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Parallels 16 for M1 Macs Now Available Through Technical Preview Program
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- It is not possible to install or start an Intel x86 based operating system in a virtual machine.
Okay, no surprise there.
Seriously?! Why the hell not? This is a staple of modern virtualization? The answer as to why this isn't possible better be because they're still working on that element of the program. Otherwise, this whole "you can do virtualization on Apple Silicon Macs" song and dance is going to seem more and more like a bait and switch.
Again, this seems like it ought to be a limitation related to it being a technical preview rather than a limitation of the program itself. Otherwise, that's kind of dumb seeing as all of the x86 hypervisors (for x86 versions of macOS, Windows, and Linux) have zero problem with this.
No surprise there given that Apple Silicon has been 100% 64-bit only since A11 Bionic. I don't believe this will matter for Windows 10 for ARM64 as I don't believe there are 32-bit binaries running in the OS; nor do I believe that anyone has developed any Windows ARM32 applications outside of Windows RT's Metro environment (also it's not like there's any incentive whatsoever to try to sideload Office 2013 RT onto Windows 10 for ARM64). I could see this causing issues with some Linux variants and applications, but it's not like ARM's own reference designs aren't also about to drop ARM32 instructions in the near future.
These two paragraphs contradict each other. In the top one, you say that current versions of Parallels are not able to run on M1 Macs, and in the second one, you say that it has since been updated with a universal binary that's now ready for M1 Macs. Which is it? Or are you saying that this technical preview is a Universal Binary while the current shipping version is still Intel only (and not Rosetta 2 capable)?
I wonder what the performance of X86 will be like. It's running emulated on Windows for ARM so wondering how good/bad emulated X86 on a Virtualized Windows installation will be !!!
Emulation is what, not having anything to do with RISC or anything else. Simple emulation, not virtualization.
Raspberry Pi OS is undoubtedly the most popular ARM version of Linux. Not sure whether it will run in Parallels though.
The deciding factor, IMHO, will be how serious MS is about migrating Windows to ARM. Right now, there really isn't a complelling reason as there are no machines beyond the Surface of any note in that marketplace. If Apple's ARM efforts prove ARM based laptops have speed and battery life advantages you may see some manufacturers push for ARM based Windows that is runs x64 programs well; and if ARM based laptops take off software manufacturers will follow suit.
One challenge could be the ARM processor MS decides to use - do tehy go with a standard design or add their own bits ala the Surface Pro X. That could make running Windows on the M1 more challenging. If WinArm could run right out of the box and be avaiable via a license seperate from a machine we could even see a return of Bootcamp.
I remember Virtual PC and for me it was more of a neat thing than really being useful. I also remember the old PC Transporter for running MS-Dos on APPLe ]['s.
What's old is new again.
Windows for ARM can emulate Intel architecture for X86 applications. So, the problem is solved.That's the big defining parameter though, up to this point, Parallels isn't emulation, it's hardware virtualisation. Accessing the hardware components directly to allow a guest operating system to be run. But we already know that.
Now though, in order to achieve x86 code execution, there will have to be a new emulation layer written from scratch.
Unless they're aiming for some kind of binary translation, in the style of Rosetta. Though again, not a simple undertaking.
Admittedly, I haven't looked into the possibility of them tapping Rosetta 2 in some way to take advantage of that binary translation, mostly because I'm not that desperate to run Windows on my Mac(I have a Win desktop as well.... for now).
Most Pi OS instances are 32-bit and hence a no-go on M1. ( Pi OS generally has been tuned to run in relatively low RAM capacity systems. Hence the "dragging of feet" to move to 64-bit as the standard instance with incrementally higher memory consumption. ). For M1, you would need a 64-bit OS and pure 64-bit user space apps running on top.
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Following up, the ubuntu server 18.04 aarch64 install works just fine, presuming you install as a "windows 10" device. Debian doesn't set up EFI correctly and as a result for the casual user, you'll install and after the reboot end up with something that doesn't work.
ubuntu OTOH works just fine.
ubuntu OTOH works just fine.
For a first-look beta version, it's actually working reasonably well. I've been able to set up VMs using the Windows 10 ARM preview, Ubuntu 20.10 Server, Debian bullseye, and OpenSUSE Leap 15.2. They work reasonably well when you consider that this isn't production-ready code at this point (for example, there are no Parallels tools for the linux distros as of yet).
I installed Debian with LVM disk partitioning and it works fine (it did not work on the first install attempt without LVM).
So, I'm cautiously optimistic. The CPU is able to handle all four VMs running simultaneously without any issues, and system performance doesn't seem to be impacted for normal tasks.
I installed Debian with LVM disk partitioning and it works fine (it did not work on the first install attempt without LVM).
So, I'm cautiously optimistic. The CPU is able to handle all four VMs running simultaneously without any issues, and system performance doesn't seem to be impacted for normal tasks.
Microsoft already has a native ARM version of Windows 10. Have had for over a year .
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Explore a variety of business computers, laptops, and tablets from Microsoft Surface for Business. Empower your employees with business devices and collaborative solutions that best fit their work needs.
www.microsoft.com
It is Apple's GPU. Driver writing would be their job, not Microsoft's. Apple probably doesn't want to do it.
The "Direct X 11" support see with Parallels is to their emulation GPU; not the 'raw' underlying GPU. Apple probably isn't putting in any work on DirectX at all.
Parallels ( and VMWare Fusion's) emulated GPUs are a relatively 'thin' layer on top, but Apple's GPU is going to be abstracted away from Windows 10.
Microsoft has put work into Windows 10 on ARM to deal with emulated GPUs inside of virtual machines already.
".. “Today, we are offering [a] [Windows 10 on ARM] [virtual hard drive] (VHDX) for Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19624, so that Insiders can run Windows 10 [on ARM] as a guest OS in Hyper-V.” ..."
Microsoft Makes Windows 10 on ARM Available Virtually - Thurrott.com
With Windows 10 version 20H2, Windows 10 on ARM will finally support Hyper-V. But the system was never available virtually.
www.thurrott.com
If looking for ultimate fast gaming performance with ultimate frame rates and bleeding edge ray tracing .... this isn't it. Apple isn't offering that for non macOS options. Probably not going to in the future either.
The emulated GPU will get "decent enough" performance to get reasonable, modest workloads things done.
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Thank you! Helps a lot. I will just go for a new PC for my gaming.Microsoft already has a native ARM version of Windows 10. Have had for over a year .
Business Laptops and Computers | Microsoft Surface for Business
Explore a variety of business computers, laptops, and tablets from Microsoft Surface for Business. Empower your employees with business devices and collaborative solutions that best fit their work needs.www.microsoft.com
It is Apple's GPU. Driver writing would be their job, not Microsoft's. Apple probably doesn't want to do it.
The "Direct X 11" support see with Parallels is to their emulation GPU; not the 'raw' underlying GPU. Apple probably isn't putting in any work on DirectX at all.
Parallels ( and VMWare Fusion's) emulated GPUs are a relatively 'thin' layer on top, but Apple's GPU is going to be abstracted away from Windows 10.
Microsoft has put work into Windows 10 on ARM to deal with emulated GPUs inside of virtual machines already.
".. “Today, we are offering [a] [Windows 10 on ARM] [virtual hard drive] (VHDX) for Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19624, so that Insiders can run Windows 10 [on ARM] as a guest OS in Hyper-V.” ..."
Microsoft Makes Windows 10 on ARM Available Virtually - Thurrott.com
With Windows 10 version 20H2, Windows 10 on ARM will finally support Hyper-V. But the system was never available virtually.www.thurrott.com
If looking for ultimate fast gaming performance with ultimate frame rates and bleeding edge ray tracing .... this isn't it. Apple isn't offering that for non macOS options. Probably not going to in the future either.
The emulated GPU will get "decent enough" performance to get reasonable, modest workloads things done.
If you need to use Linux for something, very. If they're doing the work to support ARM based Macs and it's at a point it's useful for even a small subset of users why not release it? You don't have to buy it.