VMware Heads Up

[haralds]

I have been using Parallels Desktop on Apple Silicon and Intel. But I ran into a chip-related USB serial port issue on Apple Silicon. Other USB-C devices work well on it.
In the past, I have used VMware Fusion and it is now out in Universal format as v 13.0.1. Updates appear to arrive slowly. I thought by now it would be somewhat mature.
Before you spend your time, according to the "Unofficial Companion Document v14" dated March 22, the following features are not supported on Apple Silicon:
• Running of any virtual machine requiring Intel x86 or x64 CPUs - no surprise here.
• Virtualization of any version of macOS - somewhat surprised, but the Apple HyperVisor has limits under Parallels and other products, too.
• Importing or exporting a virtual machine using .ova or .ovf formatted files
• Conversion of virtual machines from Parallels
• Virtual Printer (Thinprint) sharing with the host Mac (workaround available)
• Nested virtualization
• Copy/Paste/Drag/Drop for Windows 11 ARM guests
• Fusion shared folders for Windows 11 ARM guests (workaround available)
• 3D accelerated graphics for Windows 11 ARM guests
• Changing the screen resolution of a Windows 11 ARM guest by resizing the guest’s window (must change resolution from inside guest)
• Unity for Windows 11 ARM
• Multiple monitor support (also applies to Fusion 13 on Intel Macs)

These still look like serious limits. I will still go through the more arduous exercise to bring up a Windows 11 VM. It's not like clicking a few options under Parallels Desktop.

But it clearly is not ready for prime time. It is quite mature on Intel.

There are some free products that do better.

 

[haralds]

The Unofficial Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon Companion Guide is essential in getting this going. VMware Fusion docs are sadly lacking. With some gymnastics, I was able to install Tiny11 and get it to work including networking.

It will likely not be my main driver. But hey, I got the free version.

 

[MmkLucario]

What virtual machine do you think I should use for Minecraft Bedrock?

 

[haralds]

I would go with Parallels Desktop Windows 11 for gaming. Best DirectX support currently available on M1/M2.

 

[jagooch]

The Unofficial Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon Companion Guide is essential in getting this going. VMware Fusion docs are sadly lacking. With some gymnastics, I was able to install Tiny11 and get it to work including networking.

It will likely not be my main driver. But hey, I got the free version.

Did you get copy and paste and file sharing to working? Those are must-have features for me.

 

[ahurst]

I'm currently having an issue where enabling 3D acceleration for a supported Linux guest (on a 2021 14" MBP running Ventura) causes Fusion to hard crash early in the boot process. I've created a new VM with Fedora 38 (which according to the unofficial guide should be fully supported for 3D acceleration) and it works fine with acceleration off, but as soon as I enable it I get the crash on VM boot.

Anyone else having similar issues?

 

[Basic75]

• Nested virtualization

Is this a general limitation of Apple processors?