Windows 11 ARM activation confusion

I am using Parallels Desktop in a trial mode on my new M2 Macbook Pro. I got Windows 11 installed but it keeps asking for activation. I thought the builds needed for Windows 11 ARM were free and did not require a license-is this not the case or do I still need to get an actual windows 11 license key?

 

I've not tested the ARM version of v18 parallels (lacking M series Mac now), but with the Intel version, there were two versions (I think) of Windows 11 provided, Standard and Enterprise. The latter had a limited activation and was prebuilt for development. In reality, you don't Have to register Windows, but you do lose some customization features for sure. There's a list somewhere that says exactly what you lose. As for the license itself, unless you're logged in using an Insiders account, then I'm not sure you could Get an actual license because Windows for ARM is Not available for consumers to purchase the license for.

 

I ended up taking my Win 10 Pro license and "upgrading" that and that worked so I should be able to use this moving forward. Still testing some features of Parallels but so far so good.

 

Thank you. That makes more sense-I thought it was auto downloading the Insider Preview as I could not find a place to get an ISO/bootable version of the ARM version. All the better I have retail version of Windows.

 

To clarify, when signing up for / using the ARM Insider Preview, you're given an activation code that's not the same as what would be used on a retail ISO. At least, that's what it was like back when the M1 first came out and I was testing.

 

It wasn't specific for Parallels. When I first went through the process for TP, there was a point that it gave me a keycode for activation. I was following the guide that was originally on 925mac I think (for the links). Maybe this has changed with the Win11 version of the above?

 

Note: I'm Not talking about using the built-in registration through Windows itself (the process you'd do within an existing VM/Install).