Microsoft has officially announced Windows 11 support for M1 and M2-powered Apple Mac devices, providing a secondary option for users who want to run Windows on Macs. The support has been made accessible through a partnership with Parallels, which will allow the Microsoft OS to run on a virtual platform.
Parallels is set to use its version 18 Desktop solution to operate Arm Windows 11 solutions on the latest M1 and M2 Apple Macs. Microsoft’s support article Opens a new window has stated, “You can securely stream your full, personalized Windows 11 experience to many devices, including Mac computers built with M-series processors, on a Cloud PC through our Windows 365 service. There are a variety of pricing options and Cloud PC configurations available based on performance needs.â€
While Microsoft has been supportive of Mac users running Windows 11 on a virtual machine, Apple has not displayed any support in the form of Boot Camps for M1 and M2 Macs so far.
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Virtual Machines a Step up From OEM Installations
The problem for Mac users so far has been that they were unable to legally use Arm versions of Windows on devices other than Arm PCs because of Microsoft’s licensing rules. While this may not seem like a major concern for individual users, it is definitely a problem for professionals such as IT managers, who have to look out for legal liabilities.
With Microsoft formally allowing Parallels to operate Enterprise and Professional versions of Windows 11 on Apple Macs, users can not take advantage of native applications and x86 apps in both 32 and 64-bit variants.
On the other hand, the Parallels offering does come with a number of limitations. For instance, there is no support for Android and Linux-based subsystems. There is also no support for recent OpenGL and DirectX 12 options or any devices that may require specialized drivers.
Furthermore, Microsoft has recommended using Cloud PCs running Windows 365 for system administrators and users with high-spec requirements to circumvent the limitations of Parallels.
While the Windows 365 alternatives are relatively expensive, they provide significant advantages in terms of virtualized RAM and reduced space for local storage. Such systems will also remove the need for individual Windows configurations for every Mac system the OS runs on.Â
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