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Best Way to Run Windows?

D

Dovahkiing

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 1, 2013
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Let me say up front that I know this computer is not for gaming, ok! :)

But, that said, if I want to run the odd not-too-intense windows game: Should I run a virtual machine of ARM copy of Windows 11 in Parallels and let the Windows VM do the x86 emulation? Or should I run it in an x86 copy of Windows and let something like UTM do the x86 emulation directly?

Basically, should I emulate inside a virtual machine, or should emulate a virtual x86 system directly in macOS (and run the game "natively" inside Windows? Or does it not matter?
 
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Dovahkiing said:
Let me say up front that I know this computer is not for gaming, ok! :)

But, that said, if I want to run the odd not-too-intense windows game: Should I run a virtual machine of ARM copy of Windows 11 in Parallels and let the Windows VM do the x86 emulation? Or should I run it in an x86 copy of Windows and let something like UTM do the x86 emulation directly?

Basically, should I emulate inside a virtual machine, or should emulate a virtual x86 system directly in macOS? Or does it not matter?
Click to expand...
There is no commercially available way to run the x86 version. Windows 11 Arm in Parallels is the best way to run it right now.
 
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KPOM said:
There is no commercially available way to run the x86 version. Windows 11 Arm in Parallels is the best way to run it right now.
Click to expand...
My loose understanding was that UTM can do it - do I have that wrong?

1635448779487.png


I suppose I'll just test it out and report back here in case any one else ends up here from Google, as I couldn't find this information myself. Installing D2R in Win11 ARM via Parallels right now (I want to see how it looks on this killer display).
 
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Dovahkiing said:
My loose understanding was that UTM can do it - do I have that wrong?
Click to expand...
UTM running x86 Windows, if it works for you, will be slower than tree sap in the middle of winter in Alaska on a bad day. (it's slow!)

Parallels may work for some games, not for others, you'll have to try it. It's not licensable, but probably nobody would go after you.

The best way to run an x86 Windows game is on an x86 Windows PC. By far -- it isn't even close.

Really, if you want to run games on your Mac, B is the only viable option, but there's no guarantee something will run, or if it will run fast enough.
 
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Dovahkiing said:
My loose understanding was that UTM can do it - do I have that wrong?

View attachment 1882307

I suppose I'll just test it out and report back here in case any one else ends up here from Google, as I couldn't find this information myself. Installing D2R in Win11 ARM via Parallels right now (I want to see how it looks on this killer display).
Click to expand...
Interesting. I am not familiar with using UTM to run x86 Windows directly, but would expect it to be slower. Even though Windows Arm uses emulation to run x86 apps, the OS itself is written to run on Arm natively.
 
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Just spoke to Parallels and they have confirmed that they do not support M1 Pro & Max - just M. "Currently Parallels is supported only on Mac with Intel and M1 chips."
 
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bobcomer said:
UTM running x86 Windows, if it works for you, will be slower than tree sap in the middle of winter in Alaska on a bad day. (it's slow!)

Parallels may work for some games, not for others, you'll have to try it. It's not licensable, but probably nobody would go after you.

The best way to run an x86 Windows game is on an x86 Windows PC. By far -- it isn't even close.

Really, if you want to run games on your Mac, B is the only viable option, but there's no guarantee something will run, or if it will run fast enough.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply - yeah I'm not going to sweat it - more just curious what I can and can't do on this system at the moment and what the pitfalls are RE virtualization and emulation.
 
Dovahkiing said:
Let me say up front that I know this computer is not for gaming, ok! :)

But, that said, if I want to run the odd not-too-intense windows game: Should I run a virtual machine of ARM copy of Windows 11 in Parallels and let the Windows VM do the x86 emulation? Or should I run it in an x86 copy of Windows and let something like UTM do the x86 emulation directly?

Basically, should I emulate inside a virtual machine, or should emulate a virtual x86 system directly in macOS (and run the game "natively" inside Windows? Or does it not matter?
Click to expand...
IMHO, a cheap windows PC may be the least hassle way of playing games and potentially gives you a better experience.
 
Dovahkiing said:
Let me say up front that I know this computer is not for gaming, ok! :)

But, that said, if I want to run the odd not-too-intense windows game: Should I run a virtual machine of ARM copy of Windows 11 in Parallels and let the Windows VM do the x86 emulation? Or should I run it in an x86 copy of Windows and let something like UTM do the x86 emulation directly?

Basically, should I emulate inside a virtual machine, or should emulate a virtual x86 system directly in macOS (and run the game "natively" inside Windows? Or does it not matter?
Click to expand...
Id say wait for the arm revoulution to finish or wait for microsoft to finish x64 to arm tranlsation layer in Windows for ARM, then use parralels (or UTM if you are strapped for cash)
 
vir said:
My honest, non-snarky advice to people who want to continue using Macs after Apple killed off all the games: buy a cheap $500 Steam Deck. Problem solved. You can even stream it to your MBP display.
Click to expand...
I've got one on order once they come out for precisely this reason. But being able to stream it to the MBP display? That's new to me.. how would one do that?
 
sarpal said:
Just spoke to Parallels and they have confirmed that they do not support M1 Pro & Max - just M. "Currently Parallels is supported only on Mac with Intel and M1 chips."
Click to expand...
It works just fine on my MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro. Perhaps they aren't fully using all the new GPU power yet.
 
KPOM said:
It works just fine on my MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro. Perhaps they aren't fully using all the new GPU power yet.
Click to expand...
Phew! I only have a couple of legacy MS programmes that I 'must' use and was staggered that this was a potentail blocker. Thanks for the clarification
 
bobcomer said:
UTM running x86 Windows, if it works for you, will be slower than tree sap in the middle of winter in Alaska on a bad day. (it's slow!)

Parallels may work for some games, not for others, you'll have to try it. It's not licensable, but probably nobody would go after you.

The best way to run an x86 Windows game is on an x86 Windows PC. By far -- it isn't even close.

Really, if you want to run games on your Mac, B is the only viable option, but there's no guarantee something will run, or if it will run fast enough.
Click to expand...
I can report that UTM has been loading x86 Win10 ISO file for about 10 minutes now. Not a good omen lol - I suppose this answers my question!

If anyone stumbles upon this thread in the near-term of me posting it, my advice to you is to install Parallels/VMWare and Windows for ARM, patiently wait for whatever support comes down the line, and keep expectations low. :)
 
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Dovahkiing said:
Let me say up front that I know this computer is not for gaming, ok! :)

But, that said, if I want to run the odd not-too-intense windows game: Should I run a virtual machine of ARM copy of Windows 11 in Parallels and let the Windows VM do the x86 emulation? Or should I run it in an x86 copy of Windows and let something like UTM do the x86 emulation directly?

Basically, should I emulate inside a virtual machine, or should emulate a virtual x86 system directly in macOS (and run the game "natively" inside Windows? Or does it not matter?
Click to expand...
Parallels is the best.
 
forums.macrumors.com

CrossOver Allows x86 Windows Apps to Run on Apple M1 Macs

Codeweavers posted a blog post and video tonight showing off CrossOver running on an Apple M1 MacBook Air. This video shows Team Fortress 2 running on a new M1 MacBook Air: CrossOver is software (based on Wine Project) that runs Microsoft Windows apps on the Mac by translating Windows APIs...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

CrossOver can run some x86 stuff on M1 Macs. I recently saw same gaming benchmarks comparing games running in different environments on the new M1 Macs (Parallels, CrossOver, native M1, ...).
 
I have a server set up with a Windows VM. I can access it from anywhere with a VPN. So I'm all set. But out of curiosity, and because it's sometimes just more practical to have it near hand, I'm also interested. I have a few tools that I need to run under Windows and I may be trying Parallels with the Win11 insider version. If I can get myself to upgrade Parallels because honestly, the way they treat you when there's an update if you have a permanent license, leaves a lot to be desired.
 
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