Current state of Windows virtualization/emulation on M1 Macs

[mj_]

What's the current state of Windows virtualization or Windows emulation on Macs with M1 processors? I'm starting a new job and have been provided with a 16" MacBook Pro M1. Last time I checked (late summer of 2021) VMware had just published a tech preview of Fusion that supported ARM Linux virtualization on M1 Macs, Parallels had announced that they were now supporting Windows 10 on ARM without checking in with Microsoft first, which means it was unofficial and semi-legal at best as one had to run a developer build, and x86 emulation via Qemu was dead slow (as was to be expected).

Has the situation improved since or would I be better off firing up a Windows VM in Azure or EC2 instance in AWS every time I need access to a Windows system?

 

[bobcomer]

It's pretty much the same. VMWare is still in preview, and while Windows on Arm runs in Parallels pretty decently, there's still a licensing question.

Emulating x86 Windows with UTM is unstable and ssssslllllooooowwww.

I use a Windows desktop to remote into when I need something Windows, so azure or EC2 would work.

 

[mj_]

That's what I was afraid of, thank you. Virtualization on macOS is basically a dead horse at this point.

 

[bobcomer]

That's what I was afraid of, thank you. Virtualization on macOS is basically a dead horse at this point.

Not really dead, but not that useful at this point. There is hope for the future though. It's not rocket science.

Microsoft allowing us to purchase WoA licenses directly would help things a lot, and more work on UTM/QEMU could give us what we need if WoA isn't enough.

And then there's PC's getting smaller and smaller, so I can see the possibility of an x86 PC plugged into a thunderbolt like the emulators of old that we ran in our Amiga's and original Macs.

 

[MikeDr206]

So I installed Windows Arm on Parallels on my MBA M1, following the links that Parallels provided. I then activated the license by purchasing through the Windows/Microsoft store in Windows itself. Seems to work just fine? I’m just using it for Quicken and a legacy program.

 

[pastrychef]

That's what I was afraid of, thank you. Virtualization on macOS is basically a dead horse at this point.

Windows 11 on Arm can be virtualized through VmWare Fusion, Parallels, or UTM.

I think x86 versions of Windows can be emulated via UTM.

I messed around a bit with Windows 11 on Arm in UTM and it seemed to run well.

Apple is supposed to allow Linux VMs to use Rosetta 2 which should help a lot but I don't know how or if it will have any impact on Windows VMs.