Microsoft Says ARM Windows Virtualization on Apple Silicon Macs 'Not a Supported Scenario'

[thejadedmonkey]

I purchased a Surface RT tablet back in 2012 and this was Microsoft’s first attempt at making proper Windows run on ARM. What is funny is that almost ten years later it is still not a great experience and how Apple triumphed over Microsoft with moving macOS to ARM. I have played with Windows 10 on my M1 Mini with Parallels and the performance seems better than on Qualcomm WOA devices.
Windows NT by its very nature was designed to run on multiple architectures, with early versions running on x86, PowerPC, MIPS and later on Itanium. So the fact that with over a decade of engineering resources that Windows on ARM is still bad is just laughable.

It sounds to me like you're just trying to bash Windows. The Surface RT didn't have any bugs that weren't in "regular" Windows 8, and the Surface Pro X is by all accounts just as good as any other Surface, albeit one that has non-x86 driver limitations.

 

[bbfc]

Windows 11 isn’t supported on Boot Camp either. I’ve just reinstalled windows 10 as I stopped receiving Windows 11 feature updates as running it on boot camp isn’t a support scenario either. Shame as I quite enjoyed using it.

 

[Velin]

Very little reason to own an X86 Windoze box.

 

[DJC631]

Hey Microsoft: this ain't it, chief.

 

[Ninjaman]

Microsoft who?

Another ignorant post by a fanboy

 

[Psychicbob]

Microsoft ARM machines incoming

 

[csnwbd2251]

"Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi last year said that Windows coming to ‌M1‌ Macs is "up to Microsoft.""

Famous last words???

I distinctly remember when Apple transitioned to Intel x86 that quickly there was a competition to get Windows to run natively on the new Intel Macs. It didn't take too long for Apple to step in and make boot camp so users would have what Apple then called a 'proper' experience, not some hacked Windows running on Mac. Maybe that won't happen this time but I'm sure there will be plenty of 'hacked' WOA installations out there with info on how to do it.

 

[Spock]

Microsoft will eventually support it, they have nothing to lose and more Windows 11 licenses to gain. They don't care what hardware you are using, they just want your license money.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Just grab a junker x86 box for Windows needs.

Thanks, but I'd prefer to have to lug only one notebook with me.

 

[Kabeyun]

Isn’t that just a comment on the current state?

 

[Larsvonhier]

What about Parallels 17 and Win11? Final release won't work?

The catch here is - at the moment M$ does not sell Win10 or Win11 ARM builds. Technically, both insider builds run perfectly on Parallels and UTM. It´s just that M$ again tries to keep offering the ARM OSes only to PC manufacturers, not end users. Parallels seems to be in negotiation with them, but it might end at an unwilling Redmond company.

 

[peterh988]

Unless you use some odd ball Windows only program it has been easy to do for a while now.

That would seem to be me. I have two windows only apps that I use for trading (sports trading) so I'd need to buy a Windows computer capable of powering a couple of 4K monitors (and the monitors too) in order to keep using it.

Both work fine on Parallels at the moment.

 

[burgman]

Goodbye ARM Mac
Hello Intel or AMD Mac.

APPLE ditches INTEL
So in turn Microsoft Ditches APPLE.

See where the APPLE WALLED GARDEN GETS YOU.

I can't live without my Windows 11. sorry

Oh the power of CAPS on the internet. 😂

 

[laptech]

Considering the number of years Microsoft has produced software that works on Intel macs, I think they have a pretty good idea of just how many people that use Apple macs use Microsoft windows OS or Microsoft software and have come to conclusion that not enough mac users use Microsoft Windows to justify writing an ARM version for ARM based Apple machines.

 

[RogerWilco]

If you haven't migrated already from Windows tat then you need to seek help.

And if you think it's that easy, you need to leave your basement once in a while .....

Sadly true, in the year 2021 there are antiquated, broken-ass federal government websites which still require IE to access their secure “features”. Microsoft did its job well.

 

[MVMNT]

Microsoft be blue-balling Apple at this point.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Very little reason to own an X86 Windoze box.

I use Windows as my Playstation 5 / Xbox killer. Play almost any game in the last 30 years.

 

[dapa0s]

This is unfortunate. All the more reason to grab a Macbook Pro 16 if you want to game.

At that price point, and considering how little you can game on it, isn‘t it just better to buy a windows laptop, or build a gaming pc, if you really want to game?

 

[wyrdness]

Unless you use some odd ball Windows only program it has been easy to do for a while now. I am talking some industry specific app that is only on Windows, like software that controls a CAT scan machine or something like that. So much is web based, ported to Mac (if not M1 already) or there is a great alternative.

Seriously, if you're running Windows software that controls something like a CAT scan machine, why would you even consider running it on a Mac?

 

[wyrdness]

This is unfortunate. All the more reason to grab a Macbook Pro 16 if you want to game.

Why buy a less performant and almost obsolete Mac? Surely it would be better to order a Steam Deck for your Intel-based gaming needs.

 

[LonestarOne]

This article is a good example of what’s wrong with tech journalism today.

”Not a supported scenario” simply means “we are not expending company resources to support it.” It doesn’t mean it won’t work. It doesn’t even mean that Microsoft might not decide to support it in the future. We already knew that!

This story a whole lot of nothing, sprinkling with a generous dash of clickbait.

Every time a media outlet like MacRumors publishes something like this, it damages its reputation. Or, rather, it would damage its reputation, if readers cared about getting good information. But readers are so used to clickbait and fluff from tech journalists that they’ve stopped caring. They’re like people who’ve eaten nothing but Hostess Twinkies for so long, they don’t even long for real food anymore.

 

[ttyRazor]

I’m not quite sure how Microsoft may be able NOT to license Windows on ARM for use in a virtualized environment on Apple Silicon.
The only way they could do it is ban any virtualization of Windows for ARM on any platform.

Unlike PCs where there’s a standard set of hardware and boot environment that virtualization can provide for any x86 OS, and legacy drivers that will use that standard at a minimum, Arm isn’t nearly as consistent.

Parallels might have something that works now, but this statement probably means that Microsoft isn’t going to go out of their way to ensure any future changes aren’t going to break whatever Parallels is doing.

 

[bobcomer]

I don't care about supported, I just want to be able to purchase a license for it.

 

[ttyRazor]

This article is a good example of what’s wrong with tech journalism today.

”Not a supported scenario” simply means “we are not expending company resources to support it.” It doesn’t mean it won’t work. It doesn’t even mean that Microsoft might not decide to support it in the future. We already knew that!

This story a whole lot of nothing, sprinkling with a generous dash of clickbait.

Every time a media outlet like MacRumors publishes something like this, it damages its reputation. Or, rather, it would damage its reputation, if readers cared about getting good information. But readers are so used to clickbait and fluff from tech journalists that they’ve stopped caring. They’re like people who’ve eaten nothing but Hostess Twinkies for so long, they don’t even long for real food anymore.

How is it Macrumors’ fault that Microsoft said this? For anyone who depends on virtualized Windows apps professionally, that distinction is important to know that the latest Windows update might blow up their setup until Parallels gets around to fixing it, if they even can. An earlier story quoted VMware saying they wouldn’t even attempt Windows support in Fusion until Microsoft would officially support it, so that’s another reason this statement is newsworthy

 

[IG88]

This article and the source article are both garbage.

The original website was encountering an error message in Parallels with the latest Dev build of W11A and so they reached out to Microsoft, who said they don’t support that scenario.

Nowhere did Microsoft ever say they have no plans to support Windows on ARM on M1/Parallels/VMware, or that Windows on ARM will never support M1, just that it’s not currently a supported scenario.

Agreed. Waaaaaay too much was read into the MS spokesperson's statement. This is similar to how the online rags jumped all over the comment of one MS employee, and turned that into Win 10 would be the last version of MS Windows.