Microsoft will not support Windows on ARM on Macs

At least officially Microsoft will not support Windows on ARM on Macs. At least now. What say thee, Parallels? Is the answer running Windows Insider builds forever?
https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-11/256250/microsoft-says-no-to-woa-support-on-m1-macs

 

There have been several posts here and elsewhere quoting the same sources. We can only wait and see if that is actually Microsoft's final decision.

 

I've been waiting for the answer on his before taking the plunge for a new Macbook. I still need to run some Windows only software so this is important. It has had me looking at Wintel instead :-(

 

is it possible to get a refund for parallels 17?

 

At the moment the key is it is not a 'supported' scenario. Doesn't mean it won't work however. Potentially this could relate to running it physically in a boot camp style scenario. Best case Microsoft could class Parallels as the OEM meaning they can only distribute the ARM variant and they become responsible for the support not Microsoft. Just like with any other OEM reseller. I don't see Windows 11 stopping working overnight so personally I wouldn't panic.

 

We can be certain to say that Parallels will say that it (Windows 11 ARM) runs on the M1 so good luck trying to get a refund. M$ doesn't appear to care about us at all. I had a feeling with the business WINDOWS 365 fully online VMs that that will be M$'s approach to virtualization for here on out and not to support the little guy. BUT, unless you were running a dual boot system, did MS really EVER support your use of VMWare or Parallels for running Windows? I don't think so. This casts the ball back to Parallels to continuously update their virtualization software to keep Windows 11 running. I had a feeling this was going to be the route. It's $200 for a cheap windows notebook. That may well be the route to go for those who don't need power. Stinks to need 2 notebooks, but if you want to keep using a Mac going forward, that may be your best choice.

 

Just be patient (and I am a very impatient person, so coming from me is a laugh to me). MS not committing to "support" only means they don't want to actually provide technical support for Windows 11 for ARM VM on Apple machines. We still don't know if (1) there will be available non-Insider versions of Windows 11 for ARM made available for purchase/license and (2) how they will be available for purchase.

 

Exactly! Has Microsoft ever supported Bootcamp or an X86 VM?
"Support" means committing to make it work and solving problems. I don't believe Microsoft have ever done this for any Windows OS on a Mac.
The more relevant question is what is going to happen about licensing. Windows 11 evaluation copies are currently legal and activate OK, and it is reported that Windows 11 will be a free upgrade from a licensed Windows 10. But there are currently no ARM licenses. If they wanted to, Microsoft could make Windows ARM on a Mac illegal, but I don't see them doing that, as they haven't done so in the last 15 years it has been possible to run Windows X86 on a Mac.

 

Microsoft has probably and inadvertently gotten themselves the best crowdsourcing model for ironing on WoA bugs all thanks to us M1 users. They would never have gotten that many Surface WoA users to sign up for the sheer reason they don't exist in that high a number. So will Microsoft give up that opportunity when Windows11 is released? I don't think so...not if they envision a future in which Arm based PCs will have a substantial market share, and Microsoft wants that to be part of their TAM.

 

With the exception of getting Parallels Shared Printer functionality to work, I find that the Windows 11 ARM OS running under Parallels 17.0.1 is very fast, and very stable. I can run Microsoft Visio and Project without any issues, along with the Windows version of QuickBooks Premier.

I agree completely with Kundanno above that Widows 11 ARM will eventually be released for M1 Macs. This product basically works today, and Microsoft has found itself in a position where it may significantly benefit from on all ARM hardware. After all, Microsoft is primarily a SW company and the relationship with Intel has always be one of convenience. When Intel was the best chip on the block, Windows ran on that. Now that licensed ARM chips are faster and better (including the M1 chip) I see no reason why they wouldn't want to be the OS of choice for ARM.

Of course, this is all my humble opinion, and time will tell...

 

Only issue I just noticed - also printer related - is I cannot set the default printer in Windows 11 FOA. It stays on "PDF to Mac Desktop". I can change when printing but can't change it from PDF to another printer as the default.

 

I do wonder if marketing people at MS are smart enough to figure out that it is worth it be able to point to headlines in the hardware sections of media and press that read "Window ARM notebooks are the thing to BUY NOW - it has been very popular running blazingly fast on Apple Silicon for some time now and Mac Users LOVE it. - Get your new Windows ARM notebook now."

 

I'm too stuck not being able to print to my MAC shared printers via Parallels. It's crushing because my corporate VPN disables all local network connectivity while the VPN tunnel is active. Parallels claims this is a Windows problem, but I call BS. It was working fine on Windows 10 up to a certain release, so it's Parallel's job to figure out what changed and adjust their software accordingly.

 

Thanks a lot for help!

 

I suggest you try creating a new virtual machine, then, reinstall Windows 11, then check to see if shared printers are available. Sometimes a corrupted virtual machine setting is the best reset by starting over.

let me know if this works for you - it did for me.

 

good choice, worth a try!

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...m2-chips-cd15fd62-9b34-4b78-b0bc-121baa3c568c

Quote:
Windows 11 and Parallels Desktop
Parallels® Desktop version 18 is an authorized solution for running Arm® versions of Windows 11 Pro and Windows 11 Enterprise in a virtual environment on its platform on Apple M1 and M2 computers.

The Arm version of Windows 11 has limitations that can impact your ability to use various types of hardware, games, and apps, including those that rely on DirectX 12 or OpenGL3.3 or greater. For more information, please see the FAQ in this article.

 

So W11 home is not authorized?!

 

There have been several posts here and elsewhere quoting the same sources

 

Thanks a lot for help!