Run Virtual Windows On An M-Series Mac

The Install Might Be Virtual, But The License You’ll Need Ain’t

If you are jealous of the fancy new hardware Apple runs their system on, but are constitutionally opposed to learning how to use a Mac then you now have a solution.  You can now try a virtual Windows installation on an M1, M2 or M3 Mac as long as you have a proper license and Parallels Desktop 18 or 19.  With Apple’s divorce from Intel, that is now the only way to get a working virtual machine on Apple’s new silicon.

If you are familiar with Microsoft’s take on VMs your assumption is correct, you will only be able to run the Pro and Enterprise editions on your Mac.  There are also some limits to Parallels, you won’t be able to use Windows Subsystems for Android or Linux, Sandbox, nor virtualisation based security apps.  If you were hoping to get some gaming in, you will find DX12 has some issues as well.

As this is a very recent development, Redmond’s documentation is even worse than normal, but if you want to check it out The Register has links in their story.