New Parallels update trials x86 Linux & Windows VMs on Apple Silicon

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in Mac Software edited January 13

Parallels Desktop 20.2 is out now, with the latest edition including 64-bit x86 emulation for Apple Silicon and more enhancements to make Apple Intelligence Writing Tools work with Windows apps.

Two overlapping windows display tech specifications: a MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Max chip, and a Windows PC showing device details including an Intel Core i7 processor and RAM specifications.
Using x64 emulation in Parallels to run Windows - Image Credit: Parallels



January's update to the popular virtual machine tool Parallels Desktop brings the software up to version 20.2, just under three months after the update to version 20.1. The latest version adds a few more key changes to the virtualization tool.

The big addition is an early technology preview of x86 emulation for Apple Silicon Macs. Using a proprietary emulation engine, it allows Apple Silicon Macs to run x86_64 virtual machines, for Windows 10, Windows 11, and Linux.

While support for Apple Silicon has been around since Parallels Desktop 16.5, it has been limited in not having x86 emulation support until this update.

The new emulation in a tech preview provides a few benefits that were not available before. This includes being able to develop and test 32-bit Windows apps in a native environment.

For Linux users, this also gives an alternative to running Linux virtual machines through Rosetta.

The tech preview does have some limitations, according to a company blog post, including initial slow performance depending on the host hardware. Also, only 64-bit operations are supported, but 32-bit apps could still be run.

There's also no USB device support within those VMs. Lastly, Parallels Hypervisor can't be used, with the VMs needing to be booted via Apple's version.

Single Sign On



To help corporate customers, Parallels Desktop 20.2 also brings with it some deployment options.

There is SSO for IT teams, which allows admins to set up SSO or license key activation methods. They can also push configurations to managed Macs using the Parallels Management Portal.

License management is also streamlined thanks to the use of corporate identity providers, including Microsoft Entra ID and Okta.

For end users, this means they can activate using Single Sign-On by logging in with a corporate e-mail account.

More Apple Intelligence



In Parallels Desktop 20.1, there was support for Writing Tools, so users could use the Apple Intelligence features in Windows. This has been enhanced in version 20.2.

Under the update, users can now select Writing Tools (Mac) under a context menu in Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint, simplifying access.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    Wow, this is indeed great news - at least for me!  Because x86 VMs weren't supported, I had to keep around my x86 MBP laptop so I could build our product for x86 Windows & Linux (and to run TurboTax for Business once a year - as that is only available as x86 Windows app).  Now I can finally retire that Mac :-)
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 2 of 8
    This is great news! Fingers crossed 32-bit is just around the corner to support XP to keep some old games alive. 
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 3 of 8
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,958member
    I would love to see x86/x64 support. As someone who uses a 14" M4M MacBook Pro at work and also needs access to Active Directory I currently have to RDP into a Windows PC to access AD as Microsoft doesn't support RSAT Tools for ARM. 
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 4 of 8
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,876member
    I have tried this on my M2 MBP with UTM: https://mac.getutm.app/. But it is painfully slow. Whether there are optimisations that have not been done or what I don't know. But for anything but using notepad it's too slow.
    dewme
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  • Reply 5 of 8
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,150member
    I bought my 2020 i9 iMac because I still need x86 compatibility.  I’m hopeful that when I’m ready in a few years to retire my iMac that this problem will have been worked out.   I don’t need near native speeds, just the ability to run a few apps that don’t have MacOS support.

    exciting news!
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 8
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,862member
    I'm fortunately down to only a small handful of apps that require an x86 machine. I have one that requires x86 hardware (which works fine with BootCamp). Instead of going the VM route I've simply purchased a sub-$300 Mini PC that runs Windows 11 Pro very nicely. Being on a wired LAN I can run RDP in a full screen or a window on my dual screen Mac and there is no discernible lag.

    RDP remotes the entire Windows session to the client side so it is faster than any VNC based solution. VNC basically copies the screen from the server to the client and polls the screen constantly for changes that need to be updated on the client, even mouse pointer and clock seconds changes. If the server and client have different screen resolutions it also has to rescale to the client's resolution. They've obviously optimized the heck out of all the client-server interaction with intelligent screen change detection and message optimization so some VNC based solutions are better than others.

    RDP dispenses with all of that client-server screen updating stuff because it all runs on the client session on the remote client machine. The RDP client remotes the APIs between the client session and underlying operating system, just like a local session does on the (RDP) server machine with local APIs.  The default behavior of Remote Desktop closes the active windows session on the remote machine if one is running. This is a must-have behavior if you're remoting into a work computer from home and don't want anyone at the location where the computer resides to see what you're doing.
    edited January 14
    elijahg
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  • Reply 7 of 8
     If you run Windows 11 ARM in a Parallels VM, you get support for x64 applications via Microsoft’s version of Rosetta. This has been possible for some time , and I can tell you works great except for some applications that use SSE/AVX instructions.

    I am struggling to understand why Parallels is bothering with this given the niche applications.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 8
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,958member
    loopless said:
     If you run Windows 11 ARM in a Parallels VM, you get support for x64 applications via Microsoft’s version of Rosetta. This has been possible for some time , and I can tell you works great except for some applications that use SSE/AVX instructions.

    I am struggling to understand why Parallels is bothering with this given the niche applications.
    Well from an IT standpoint it sucks you can't even use Microsoft's own Enterprise tools such as Active Directory on an Apple Silicon Mac using Parallels. There are a lot of IT professionals who use a Mac but also need this ability. So this is one case I can think of and perhaps it was a very widely asked for feature for Parallels to develop. 

    That being said I wish Microsoft would just update their Enterprise tools for ARM based computers. There are also Windows PC's using ARM processors that people cannot use Microsoft's tools for. 
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