When will Fusion for M1 be released?

[rickaustin]

When will Fusion for Apple M1 processor be released? When will beta start and how can I participate in beta?

[timrtpnc]

I guess I am going to Parallels. I have no interest in running any flavor of Windows.  It serves no purpose for what I do.  I just want to run ARM Linux VMs.  Evidently, Microsoft fanboys seem to ignore people like me and want to hijack our discussions.  Reality is that most people running Mac hypervisor for Linux guests were using VirtualBox.  Now they are looking for an alternative to support Apple Silicone. 

[Technogeezer]

Why not participate in VMware’s upcoming public tech preview of Fusion on Apple Silicon? It will run ARM Linux distros. According to @Mikero (Fusion product manager) it should be out in a couple of weeks. I’m sure they’d value the feedback. 

Unfortunately the Windows discussion does overshadow the conversation at times. There are a lot of Mac users that run Windows on their Intel Macs. Many are only now starting to grasp that existing Intel Windows VMs won’t run on Apple Silicon Macs. Those users have some tough choices to make due to the cutover of Macs to Apple Silicon. And Microsoft isn’t helping them much either with their statements that they aren’t supporting Apple Silicon to run Windows on ARM. 

[Woodmeister50]

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@Technogeezer wrote:

...And Microsoft isn’t helping them much either with their statements that they aren’t supporting Apple Silicon to run Windows on ARM. 

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Technically, Microsoft never really supported Windows on Intel Macs.  Apple supplied Bootcamp to get Windows to work on Intel.

Actually, not sure why as supporting Mac platforms is a bit easier than supporting the gazillion combinations of PC platforms and a license sale is a license sale, which they won't get with Windows 10 upgrades.

[ColoradoMarmot]

If you want Linux M1 support on Fusion, they've announced that a beta is coming shortly.

[Yamash1taRen]

Will we get Fusion for M1 before M1X is released ?

[scott28tt]

You might want to look here for the Tech Preview, it would be a better place to ask: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/Fusion-for-Apple-Silicon-Tech/ct-p/3022

[Technogeezer]

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@Yamash1taRen wrote:

Will we get Fusion for M1 before M1X is released ?

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Apple isn’t saying when exactly the M1X will appear although many pundits think they know. 

Assuming we see the M1X before the end of the year, the bread crumbs that @Mikero has dropped indicate we won’t see Fusion on Apple Silicon as a shipping product until sometime next year.

It’s more likely that we’ll see the Tech Preview be able to run on the M1X. We won’t know for sure until the M1X gets released and VMware has a chance to look at it. 

[ColoradoMarmot]

Rumor was for a launch event next week, but that seems unlikely now.

[jweisbin]

I downloaded and installed Parallels "free" Windows 11 for ARM, then upgraded it for $200 to the Pro version. Why should Microsoft not want that business?

[Technogeezer]

@jweisbin That is the right question and only Microsoft can answer that. 

I think they are trying to come to grips with this ARM architecture phenomenon and how it fits into their existing Intel-centric business. By tightly controlling it at this phase they don’t get into trying to support a free-for-all environment like on Intel.

They are also faced with trying to provide a way to make the experience equivalent which isn’t the whole case now. They continue to work on things like x64 emulation/translation so that existing applications can be brought over. If you think about it, Apple has done a phenomenal job to enable Rosetta to work as well as it does. But that’s as a result of the experience Apple’s had after doing this twice before (68k to PowerPC, and PowerPC to Intel).  Microsoft has not had to deal with anything this drastic. 

There is also the expense involved in supporting a new platform vs what they can get by selling a license. It would not surprise me if limiting the licensing to OEMs gives them a bigger revenue stream at this point in time as well as limiting the support costs. I bet they think they can sell more Surfaces etc. than licenses for Macs. 

[jweisbin]

Let me rephrase that:

I downloaded and installed Parallels "free" Windows 11 for ARM, then upgraded and activated it for $200 to the Pro version. Did they violate their own EULA by selling it to me? Or did I violate the EULA by buying it? or both?

[Technogeezer]

Another question that only Microsoft can answer.

But buying the license is one thing. Using it on an installed copy of Windows is another.

But just because you have activated Windows doesn’t mean that it’s properly licensed. Or that you are running it on a supported platform. 

[ColoradoMarmot]

If you're running Windows for ARM on unsupported hardware, you're likely violating their EULA.  The key you bought was for Windows on Intel.  It happens to work on ARM, but it's not licensed for ARM.

See my post near the end of this thread:  https://communities.vmware.com/t5/Fusion-for-Apple-Silicon-Tech/Does-VMware-fusion-pro-run-on-Mac-M1...

[jweisbin]

To clarify:

I didn't just buy a product key and apply it. I purchased Windows 11 Pro from within the VM itself, and the key was applied automatically - I never actually got sent a product key. So they make it too easy to "violate" the EULA, if indeed I have. 

[Technogeezer]

You sort of did buy a product key. It’s just that Windows was activated using an “electronic” key tied to your Microsoft account. 
It’s really interesting that Microsoft allows product activation on a product they say they won’t sell to you or support. While in the same breath they say in their EULA that successful activation does not mean properly licensed. Go figure. 

[ColoradoMarmot]

Yup, lack of technical enforcement doesn't mean that it's license compliant.

In the end, there's no point trying to argue nits.  Unless MSFT changes their policies, there's we just aren't going to have a risk-free way of running Windows on M1.

[jweisbin]

This just in: according to this, it is not a violation of their EULA, it's just not supported.

https://getwired.com/2022/02/03/can-you-run-windows-on-arm-on-an-apple-silicon-mac-after-all-it-depe... 

[gringley]

The Getwired item is a bit helpful then, as the same EULA would also let you apply for a refund if things quit working.  It is a little on the hearsay side though.  For me the risk that remains on the table is that either Microsoft or Apple could make changes to better suit their own use cases that break Windows 11 on ARM that Parallels (or anybody else) would be unable to fix.  At least if you activate you remove the mandatory update requirement that Windows Insider images have.  

[ColoradoMarmot]

Read the pasted MSFT response:  "Yes customers can use retail copies".

There is NO retail license for Windows on ARM.  It's OEM only.

If something had changed, 100% guarantee that we'd see Fusion announce support for it.

[gringley]

...and I 'll disagree with you.  Microsoft's license specialist is saying that the license for Retail lets Retail run on any device that will otherwise run it.  So in fact anything on the planet that can somehow boot a Windows instance can be licensed.