Will Microsoft shut down Apple Silicon M1 virtualization?

I'm reading in several places that it is unlikely that Microsoft will fully support M1 virtualization. Does anyone, particularly Parallels, know if this is the case or not? I'm running an insider preview of Windows 10 on an M1 Air. I need to run a single program that I use all day - Articulate Storyline - and the rest I do in the Mac OS. I plan on buying a 16" M1 X when they are out so I can get 32 or 64gb RAM and the obvious speed bump. But if Microsoft pulls the plug on Apple Silicon I would not be able to use that machine professionally. In that case, an Intel 16" would make more sense for me.

 

I'm an optimist about this, and think it is just a matter of time before we get out of "Windows Insider" mode and onto a support Windows 11 OS, running as a Virtual Machine under Parallels or VMWare.

Parallels has the ability to make the Virtual Machine look like a PC, including the new security features that require the TPM Chip. There is also a case to be made that Microsoft is trying to put Windows on every platform it can, including both Intel-based machines and ARM-based machines. The M1 chip from Apple fits this second category.

Here is an article I read recently that I think echos my optimism -
https://www.pcworld.com/article/395...-m1-macs-but-you-might-be-able-to-run-it.html

 

Microsoft have never "supported" any version of Windows in Bootcamp or Parallels either. ie they make no commitment to making them work in Macs or solving problems. That is a very long way from saying they will shut down virtualisation. There is the additional complication of ARM licensing in the case of M1 Macs, but I don't think Microsoft will take a different position for Silicon than they did with Intel.
The recent publicity given to Microsoft not supporting virtualisation has been misleading....all IMO of course.

 

I guess I'm not really hip to the lingo. What I mean is that I'm on the insider program with Win 10. So whatever the terminology is, couldn't they just yank it from that? Will it ever be out of beta or whatever the insider program is? They would have to be actively developing for apple silicon for that to be the case. So maybe my question is, will MS continue to develop for the M1?

 

For what it's worth, the final Windows 11 runs fine on Parallels for me, and gets updates properly even with the Windows Insider options completely disabled.

 

That's good to know! Thanks

 

The official Microsoft Process for getting Windows 11 now leads to this:



Note the only problem is the Apple Silicon processor, not TPM or anything else. On the face of it this looks like MS are blocking visualisation on Apple with the release build.
However they are not doing anything to prevent Insider builds. There does seem to be a way of using UUUP Dump (third party) to install the Windows 11 Release build, but this would seem to be a bit piratey in view of the screenshot, although I am currently trying it.

 

That's encouraging. I haven't used Health Check before but had the impression it was tripping up over TPM. So the Microsoft public statement is patently inconsistent with the Health Check, in that the hardware requirements block the Release install but not Insider install. Maybe they want to keep us on the essentially temporary Insider route while they sort out licensing, though the UUUp Dump way seems to get round that.

 

I am more inclined to think the inconsistency between hardware requirements for Release and Insider is not due to deliberate MS policy, but something that will be corrected in due course. No evidence of course, just IMHO.

 

My own theory is that if Microsoft isn't allowing Parallels to be an "OEM" for the purposes of selling proper licenses for ARM Windows then the most likely reason is so they can give cover to their other OEMs. This strikes me as anti-competitive, which is something Microsoft has certainly never had experience with before. No, sir.

 

Folks are posting that they are running Windows 11 fine on parallels with updates coming in. What updates are you receiving? I left the Insider Preview as instructions suggested (hoping we would be pushed the final release), but all I've seen since then to the 22000.194 release is MS Defender antivirus updates. Nothing else as of today (Thursday). Can anyone elaborate what "updates" you have been receiving? I'm running the 11 Pro from insider preview that was activated with a purchased Windows 10 Pro license.

 

@MichaelH63 That's what I thought. I don't know why people are talking about "getting updates" with the new install. I sure haven't seen any. I wouldn't expect to see anything other than antivirus until at least next Tuesday.

 

Well, I'm getting updates to the antivirus defs and things like that.

 

@nsayer Yes. I suspect Feature updates will be the major issue, so maybe we can continue to receive the security updates to the current version. You should also get MS Store app updates. I know I got a couple of those the other day.

 

Won't Microsoft keep feature and bug fix system updates in step between ARM and X86 now that Windows 11 is released? In which case we should get whatever the Windows 11 masses get?

 

Thanks. Just to clear up my understanding, this is only likely to happen if we are running the release build 2200.194 not on the Insider prog. Am I correct that there are (only?) two routes to achieving this situation:-
1. As you did, get 22000.194 as an Insider, then leave the Insider prog.....not an option any more.
2. As I did, get 22000.160 from UUUDump, install in new VM with ISO and let it update to 22000.194.

 

I should have gone on to say that the standard Microsoft methods fall down because the M1 processor is blocked, leaving only these two routes.

 

Besides my Windows 11 ARM VM on my Mac, I just upgraded my Surface Go 2 to Windows 11 Home. The Go 2 shows the same 22000.194 build number. I'll have the Go 2 as my point of reference as far as updates go. If the Go 2 gets Windows updates (besides antivirus) and the Mac VM version doesn't, then something may be up!

 

This is great, Mark! It's people like you on supported hardware that can keep us posted about what MS does with cumulative updates, security patches, and new feature updates. Thanks!

 

My Windows 11 ARM received a cumulative update to the .NET framework today. That, I take it, is a good sign! So far, my ARM and Intel Windows 11 setups are running even with antivirus updates. I'll keep you posted as updates continue.