Apple M1 and x86/x86 guest OS - possible and also almost native speeds?

Hi all,
Now that apple has officially announced the Apple M1, will Parallels support x86/x64 guest osses. And if so what will the performance be?
We are using windows inside parallels for our development flow.

 

My understanding is that as a guest OS passes low level instructions directly to the host CPU, they must be compatible types, i.e. x86 to x86 as has always been the case with Parallels VMs.

My question to Parallels is this : since the majority of your users are running x86 VMs that will not function on Apple silicon, what do you intend to do about it? Please note this irony: EMULATION rather than VIRTUALISATION will work, so Sheepshaver - which runs Mac System 7 through to OS 9 - does work on M1. Are you really content to see only pre-2001 systems run, and no x86 OS from the past 20 years?

I would like to see Parallels create a new version of Parallels Desktop for Mac that emulates rather than virtualises. Otherwise your M1 customer base will consist only of people wishing to run Windows 10 ARM side by side with Big Sur... and that's surely a small fraction of your users.

 

I am a beta tester of Parallels for ARM. We can run the ARM version of Windows at speeds that rival a Windows for ARM device. Windows for ARM has code built into it (which runs) that will allow us to run 32 bit X86 programs. Microsoft is in the process of releasing a Windows for ARM version that will run 64 bit X86 Windows program and there is good reason to believe we will be able to run those as well.

 

Yes, but that's a specific Windows emulator program. It won't install and run x86 versions of MacOS .. which, if you'd read my previous post, you'd know is what I was asking about - I'm not concerned about Windows and surely you would know by now that Parallels is also used extensively by people who can install previous versions of MacOS / OS X. What are Parallels going to do for us?

 

I have been using Parallels for Mac for a number of years. My interest is not is running a Windows ARM version. I have number of Parallels VMs, Windows, Linux and Mac. At this point, it appears that the Parallels Team is abandoning support for legacy VMs in the era of M1 ARM Macs. As the number of ARM-based Macs increase, which is inevitable, it seems that the number of Parallels-equipped Macs will decrease. Not a good business model for Parallels.

 

Yes, I agree. Parallels has never been involved with emulation as opposed to virtualisation, but surely it would make excellent business sense to produce software that's like an extension of Rosetta 2, i.e. an emulator into which one can install an x86 Mac OS. I'd buy it like a shot! And that would be a win/win : Apple would sell another M1 Mac which currently I won't buy, and Parallels would have a new market.

 

Just to add another vote as to the need to run x86 OS's on an M! Mac.
I have several x86 applications that I would like to continue to use. As I upgrade to my M1 mac I really would like to get a "NEW" version of Parallels to continue to use my x86 applications. But .... I've been looking at this issue for a while and can make the change to all M1 based applications (at some loss of functionality but workable). If I go down this route (I would rather not), there would be no need for Parallels.