Win11 VM

[Khurtana]

Looking for feedback from people running win11 on a M1 Max under Parallels.

Does the Win11 VM take much of a chunk of the host performance? Does the VM run snappily? Any issues with battery consumption?

I’m looking at buying an m1 max for work but I have a single program that I need to run under win11. Looking for personal feedback, thanks.

 

[ct2k7]

Surely this depends on the resource allocated to the VM.

 

[Khurtana]

Surely this depends on the resource allocated to the VM.

Yes and no. I’m after personal experience are you running Win11 on your M1Max via parallels?

 

[ct2k7]

Yes and no. I’m after personal experience are you running Win11 on your M1Max via parallels?

I haven’t got my Mac Studio yet, but from others have said in other threads, performance seems good enough

 

[Khurtana]

I haven’t got my Mac Studio yet, but from others have said in other threads, performance seems good enough

Ok. There’s a minimum VMs will run under satisfactorily enough. Understanding that is useful as if it needs too many resources I’ll have to do something else.

The other issue is I can’t find real world experience on running VM workloads here or in the Parallels forums.

So really after the type of advice that says “couldn’t run it until I used ABC resources and and it didn’t fly until xyz”

 

[Lihp8270]

Looking for feedback from people running win11 on a M1 Max under Parallels.

Does the Win11 VM take much of a chunk of the host performance? Does the VM run snappily? Any issues with battery consumption?

I’m looking at buying an m1 max for work but I have a single program that I need to run under win11. Looking for personal feedback, thanks.

Confirm whether your software works properly on Win11 for ARM as you need to run this version rather than regular windows. Also look into the licensing issues if you’re using it for work.

In terms of performance even on the regular M1 the general consensus is that it’s excellent.

 

[Khurtana]

Confirm whether your software works properly on Win11 for ARM as you need to run this version rather than regular windows. Also look into the licensing issues if you’re using it for work.

In terms of performance even on the regular M1 the general consensus is that it’s excellent.

I’m good with the compatibility side - app runs currently on Win11.

You are running Win11 on the M1 original?

 

[Lihp8270]

I’m good with the compatibility side - app runs currently on Win11.

You are running Win11 on the M1 original?

It runs on Win11 for arm?

It’s a subtle but important difference. You cannot run regular x86 version of windows 11. You need the arm version.

Your windows software will then be emulated by Win11 for ARM, so be sure that your software works under arm emulation.

 

[Khurtana]

It runs on Win11 for arm?

It’s a subtle but important difference. You cannot run regular x86 version of windows 11. You need the arm version.

Your windows software will then be emulated by Win11 for ARM, so be sure that your software works under arm emulation.

Thanks Lihph - I understand. My app runs on Win11 Arm.

I’m just after personal experience in the combo stated at this stage. I can’t find anything reliable on the net. Other than “it works”.

 

[tmoerel]

With 4 cores and 8Gb allocated it turns well and fast.
I am running a suite of custom software relying on .net 4.8 (using ARM libraries) as well as VCC libraries (ARM libraries) and a lot of ancient proprietary C++ code combined with many C-Sharp .net applications. All out code is x86-64 bit and it seems to all run well and reasonable fast for x86 translated code. Amazing how x86 code works with ARM libraries.
Even connecting to windows servers on my network outside the VM it all works well. These are very network real-time applications and all is sweet. This software stack was never even tested on Intel Windows 11 so it was a great surprise to see it all run smooth in an ARM Windows 11 VM.
Anything native ARM is blazing fast. I have never had a VM snappier than this!

 

[asparagus]

I run it for MS Office 365; it goes asleep a lot of the time and has no impact on the machine. M1 Pro.

Runs great. For me, I have MS Office on Mac and then the MS Office on Windows for a backup to have the full versions of office. Runs great. Win 11 ARM.

Settings are automatic; 4 cores, 6GB of ram.

 

[spartacusaluminum]

Remember currently there is no legal way to get an activated or licensed version of Windows 11 on ARM. You would have to run the Windows 11 ARM insider preview to have an "activated copy" of windows. Otherwise you are left to the internet to figure out how to run a stable released version of windows 11 on arm that is "activated"

In my win11 arm vm, I run some ecad software tools and tried out some steam games. It's wicked snappy on the base config but more resources will always make the VM happier.

 

[donawalt]

Remember currently there is no legal way to get an activated or licensed version of Windows 11 on ARM. You would have to run the Windows 11 ARM insider preview to have an "activated copy" of windows. Otherwise you are left to the internet to figure out how to run a stable released version of windows 11 on arm that is "activated"

This is wrong - read the other threads on this forum, or check out the "how to" on the Parallels forum to install the Retail version. I am on an activated, licensed version of Windows 11 Pro downloaded directly through the Parallels product (17.1.1 or later) for setting up a VM, which has been automatically updated through Windows Update as other installations have been. Nothing fancy needs to be done.

 

[Khurtana]

@tmoerel and @asparagus - exactly what I was after, thanks.

How is battery life?

 

[tmoerel]

@tmoerel and @asparagus - exactly what I was after, thanks.

How is battery life?

Good. Ran 10 hours yesterday at work with VM open and many other mac apps running.

 

[Fomalhaut]

What is your overall impression of Parallels on Apple Silicon? I've only used VMWare Fusion on Intel Macs, and found it pretty good for Linux VMs, but had the impression (many years ago) that Linux support on Parallels but a bit hit and miss. Hopefully the situation has improved since then?

 

[Nermal]

It's still right, the EULA from Microsoft hasn't changed, yet.

It doesn't need to. Windows has never had an architecture restriction in its licence. Back in the 90s you could buy a boxed copy of Windows NT that would run on Intel, PowerPC, Alpha, maybe MIPS? The Arm version is no different from a licence perspective.

Edit: Please see the discussion below. The licence can be interpreted in different ways so this isn't as clear-cut as I'd thought.

 

[ct2k7]

@TiggrToo i don’t have my Surface X on me, however this was from late last year: https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/10/windows_11_m1/

There doesn’t appear to have been movement that has been reported.

 

[TiggrToo]

@TiggrToo i don’t have my Surface X on me, however this was from late last year: https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/10/windows_11_m1/

There doesn’t appear to have been movement that has been reported.

Thanks, but first that's over 6 months ago, and next @bobcomer claimed that the EULA specifically calls this out.

I'm just wanting to read this specific claim as it pertains to WoA today.

 

[asparagus]

@tmoerel and @asparagus - exactly what I was after, thanks.

How is battery life?

I'll be honest; I barely notice it. For me, Parallels Windows 11 is a background support feature; it gives me the ability to run stuff in Windows when needed, but I'd honestly estimate most of the time Parallels puts it to sleep. So, for me, I notice almost no battery impact.

My real life use case: I work in a regular office job, and they provided (pretty mediocre) PC's. I got the blessing from IT to use my Mac, with the caveat that they didn't want to do anything to support Mac. The Mac version of Office is...pretty close, but I think nobody would argue Mac excel is truly on par with windows Excel, so for the limited use case of intense Excel files, I've got for reals Excel, and most of the time, Mac excel is fine.

I've tested, out of curiosity, how Parallels ARM Excel compares to Windows Excel on a PC; my experience was that both functioned fine.

IT hasn't complained, I get to have a snazzy laptop, and have the best of both worlds.

I will give one HUGE upvote for the app ConnectMeNow; basically I was able to auto configure our company's shared drive to auto mount when I'm in the office or on VPN which made things worlds easier.

 

[ADGrant]

I'll be honest; I barely notice it. For me, Parallels Windows 11 is a background support feature; it gives me the ability to run stuff in Windows when needed, but I'd honestly estimate most of the time Parallels puts it to sleep. So, for me, I notice almost no battery impact.

My real life use case: I work in a regular office job, and they provided (pretty mediocre) PC's. I got the blessing from IT to use my Mac, with the caveat that they didn't want to do anything to support Mac. The Mac version of Office is...pretty close, but I think nobody would argue Mac excel is truly on par with windows Excel, so for the limited use case of intense Excel files, I've got for reals Excel, and most of the time, Mac excel is fine.

I've tested, out of curiosity, how Parallels ARM Excel compares to Windows Excel on a PC; my experience was that both functioned fine.

IT hasn't complained, I get to have a snazzy laptop, and have the best of both worlds.

I will give one HUGE upvote for the app ConnectMeNow; basically I was able to auto configure our company's shared drive to auto mount when I'm in the office or on VPN which made things worlds easier.

Microsoft office has supported Windows on ARM since the original ARM based Surface so it should work well. You probably won't be able to load any COM components build for x64 though. .NET might work.

 

[asparagus]

Microsoft office has supported Windows on ARM since the original ARM based Surface so it should work well. You probably won't be able to load any COM components build for x64 though. .NET might work.

My big problem is macro enabled excel files. They appear every now and then, and Mac simply doesn't support them.

Thanks for explaining the Surface's; that explains why ARM office is so good. It doesn't make sense they'd just do it for a few Mac fanboys, but needing to get it solid for Surface, which also benefits us, makes a lot of sense.

 

[Lihp8270]

@TiggrToo i don’t have my Surface X on me, however this was from late last year: https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/10/windows_11_m1/

There doesn’t appear to have been movement that has been reported.

Can’t see the original comment you’re replying to, so I may have the context wrong.

But “not supported” doesn’t mean against EULA.

It simply means that MS will not provide any assistance, or technical support for Windows 11 when it is being used on an M1

 

[mr_roboto]

It doesn't need to. Windows has never had an architecture restriction in its licence. Back in the 90s you could buy a boxed copy of Windows NT that would run on Intel, PowerPC, Alpha, maybe MIPS? The Arm version is no different from a licence perspective.

I'm not sure how you got the idea that Microsoft's licensing terms haven't changed even a little bit since the 1990s.

Apple’s new ARM-based Macs won’t support Windows through Boot Camp

Microsoft has the power to change ARM-based Macs running Windows 10 on ARM.

www.theverge.com

“Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on ARM to OEMs,” says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. We asked Microsoft if it plans to change this policy to allow Windows 10 on ARM-based Macs, and the company says “we have nothing further to share at this time.”

Translation: the only legal way for people like us to acquire and run Windows on Arm is to buy an Arm computer with it preinstalled, and use that license key only on that computer.

(Before someone objects by telling me that it works great: yes, I know. Parallels has figured out how to make the installation process painless, and you can pay for an x86 activation code and use it to activate Arm Windows. Don't confuse working with it being legal. It only means Microsoft didn't bother trying to enforce all aspects of their licensing agreement in their activation scheme.)

The company to watch is VMWare. They have communicated that at present they cannot in good conscience directly support Windows in VMWare Fusion on M1 due to the licensing situation. The instant that changes, I expect VMWare to announce Windows support.

 

[wonderings]

Runs like a dream on my 14" MBP with M1 Max. 32 gigs of ram 1 TB SSD. You can only install Windows 11 ARM though, so you would need to check if your application will install under X86 Emulation. I am using the latest version of Parallels and am very happy. If you have a specific app that has a demo I would be happy to try and install and run and see how it works.