Microsoft says Windows on ARM will not support Apple M1 Macs
Microsoft poured cold water on hopes that its Windows on ARM solution will one day support Apple Silicon, saying that running ARM versions of Windows 11 on M1 Macs is not "a supported scenario."
The software giant confirmed its plans to The Register last week, noting Windows 11 will not offer official support for M1 Macs through virtualization or on bare hardware. Microsoft did not go so far as to say the practice is illegal, but the statement puts a damper on the deployment of sanctioned VMs with full backing from the developer.
For months, users have relied on Windows Insider builds, specifically those developed for ARM architectures, to run Windows 10 and 11 virtual machines on M1 silicon. That solution might also be in jeopardy.
As the publication reports, recent updates to a developer channel Windows Insider build of Windows 11 have resulted in hardware compatibility errors on Parallels VMs. Parallels pushed out a point update that seemingly fixed the issue, but whether the patch will hold remains unclear. Microsoft could be exploring ways to break compatibility with what it now deems "unsupported scenarios" in attempts to end Windows 11 VMs on Apple devices, a move that could result in a game of cat and mouse with virtualization makers.
Parallels leaned on Microsoft's Windows Inside builds to introduce support for VMs on ARM hardware in April. Capabilities were extended to Windows 11 with the release of Parallels 17 in August, with the company promising full support for the operating system when it launches in October.
VMware, which markets another leading virtualization solution, is taking a different route. The company issued a private beta of VMware Fusion last week without official support for Windows on ARM builds, citing a lack of clarity on the subject in Microsoft's end-user license agreement.
Blogger Paul Thurrott, who spotted the report on Monday, said a source expected Microsoft to announce support for M1 Macs in September. That declaration now appears unlikely.
Apple is well into a hardware transition that aims to replace Intel processors with its own in-house designed silicon. So far, the tech giant has moved the 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini and 24-inch iMac to M1. The 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro are expected to receive the same treatment before year's end.
Read on AppleInsider
The software giant confirmed its plans to The Register last week, noting Windows 11 will not offer official support for M1 Macs through virtualization or on bare hardware. Microsoft did not go so far as to say the practice is illegal, but the statement puts a damper on the deployment of sanctioned VMs with full backing from the developer.
For months, users have relied on Windows Insider builds, specifically those developed for ARM architectures, to run Windows 10 and 11 virtual machines on M1 silicon. That solution might also be in jeopardy.
As the publication reports, recent updates to a developer channel Windows Insider build of Windows 11 have resulted in hardware compatibility errors on Parallels VMs. Parallels pushed out a point update that seemingly fixed the issue, but whether the patch will hold remains unclear. Microsoft could be exploring ways to break compatibility with what it now deems "unsupported scenarios" in attempts to end Windows 11 VMs on Apple devices, a move that could result in a game of cat and mouse with virtualization makers.
Parallels leaned on Microsoft's Windows Inside builds to introduce support for VMs on ARM hardware in April. Capabilities were extended to Windows 11 with the release of Parallels 17 in August, with the company promising full support for the operating system when it launches in October.
VMware, which markets another leading virtualization solution, is taking a different route. The company issued a private beta of VMware Fusion last week without official support for Windows on ARM builds, citing a lack of clarity on the subject in Microsoft's end-user license agreement.
Blogger Paul Thurrott, who spotted the report on Monday, said a source expected Microsoft to announce support for M1 Macs in September. That declaration now appears unlikely.
Apple is well into a hardware transition that aims to replace Intel processors with its own in-house designed silicon. So far, the tech giant has moved the 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini and 24-inch iMac to M1. The 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro are expected to receive the same treatment before year's end.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
So the question is: Does the Windows 10/11 license explicitly forbid certain types of virtualization, and if yes, is that prohibition defined in a way that clearly encapsulates running Windows 10/11 (ARM version) on a Mac M(x) chip?
Or: Are they just saying that it's unsupported, they're not going to promise it works, and Microsoft Tech Support won't help you if you do it?
Those are two very different positions. The second is, IMHO, perfectly reasonable, even if I think it's a bad move long term for Microsoft to shut themselves out of an entire hardware platform, and certainly not a good look for them.
The first position starts to look more dubious if they're specifically going out of their way to break Windows' ability to function on the M(x) chips. That starts to look like Microsoft forcing you to buy a preferred partner vendor's (Intel's) hardware to run their software product, when it would otherwise work on a non-preferred vendor's hardware (Apple). But, we don't have enough information to really make a determition about whether that's happening or not, IMHO.
On one hand, it threatens Microsoft's bread-and-butter Wintel homogeny - on the other hand, there will soon be a fairly vast pool of Apple Silicon devices which will be entirely outside the Windows market if they do.
And let's face it: this may be the fastest ARM Windows will run for some time, despite Microsoft's claim that they're making their own chips (née Qualcomm).
As for Microsoft having anything homogenous, I see that as a big joke. The only way to run Windows fast is to add your own specialized drivers for everything. Thats the fallacy of Windows, it's really not that good. People have to run it because they're locked into it not because they really want to.
As for Microsoft actually trying to build their own ARM chip, the Surface isn't a great example. They keep pushing it including paying the NFL to use them. This isn't their chip design but do they actually have chip design people at Microsoft? Or do they rely on chip manufacturers to design everything for them?