpImageExtension                         Arm
Microsoft.Win32WebViewHost                       Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.Apprep.ChxApp                  Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.AssignedAccessLockApp          Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.CallingShellApp                Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.CapturePicker                  Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost            Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager         Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.NarratorQuickStart             Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.OOBENetworkCaptivePortal       Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.OOBENetworkConnectionFlow      Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.ParentalControls               Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.PeopleExperienceHost           Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.Photos                             Arm
Microsoft.Windows.PinningConfirmationDialog      Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.Search                         Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.SecHealthUI                    Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.SecureAssessmentBrowser        Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost            Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost        Neutral
Microsoft.Windows.XGpuEjectDialog                Neutral
Microsoft.WindowsAlarms                            Arm64
Microsoft.WindowsCalculator                          Arm
Microsoft.WindowsCamera                              Arm
microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps                  Arm
Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub                       Arm64
Microsoft.WindowsMaps                              Arm64
Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder                     Arm64
Microsoft.WindowsStore                               Arm
Microsoft.WindowsTerminal                          Arm64
Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI                                  Arm
Microsoft.XboxApp                                    Arm
Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI                     Neutral
Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay                            Arm
Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay                          Arm
Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider                       Arm
Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay                    Arm
Microsoft.YourPhone                                  Arm
Microsoft.ZuneMusic                                  Arm
Microsoft.ZuneVideo                                  Arm
MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS                        Arm64
MicrosoftWindows.UndockedDevKit                  Neutral
NcsiUwpApp                                       Neutral
SpotifyAB.SpotifyMusic                               X86
Windows.CBSPreview                               Neutral
windows.immersivecontrolpanel                    Neutral
Windows.PrintDialog                              Neutral

Rosetta doesn't translate from 32-bit to 64-bit.

What I mean "like rosetta", is to translate unsupported code to supported code. What is translated is different, this is why I said it is "like".

 

[MrMacintoshBlog]

Big hat tip to to @Gnattu for the Parallels tools workaround.

I just found this new workaround in the Parallels forum. I have not tested it yet, but what's interesting is if I remove that driver that @Gnattu mentioned then install the tools again, after ever reboot the issue seems to be gone?

Other workaround

Hello guys,
The problem is reproducible in a very basic VM scenario if Mac timezone has negative offset, ex. California, US UTC-8:00. Windows will "hang" after reboot w/ Parallels Tools installed. The workaround is to shut down and disable time sync: VM Config > Options > More Options > Time: Do Not Sync.

 

[Macalway]

Big hat tip to to @Gnattu for the Parallels tools workaround.

I just found this new workaround in the Parallels forum. I have not tested it yet, but what's interesting is if I remove that driver that @Gnattu mentioned then install the tools again, after ever reboot the issue seems to be gone?

Other workaround

Hello guys,
The problem is reproducible in a very basic VM scenario if Mac timezone has negative offset, ex. California, US UTC-8:00. Windows will "hang" after reboot w/ Parallels Tools installed. The workaround is to shut down and disable time sync: VM Config > Options > More Options > Time: Do Not Sync.

Thanks!

Yes! this worked. Time sync. Very easy solution it seems. Lets hope it sticks. I unsynced and rebooted Windows and mouse and keyboard support are active. Thanks.

Can you activate Windows? It says there's no key, and directs me to the Store to buy one, which is think might be premature . Any work around?

The next step would be to activate Windows so I can get rid of that horrible desktop. I don't want to cause damage though.

Also, audio seems to work normally now also. There are a lot of settings I need to look at. One was to change the pause option from 30 seconds which is way too short.

 

[JakeT85]

I saw where one self proclaimed noob posted about network issues and as a fellow noob I am having the same issue. Everything else runs really smoothly but not having internet access is quite the detriment. Any other fixes besides it’s just a bug as someone mentioned? Might try a reinstall to see if it’ll fix the problem-but scared it’s gonna cause more >.<

That was me. I got mine fixed. I was using the windows I had configured for QEMU. After I deleted that file completely and the VM I'd made with it I downloaded a fresh copy of windows and went through setup again in parallel and now it works.

 

[digitalbreak]

Thanks!

Yes! this worked. Time sync. Very easy solution it seems. Lets hope it sticks. I unsynced and rebooted Windows and mouse and keyboard support are active. Thanks.

Can you activate Windows? It says there's no key, and directs me to the Store to buy one, which is think might be premature . Any work around?

The next step would be to activate Windows so I can get rid of that horrible desktop. I don't want to cause damage though.

You can’t activate unless you are able to get an OEM license ?

You can’t buy a Windows ARM version yet unless you buy an ARM Windows laptop.

 

[Macalway]

You can’t activate unless you are able to get an OEM license ?

You can’t buy a Windows ARM version yet unless you buy an ARM Windows laptop.

Right of course. This is actually obvious. Thanks.

But again I must say I'm amazed. Mostly at how quickly this has progressed as now Windows on M1 has been solved for the most part, and how well this all works. All we have is this little thread going but this is huge news.

Of course it's up to MS. It's still these insider builds, and that's probably the bottleneck for a while.

 

[Gnattu]

For the "nasty windows store apps":

I found a very hard to implement and dirty workaround: uninstall the internal one, get the appx bundle somewhere else, unbundle that, then manually install the x86 version from that bundle. This way you are able to use Windows' emulation layer to launch Store apps.

I tried both x86 and x64, and x64 is giving me frequent crash. So to be safe you want to install the x86 one.
This is hard beause:

1. You need another computer that can extract the app-bundles yourself or find the appx bundle somewhere, either takes some time.
2. To unbundle the appxbundle, you need to install Windows 10 SDK and be confident with command line to perform install and uninstall of those internal apps
3. Every app from the Store providing arm but not arm64 binaries will not work, you have to do the manual installation yourself
4. If you "accidentally" updated your apps manually installed, you have to re-install again, because it will update to "arm native" version.

 

[mikeboss]

Can you activate Windows? It says there's no key, and directs me to the Store to buy one, which is think might be premature . Any work around?

The next step would be to activate Windows so I can get rid of that horrible desktop. I don't want to cause damage though.

Windows 10 on ARM can be activated just like any other version of Windows 10. for testing I activated mine, no problem whatsoever.

 

[digitalbreak]

Windows 10 on ARM can be activated just like any other version of Windows 10. for testing I activated mine, no problem whatsoever.

Where did you get the activation key?

 

[SUGAR RAY WONKA]

Well wow. installed Parallels. then arm64 windows ..then office365...just worked
Tried opening a couple of BIG excel sheets. that used to bog down my X1 Carbon 7th gen ... and just like under BigSur with Native Arm Excel ... it just sings.

So lets see a VM .... then an emulator (Windows) then 32bit Excel ... and its still faster for "Work" than my X1 ... and never went above 14% CPU .... Intel No More ..

so just have to figure away to get this insider build activated so the I can get rid of all those painful parts of windows 10 ... or Parallels should strike a bundle deal with Microsoft .. cause there are still a few BIG differences with Excel that I still need a Win10 box for

This is my experience too, it’s very promising and I also need to leverage Windows Excel behaviour.

Did you find a way to activate? It’s not accepting my valid retail Win7 key from a deactivated old machine of mine that I did the free upgrade to Win10 which worked fine on my intel Mac mini.

I couldn’t get this resolved even via an extended chat session with MS support cos I think this scenario is just to new for them to have bottomed out properly yet.