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VMware Fusion Tech Preview Brings Windows 11 to Apple Silicon Macs

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mikethemartian said:
Then why does the article state:

“Fusion will not support running VMs across different architectures. (I.e. no x86_64 VMs on M1 Macs).”
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You run windows 11 arm OS and in windows 11 arm version it has the ability to run x86_64 apps through Windows built in emulation.

You cannot however run an x86_64 OS in Fusion or Parallels on in Apple Silicon Mac.
 
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Tried Windows 11 ARM on my M1 MBA 16GB using Parallels and there's a lot of things not working there, for example Xbox Game Pass to play Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Just sold my Dell G15 Ryzen 7 last week and bought me a brand new Dell Alienware x14 yesterday. There's no way I can live only with an Apple Silicon machine anymore like I did on the good old days of BootCamp.

And that means I have to buy two computers. But Apple could solve my problem: just launch an Intel-Final-Edition MBP 16" with an i9 12th gen and a RTX 3080 Ti... I don't care about weight an power consumption! It will weigh less than my Dell x14 and MBA combined! 😄
 
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fbr$ said:
Tried Windows 11 ARM on my M1 MBA 16GB using Parallels and there's a lot of things not working there, for example Xbox Game Pass to play Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Just sold my Dell G15 Ryzen 7 last week and bought me a brand new Dell Alienware x14 yesterday. There's no way I can live only with an Apple Silicon machine anymore like I did on the good old days of BootCamp.

And that means I have to buy two computers. But Apple could solve my problem: just launch an Intel-Final-Edition MBP 16" with an i9 12th gen and a RTX 3080 Ti... I don't care about weight an power consumption! It will weigh less than my Dell x14 and MBA combined! 😄
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Lmao. They would waste millions on designing that abomination, only to sell about 3 of them and have angry reviews all over.

Just buy a Razerblade or something. Or... Stop trying to game on a laptop, build a proper desktop for a fraction of the cost, and you won't end up stuck with gimped mobile components. Or if you must game on the go... Steam Deck.
 
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jonnysods said:
It's kind of dead out of the gate without the x86 W11 capability. I know that the limitations and difficulties aren't VMware's fault - its a huge downside for me of the AS platform as Windows VMs were so handy for my line of work. I moved ahead anyway as I couldn't stand the noise of those i9s any longer.
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Why? If it runs ARM64 Windows well (which it doesnt appear it does yet, but that's a different problem) you can let Window's internal x86 emulation, their equiv of Rosetta 2, handle x86 apps.
 
I installed Windows 11 22H2 Arm64 just fine on my 14-inch MacBook Pro this morning. However; I can’t for the life of me get the internet to work. None of the networking options are allowing internet to pass through
 
Mazda 3s said:
I installed Windows 11 22H2 Arm64 just fine on my 14-inch MacBook Pro this morning. However; I can’t for the life of me get the internet to work. None of the networking options are allowing internet to pass through
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Read the PDF from VMware that's on the download page. You have to install their driver after you do the Windows setup, otherwise you'll have no networking.
 
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IKAR0S said:
Have you tried Crossover Mac. It even runs x86 games.
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On Apple Silicon? Isn't that like running an emulator on an emulator on an OS?

Regardless, Crossover might run some old and rudimentary games, but it is a very hobbled option and will not give you much of a seamless experience with most apps, I've found. After all, it just provides an emulation layer, with many of the Windows key features stripped.
 
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x64 virtual machines and gaming is the only reason I would consider a MacBook Air over the Pro. Those are the only two Pro hardware things that I do. Windows 11 is still a non-licensed product. I wish Microsoft could sell it.
 
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Running Windows ARM (which is still in beta) on Apple silicon is a dicey proposition at best, I've found. You're basically banking on the hopes that Windows ARM will eventually be released officially and out of beta.

General performance of many apps on Apple Silicon (with Parallels Desktop, VMWare's competitor) was improved over running on Macs with Intel chips, I found. However, having to frequently download the latest builds of Windows 11 ARM was always a crappy, time-wasting experience for me (when using Parallels Desktop). Since this is a "feature" of Windows 11 ARM beta, I don't suppose it will be any better with VMware.
 
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dysamoria said:
Oh boy, alpha software on a beta OS.
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Yeah but this is pretty much the mission statement of Microsoft especially and software development in general these days.

Having said that it’s not terrible, I was able to play Overwatch in a Windows 11 VM on an M1 Pro base model, and it worked well enough to get into the game, but frames dropped too much in action.

If they actually allowed it to run directly in the built-in VM support in Ventura, it would probably be playable.
 
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jchap said:
Running Windows ARM (which is still in beta) on Apple silicon is a dicey proposition at best, I've found. You're basically banking on the hopes that Windows ARM will eventually be released officially and out of beta.

General performance of many apps on Apple Silicon (with Parallels Desktop, VMWare's competitor) was improved over running on Macs with Intel chips, I found. However, having to frequently download the latest builds of Windows 11 ARM was always a crappy, time-wasting experience for me (when using Parallels Desktop). Since this is a "feature" of Windows 11 ARM beta, I don't suppose it will be any better with VMware.
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Windows on ARM will absolutely be released and out of beta and I’d even say eventually will be the main version.

And we can thank the M1 for accelerating interest in it.
 
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Yebubbleman said:
Bro, that was never in the cards. That requires an emulator. VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop are not emulator products the way Connectix/Microsoft Virtual PC was for PowerPC; they're Hypervisors.
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Exactly. Microsoft is working on x64 emulation in the ARM version of Windows 11. They’ve been at it since Windows 10 but have since made it exclusive to Windows 11 moving forward.

I can’t speak to how well it works but you’ve been able to obtain and install it in Parallels on M1 Macs for a while now. I’m not sure if it’s a license violation if you have a legit copy of Windows 11 x64.

I refused to chance it when the M1 Macs hit so I bought the last version of the Intel based MacBook Air that Apple sold, bought another copy of Paralells and Windows 10 Pro and upgraded it to Windows 11 Pro.

Whether quality Windows x64 on ARM emulation is achieved and how functional and backward compatible it actually is rests entirely with Microsoft. They need to do what Apple did twice with Rosetta, once during the transition to Intel and again now during transition away from Intel, but it’s a tougher job on Windows when you look at all the legacy applications that the x64 version of Windows supports. Apple also had and continues to have the advantage of being the company that engineered the hardware that the apps Rosetta emulates originally ran on. Microsoft doesn’t have that because of its primarily OEM based distribution model.
 
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VMware seems way behind the curve here. Parallels has supported running Windows 11 for over a year now. The installation process is extremely streamlined (it downloads and prepares the installer for you), and it has full OpenGL and DirectX 3D acceleration support. I’ve been using it very happily to run a couple Windows (x86) games and some other software I use and it works great.
 
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filchermcurr said:
Where do you even get Windows 11 for ARM?
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I'm sure there are "ways" to getting one via the internet.
But, if your a business with volume licensing for Windows (with Software assurance and blah blah blah). You can download it for free.

I've installed this on Fusion Beta (pre-this update). And while it sucks to not have VMware tools, limited resolution and generally not great use of the desktop. It's better than zero.
This update I expect to be able to use it properly (finally). And while I personally can forgo 3D support for now. Hopefully it's coming. I'm sure that has more to do with Apple and Metal and their limited (1 really) GPU on ASM.
But progress none the less. I'm sure this was not an easy lift to get it working this well. I would like to thank VMware (Which I use plenty for ESXi and vCenter for years, so yes some bias here) for getting this out. Keep it coming.
 
Macaholic868 said:
Exactly. Microsoft is working on x64 emulation in the ARM version of Windows 11. They’ve been at it since Windows 10 but have since made it exclusive to Windows 11 moving forward.
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It's been around longer than Windows 10. Before that it was Windows RT. (Windows 8) And still it's never sold well, and why should it, there's no compelling reason to buy it.
 
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gordon1234 said:
VMware seems way behind the curve here. Parallels has supported running Windows 11 for over a year now. The installation process is extremely streamlined (it downloads and prepares the installer for you), and it has full OpenGL and DirectX 3D acceleration support. I’ve been using it very happily to run a couple Windows (x86) games and some other software I use and it works great.
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If I wasn't already wed to VMware. I would have gone this route. Been running Fusion for years on intel Mac's, and we have licensing with them. Made no sense (for me) to change to another app for what I expected to be a short while. A year isn't that.

Fortunately for my needs, I just want it working stably and with 2D acceleration that is fine for all the apps I need on it for work.
 
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