Moving from Intel Mac to M4 - is my VM Intel Windows license useless now?

I dont want to buy a windows license again. Can I reuse the Intel license?

 

I think it depends on what type of license you have. My Windows 10 was linked to my Microsoft account. I upgraded it when Windows 11 came out. When I later installed Windows 11 ARM in Parallels I linked it to my new "PC", removing it from my prior computer.

You can install Windows 11 on a trial basis and if it works well then try to register it using your old license.

 

Keep your Intel Macs around... I'm still running several since I can't run x86_64 operating systems properly. I wish these yahoos would figure things out better in these regards. It's a major nightmare losing old - important - virtual machines.

 

I don't know if my license is linked to my live.com account, good tip I'll have a look. I tried the retail box license key which didn't work so I'm expecting the police to knock on the door soon.

 

Yeah, I never thought my old VM would be a useless bunch of bits on an Apple Silicon Mac. My important software is one audio editor and a bunch of cheap but revered old PC games on steam. I can keep my Intel macbook and my windows 11 PC, but unifying them all on one computer would be nice.

 

For games I broke down and got a Steam Deck. It plays most of the old games, even many that Steam lists as limited compatibility or unknown. ProtonDB has a more updated list of what works on it. ROG Ally X or Lenovo Legion Go would be slightly more powerful options but then you have to struggle with Windows updates, antivirus, and configuring the launchers to work on such a small screen.

Many new AAA games run fair to well on it. I found it cheaper (and it takes less space) than having a separate PC for games that Parallels cannot run. I'd tried CrossOver to see if it would be much help for games that Parallels can't run. What games it runs it runs well, but it seems that only one in 5 games I tried ran on it. Some DirectX 12 games do run on CrossOver.

Windows 11 ARM has trouble running some old games, which Parallels can't help with. Parallels can't run DirectX 12 and newer than OpenGL 3.1 games and provides no timeline on when (if?) that will improve. So more than half of my Steam games were useless to me until I got my Steam Deck. I had forgotten how much fun playing old games like Half Life and Portal was.

 

Yes Portal and Half Life are essential games to come back to. I get Deus Ex HR running fine with xbox wireless controller though. I never played games on the old Windows 10 VM so I'm just being hopeful I can run them on W11 ARM. No one's fault if I can't. I still have the PC box so I can run the games the old fashioned way.

Meanwhile Parallels has been invaluable in a Mac Sequoia test VM so I can test apple silicon compatiiblity without a full install on the Mac Mini.

 

My Win10 VM license was a retail license linked to my Microsoft account. It should have worked but didn't. I found a way around that but I believe I have a valid ununsed windows license on my account.