VMware Fusion for M1 Macs gets private beta, official Windows support not included

AppleInsider

VMware this week released a private beta version of Fusion for M1 Macs, though users eager to run Windows VMs on their new MacBook Air might want to look elsewhere.

Announced in a tweet from VMware Fusion manager Michael Roy, the release is officially considered a private tech preview, meaning those interested must request access to the software. A public beta is expected in about two weeks.

Details of the latest iteration of VMware Fusion were outlined in an April blog post that notes a specific focus on Linux VMs. Windows is considered a "second priority" as Microsoft does not currently license Windows 10 ARM and while Parallels feels comfortable integrating support for the operating system into its virtualization solution, VMware does not.

That said, the company is working to bring Fusion in line with Microsoft's end-user license agreement.

"VMware has had a pretty strategic partnership with MS for a long time. (see: vSphere.)," Roy said in a tweet. "I'm not sure what else I'm allowed to say other than 'we're not operating in a vacuum on this'."

As noted by MacRumors, Roy added that Windows VMs should run in Fusion as an "other" operating system alternative, but the company will not be providing first-party drivers and tools. Also not included is support for x86 Intel-based distributions of Windows and Linux, and macOS VMs are still in development.

VMware Fusion's private tech preview arrives roughly a month after Parallels Desktop 17 debuted with M1 support for ARM previews of Windows 10 and 11. Parallels says its software will provide full support for Windows 11 when the operating system launches in October.

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rob53

Already dumped my Windows 10 x86 Fusion VM, added a Parallels client and imported the Fusion VM into Parallels. Works fine. Have Windows 11 ARM running on my M1 MBA using Parallels and it runs a ton faster than Fusion even ran Windows. For those who have to have VMWare VMs, fine, but for the majority of users who only want to run a couple VMs, Parallels is a more than adequate product and costs less as well. 

I hope people understand VMWare is still owned by Dell (per their website) so they have no real reason to do anything special for Mac users.

mikethemartian

Besides having Windows compiled for ARM don’t you need all the individual apps compiled for ARM as well?

rob53

mikethemartian said:

Besides having Windows compiled for ARM don’t you need all the individual apps compiled for ARM as well?

Maybe, maybe not. Microsoft is supposed to also be working on something similar to Rosetta. Can't remember what it's called but it might allow x86 apps to run under Windows 10/11 ARM. I'm running Firefox on Windows 11 ARM on my M1 MBA. 

craman

Codeweaver's Crossover will run most Windows applications without the Windows OS.

djames4242

craman said:

Codeweaver's Crossover will run most Windows applications without the Windows OS.

I’d be surprised if it runs Windows applications on an M1 Mac. Crossover (which is a commercial implementation of Wine) simply translates Windows API calls to run on Unix-based systems. It’s not providing any x86/x64 emulation.

Also, it’s a bit of a stretch to say it runs most Windows apps. There’s definitely first-class support for Office and other mainstream apps. I’ve also had reasonable luck running some older Steam games and even had a blast playing multiplayer Battlefield 1942 and Metal of Honor sessions, but these are 10-20 year-old games. I tried GTA5 for kicks and it was a no-go. Even Quicken support isn’t rated very high.

ktr

rob53 said:

mikethemartian said:

Besides having Windows compiled for ARM don’t you need all the individual apps compiled for ARM as well?

Maybe, maybe not. Microsoft is supposed to also be working on something similar to Rosetta. Can't remember what it's called but it might allow x86 apps to run under Windows 10/11 ARM. I'm running Firefox on Windows 11 ARM on my M1 MBA. 

With an open architecture, where every one using parts from all over.  I doubt that will work well

sflocal

rob53 said:

Already dumped my Windows 10 x86 Fusion VM, added a Parallels client and imported the Fusion VM into Parallels. Works fine. Have Windows 11 ARM running on my M1 MBA using Parallels and it runs a ton faster than Fusion even ran Windows. For those who have to have VMWare VMs, fine, but for the majority of users who only want to run a couple VMs, Parallels is a more than adequate product and costs less as well. 

I hope people understand VMWare is still owned by Dell (per their website) so they have no real reason to do anything special for Mac users.

As a VMware Fusion user since v4, I will continue using Fusion until I have no need for it.  VMware's support during my years of use has been absolutely phenomenal.  Years ago when I couldn't get a certain, specialized device to work under WindowsVM, the engineers invited me to their headquarters in Silicon Valley to work with them side-by-side to figure out a solution.  They included the necessary patches in their next Fusion release.  Parallels would NEVER do that.  Fusion has been rock-solid for all my VM's and I happily upgrade to every new version of Fusion.  I purchased a 2020 iMac a year ago so x86 will be with me for many more years to come.  I can hope that VMWare will continue releasing updated Fusion binaries for all of us for a while longer.  

michelb76

rob53 said:

Already dumped my Windows 10 x86 Fusion VM, added a Parallels client and imported the Fusion VM into Parallels. Works fine. Have Windows 11 ARM running on my M1 MBA using Parallels and it runs a ton faster than Fusion even ran Windows. For those who have to have VMWare VMs, fine, but for the majority of users who only want to run a couple VMs, Parallels is a more than adequate product and costs less as well. 

I hope people understand VMWare is still owned by Dell (per their website) so they have no real reason to do anything special for Mac users.

How fast did Windows ARM run on VMWare?

crowley

djames4242 said:

craman said:

Codeweaver's Crossover will run most Windows applications without the Windows OS.

I’d be surprised if it runs Windows applications on an M1 Mac. Crossover (which is a commercial implementation of Wine) simply translates Windows API calls to run on Unix-based systems. It’s not providing any x86/x64 emulation.

Crossover 21 absolutely allows you to run Windows software on an M1 Mac.  It was reported on this very site: https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/11/19/codeweavers-gets-windows-apps-running-on-apple-silicon

edited September 2021

rob53

michelb76 said:

rob53 said:

Already dumped my Windows 10 x86 Fusion VM, added a Parallels client and imported the Fusion VM into Parallels. Works fine. Have Windows 11 ARM running on my M1 MBA using Parallels and it runs a ton faster than Fusion even ran Windows. For those who have to have VMWare VMs, fine, but for the majority of users who only want to run a couple VMs, Parallels is a more than adequate product and costs less as well. 

I hope people understand VMWare is still owned by Dell (per their website) so they have no real reason to do anything special for Mac users.

How fast did Windows ARM run on VMWare?

Where did I say Windows ARM ran on VMWare? I compared running Windows 10 under Fusion on an Intel iMac to running Windows ARM (10 and 11) under Parallels on an M1.

marvin

rob53 said:

mikethemartian said:

Besides having Windows compiled for ARM don’t you need all the individual apps compiled for ARM as well?

Maybe, maybe not. Microsoft is supposed to also be working on something similar to Rosetta. Can't remember what it's called but it might allow x86 apps to run under Windows 10/11 ARM. I'm running Firefox on Windows 11 ARM on my M1 MBA. 

Windows on ARM originally had 32-bit x86 emulation working and x64 was missing:



They added 64-bit later on:

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2021/06/28/announcing-arm64ec-building-native-and-interoperable-apps-for-windows-11-on-arm/

"The ARM64EC code in the app will run natively while any x64 code will run using Windows 11 on ARM’s built-in emulation."

https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-11-features-in-preview/

"Another big Windows 11 feature is that ARM-powered devices can now emulate x64 apps. Until now, Windows ARM laptops like the HP Elite Folio could only run native ARM apps, or emulate x86 (32-bit) apps. That was a problem because there are a few apps that no longer offer 32-bit variants. With support for x64 emulation, almost every Windows app should now work with ARM-based devices. This was first made available to Insiders in late 2020, but it will arrive with Windows 11.

Additionally, Microsoft has introduced ARM64EC, a new tool that lets developers mix ARM64EC and x64 components. This allows apps to run closer to native performance, while also not forcing developers to recompile entire apps for ARM. There are even ARM64EC versions of Microsoft Office apps available now, complete with support for x64 add-ins."

When Windows 11 is officially released on October 5th, Parallels should have full support for it, including 3D hardware acceleration. If Microsoft doesn't officially license it, there will probably still be a way to activate copies. Microsoft wouldn't even have to put an official installer out, someone will find a way to setup a bootable ISO and share it and that will be possible to activate. VMWare sounds like they don't want to support anything unofficially, which is fair since they have a close partnership with Microsoft.

craman

djames4242 said:
I’d be surprised if it runs Windows applications on an M1 Mac....Also, it’s a bit of a stretch to say it runs most Windows apps. 

You are right, I should have said many applications, not most.  I use it for some old Windows scientific applications. 

Crossover runs on my M1.  Check out the What is our technology roadmap for Apple Silicon?  blog on CodeWeaver's website.

edited September 2021