Recently, a lot of posts (including mine!) warned against attempting to run virtualized Windows and Linux on a base Mini M1. The truth is, that is quite feasible and I'd like to share my experience on that.
1. I have installed Parallels Desktop 18.01 on a base Mini M1 running Ventura 13.3; there is a more recent Parallels version and I intend to install it sometime later.
2. Not all Linux distros are ready for ARM machines, so I accepted the Ubuntu 22.04 offered by Parallels; there are some more offers, but I decided to start with a Debian-based distro.
3. The installation went without problems with some adjustments needed, but I happen to have quite some experience in running Linux or Windows as a VM on Parallels.
4. For maximum performance, I chose to keep the VM folder in the internal SSD. I assigned 2GB RAM and 2 CPUs, as recommended. Parallels 18 has a nice new feature: The user can choose how much of the OS native sources' will be used by the VM. I chose the full scale and I haven't regretted it. I also set the screen to "Full Window" on a 24" monitor. Nicely run!
5. For Windows 11, as far as I know, there is some sort of agreement between Microsoft and Parallels. The latter offers to download an iso file and install Windows 11 through it. Again, I chose "full sources" and the VM installed in the SSD; however, for RAM, CPU, etc., Parallels makes its own choice for optimum performance and I accepted it. Of course, Windows 11 will need a license key, but that doesn't prevent its current use.
6. At the same time, I run other Mac applications like a couple of browsers, Acrobat, music from VOX plus a booster, but no MS Office apps or photo editing. They may run concurrently alight, but in general, I avoid having too many apps running. Anyway, no noticeable delays; so far so good, then.
7. I doubt I could have done sth similar with a base Mini 2014, but I'll give it a try in the future. I expect the issue won't be the i5 2-core CPU, but the 8GB RAM and its Fusion disk. (I run Parallel VMs from external disks, too, but that's with a lot of RAM on MPs).
I hope that will be of help to other members. Please, feel free to ask me for more details and I'll do my best.
1. I have installed Parallels Desktop 18.01 on a base Mini M1 running Ventura 13.3; there is a more recent Parallels version and I intend to install it sometime later.
2. Not all Linux distros are ready for ARM machines, so I accepted the Ubuntu 22.04 offered by Parallels; there are some more offers, but I decided to start with a Debian-based distro.
3. The installation went without problems with some adjustments needed, but I happen to have quite some experience in running Linux or Windows as a VM on Parallels.
4. For maximum performance, I chose to keep the VM folder in the internal SSD. I assigned 2GB RAM and 2 CPUs, as recommended. Parallels 18 has a nice new feature: The user can choose how much of the OS native sources' will be used by the VM. I chose the full scale and I haven't regretted it. I also set the screen to "Full Window" on a 24" monitor. Nicely run!
5. For Windows 11, as far as I know, there is some sort of agreement between Microsoft and Parallels. The latter offers to download an iso file and install Windows 11 through it. Again, I chose "full sources" and the VM installed in the SSD; however, for RAM, CPU, etc., Parallels makes its own choice for optimum performance and I accepted it. Of course, Windows 11 will need a license key, but that doesn't prevent its current use.
6. At the same time, I run other Mac applications like a couple of browsers, Acrobat, music from VOX plus a booster, but no MS Office apps or photo editing. They may run concurrently alight, but in general, I avoid having too many apps running. Anyway, no noticeable delays; so far so good, then.
7. I doubt I could have done sth similar with a base Mini 2014, but I'll give it a try in the future. I expect the issue won't be the i5 2-core CPU, but the 8GB RAM and its Fusion disk. (I run Parallel VMs from external disks, too, but that's with a lot of RAM on MPs).
I hope that will be of help to other members. Please, feel free to ask me for more details and I'll do my best.
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