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Parallels 17 Brings Windows 11 and macOS Monterey Virtualization Support, Improved Graphics, M1 Optimizations, and More
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You scared me for a minute. I have the Parallels subscription and I thought I'd have to pay extra on top to get this version, luckily that's not the case. It's a free upgrade if you already have a subscription.
I'm really not a fan of subscription models as a whole, but I don't think there is any mainstream software that isn't subscription only nowadays; and as my work depends on Parallels, it's definitely worth it for me.
Although I will say that, at least in the case of Parallels, it seems that the extra income from moving to a subscription-based model has helped them develop new, more stable builds with better support for Apple Silicon that they perhaps wouldn't have been able to do with the one-off purchase licensing model.
It’s always the same they just make you spend money every year they should be free upgrades they don’t advantage of the new os releases
How would that work? Suppose you're a Mac user that's also, say, a mechanical engineer, and sometimes needs access to Windows-only mechanical engineering programs like https://www.solidworks.com or https://www.autodesk.com/products/inventor/overview. Do you buy the licenses for those programs and then install them in your Widows MS cloud account? Not that I'd personally want to use such programs over the web....
This might work for some solutions, but not for all.My main need for Windows VMs ist to run software used to configure some hardware in the local network, like KNX devices or my telephone system. I do not need this very often but often enough to have a Parallels license. I do not see giving some cloud windows access to my local network.
Other uses cases for me are Linux VMs to test software I developed, this to is much easier with a local VM.
But I do consider switching to VMWare, as Parallels allows to install the software on only one computer, even when booth are on my desk and only used by me. Beside that the non subscription license has arbitray on CPU and Ram per VM.
As I already had I paid VMWare license I use this on my second desktop, converting existing Parallels VMs to VMWare worked without problems. And I can use the free VMWare license for other (non commercial used) Macs I own.
So it's now possible to (fairly) straightforwardly run Windows 10 and 11 on an AS Mac using Parallels. Getting the ARM version of Windows isn't straightforward (Insider Preview) but not that difficult. I've read somewhere that Microsoft have promised to make ARM versions of Windows available directly, but they have not yet set a date. From what I've read, Windows performance is very good (because it's native and suffering only a very small hypervisor penalty). Running apps is another thing because they are emulated. The latest Insider Previews contain emulators for both 32 and 64 bit apps, with the 32 bit emulation being far more mature. How that works in practice, in terms of performance, is anyone's guess and will of course largely depend on the apps in question. It's claimed that there is a useful (30%) boost in performance for Windows on ARM running in a hypervisor on AS, but then when emulation is taken into account, that performance boost might well be lost. If it was about parity, then I suspect most people wanting to run Windows apps on AS would be happy with that.
With vmWare seemingly out of the picture at the moment, Parallels looks like the only trick in town and they have an ugly subscription model. Not a fan. However, it is a way forward, by the looks of things.
As others have said, a Windows 365 subscription might be better for some users, although I suspect an official Windows ARM licence plus a Parallels subscription would probably work out cheaper unless your Windows 365 workloads are very lightweight.
It's still early days yet. Windows on AS isn't yet mature, and vmWare are not fully behind it, but I'm sure they will be. Interesting times for those of us who absolutely must be able to run some Windows apps on a Mac, and even more interesting for those (like me) who absolutely must have that Windows instance right with them, on their laptop.
With vmWare seemingly out of the picture at the moment, Parallels looks like the only trick in town and they have an ugly subscription model. Not a fan. However, it is a way forward, by the looks of things.
As others have said, a Windows 365 subscription might be better for some users, although I suspect an official Windows ARM licence plus a Parallels subscription would probably work out cheaper unless your Windows 365 workloads are very lightweight.
It's still early days yet. Windows on AS isn't yet mature, and vmWare are not fully behind it, but I'm sure they will be. Interesting times for those of us who absolutely must be able to run some Windows apps on a Mac, and even more interesting for those (like me) who absolutely must have that Windows instance right with them, on their laptop.
Run Windows on Mac with a virtual machine | Parallels Desktop
Download Parallels Desktop virtual machine to run Windows on Mac without rebooting or slowing down your Mac, plus get over 200,000 Windows apps.
www.parallels.com
If you need to run windows/apps on mac doesnt wine or virtualbox cut it if you want to save some buck.?
am i missing something, or is there STILL no way of purchasing a license for windows 10 on ARM?
the subscription is ugly - but at least they are actively developing.
It is also probably not a growing market - so that's how they get a stable
funding.
At some point in time, I might move to the open source solutions - but up to now,
it is worth the convenience for me.
It is also probably not a growing market - so that's how they get a stable
funding.
At some point in time, I might move to the open source solutions - but up to now,
it is worth the convenience for me.
Wow! I'm a Parallels user since ages (I think version 4 or so), but I don't believe those numbers anymore.
Parallels load Windows 27% faster than previous version (or whatever). Adding those numbers from version 4, now Windows should run thousand of times faster than installed into the real hardware.
Parallels load Windows 27% faster than previous version (or whatever). Adding those numbers from version 4, now Windows should run thousand of times faster than installed into the real hardware.
cheaper to just buy a windows machine.
Not only that, you can intercommunicate between macOS and Windows in a manner you can't do with two hardware pieces. You can open something in Edge from macOS, in Safari from Windows, send a mail from Windows into a macOS mail client... shared folders...
This was doing so very well, right up to the point hey devices to move to an entirely subscription model. IMO they have entirely misread their market if they think a subscription model will be successful. It is more a case of it's forced on people, it's not something they want by choice with productivity software in the consumer market.
I think I would keep my Steam Deck pre-order after all.
I think I would keep my Steam Deck pre-order after all.
Have you checked? At least in The Netherlands and Australia one can still purchase perpetual licenses (see earlier posts).
O365 is not the same as Windows. Windows is an OS whereas O365 os a suite of office applications
The perpetual licence option still available in UK as well. for both new licences and upgrades
This is what I'm curious about. I'd rather just dual boot, which I can still do on my current Intel Macbook pro, but I'd like to upgrade to the M1 one day. Windows boots quickly enough, it's not something I necessarily need to run at the same time.
I may be wrong, but I think VMWare has announced Apple Silicone Support as well.
I tested VirtualBox and is was very slow and unstable, no fun in working with this software. VMWare would be a much better choice and at least for some use cases it is free too.
But for a lot of use cases VMs have a lot of benefits compared to a dedicated computer
In Germany too, at least when upgrading. But the perpetual license is limited, e.g. in RAM and CPU per VM, compared to the subscription.
MS announced Windows (mot Office) as a service the cloud. The cheapest option would be around 28 EUR /month, at least here in Germany. So even the Parallels subscription would be cheaper in the long run.
Very much agreed but it depends on the profession. As a developer and photographer I have never needed Windows. My father however lives in Excel and special time in motion software that doesn't work well or at all on macOS so we set up a machine on his network rack that he can just remote into from his Mac when need be. Windows 365 may be a better answer to that soon as they'll be less fuss on keeping it up to date.
One thing I greatly miss on my M1 Mac for IT support is a windows VM.
But I do not want to pay that much each year for it, I'm going to look for other options.
But I do not want to pay that much each year for it, I'm going to look for other options.
