Moving from Intel Mac to M4 Mini Pro - Windows

I have an Intel Mac that I'm replacing with a new M4 Mini pro.
I read that the Intel Windows virtuals won't copy , and that you have to create new ARM installations. I had a few questions:

(1) Do I have to buy a new version of Windows, or will my old installer work for ARM?
(2) Will it copy over all my Windows programs?
(3) Any other "gotchas"?

 

Get ready for a journey, but one that I think ends happily.

1) Yes, the Windows 11 ARM 64 version is needed.
2) Your old Windows programs are likely a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit software. You'll need to run only 64-bit SW on the M4 Mac under Parallels.

1. 3) No other serious gotchas. You will have to copy your data over of course, and there are procedures to do that. Check out https://kb.parallels.com/125344

 

Windows 11 ARM runs ARM applications natively, and runs Intel/AMD applications (including 32 bit ones) using Windows 11 magic something like Apple Rosetta. I use it for Steam games that are still 32 bit. Frustrating that Apple no longer lets you run older 32 bit apps.

I exported all my Docs to a folder (used Microsoft's One Drive actually) and clean installed all the Windows apps. Many of my Apps had ARM versions and just moving them to a new computer would have moved the Intel/AMD versions of the apps instead of installing the native ARM ones.

I would use the Download Windows 11 feature of Parallels to install Windows 11. After doing this I logged into Windows 11 and it linked Windows 11 to my prior Windows 10 license, so I did not need to pay for Windows again.