Windows for ARM on M1 Macbook Air

[dieselnutjob]

Hi
I have been thinking about getting an M1 chip Mac of some kind for a while, for compiling and testing software for customers.
I already have a few customers with Intel Macs, and it's only a matter of time before someone wants M1 support.
Today I found out that it's possible to install Windows 11 ARM on Apple silicon using Parallels, so that means I could potentially solve two problems in one go (as I don't have Windows ARM device either).
I really want to get into this as cheaply as possible because there aren't that many customers, and, supporting those customers is all it would be used for. For every day computing I'm quite happy with my Windows laptop and Linux desktop.
Does ARM Windows 11 run okay on an early M1 Macbook Air okay?
If my software compiles and runs on Windows 11 / parallels / Macbook Air presumably it's reasonably safe to assume that it will also run up a real Qualcomm Windows laptop?
Can I tell a USB device to connect to Windows instead of MacOS? specifically an FTDI FT232R USB to serial adapter?
I don't need any apps really, just the OS and Freepascal compiler.
My code compiles and runs fine on a Raspberry Pi 2 so it really doesn't need much in the way of resources.
thanks

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I "have" run Windows 11 ARM in Parallels on a 16GB RAM M1 Mac mini. Performance was okay. I've eliminated the need for it so it's no longer running. I did use some USB to RS232 converters with it, but couldn't offhand tell you which ones.

I would not even try with 8GB RAM.

 

[jimm1]

I am typing this on a M1 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM - I do have a 2TB disk but that is another storey.
I run Parallels.
I run Windows 11 pro ARM - but a bloatware free version - not the install that will be done via Parallels menu option. It loads faster and uses less resource than the "normal" windows 11 ARM install - reputed to run with 3GB RAM.
There are scripts to remove the druff from the win 11 install image - search for tiny windows 11. This "tiny" instance is snappier than the full install I have on my 16GB M1 MacBook Pro.
re RAM usage: Parallels allows (and recommends) to let it manage the RAM allocated to the VM.
In my case it is typically 3 to 4GB RAM for the Win11 VM. But I am not running anything massive - just a travel planning app called wiki camps. Following is with the APP running.

To your other questions: Parallels allows USB devices attachment to ask you where to connect or default to either the host or the VM.