How to install Windows on a M2 machine? Tried everything

[Natya Sadella]

Hi!

I'm not happy about it but I NEED to install windows for just a little software update for a HDMI 2.1 Splitter.

Boot Camp? Not available for M2

VMWare Fusion Player? Errorcode 14

VirtualBox Tech Preview for M2? Virtual machine doesn't respond and will be exited

Parallels 18? You need a ARM version of windows

For gods sake, how am I supposed to install windows on this machine??!?!?! I'm so upset rn. Native or VM I don't care

 

[wonderings]

Hi!

I'm not happy about it but I NEED to install windows for just a little software update for a HDMI 2.1 Splitter.

Boot Camp? Not available for M2

VMWare Fusion Player? Errorcode 14

VirtualBox Tech Preview for M2? Virtual machine doesn't respond and will be exited

Parallels 18? You need a ARM version of windows

For gods sake, how am I supposed to install windows on this machine??!?!?! I'm so upset rn. Native or VM I don't care

You can't unless it is an AMR version of Windows.

I use Windows 11 ARM and it works great and only had a few odd apps that would not install. My Win 10 enterprise key worked for Windows 11 ARM so it is fully licensed and gets updates. The other options is you could go cloud based for your Windows needs. This of course is a monthly fee.

Shadow, an ecosystem in the cloud

Discover Shadow's services : Shadow PC (PC in the cloud to work, create and play) et Shadow Drive (online storage).

shadow.tech

 

[bobcomer]

Windows 11 ARM so it is fully licensed and gets updates

It's actually just activated, not fully licensed. Microsoft doesn't support Windows on Arm running on anything but qualcomm chips. You're probably okay though.

It really is the original poster's only option, but if it takes a specialized driver, it probably wont work.

 

[wonderings]

It's actually just activated, not fully licensed. Microsoft doesn't support Windows on Arm running on anything but qualcomm chips. You're probably okay though.

It really is the original poster's only option, but if it takes a specialized driver, it probably wont work.

Only option to have it installed on the computer. If you can live with only being able to use Windows while connected then you can do all that in the cloud.

 

[ian87w]

Hi!

I'm not happy about it but I NEED to install windows for just a little software update for a HDMI 2.1 Splitter.

Boot Camp? Not available for M2

VMWare Fusion Player? Errorcode 14

VirtualBox Tech Preview for M2? Virtual machine doesn't respond and will be exited

Parallels 18? You need a ARM version of windows

For gods sake, how am I supposed to install windows on this machine??!?!?! I'm so upset rn. Native or VM I don't care

Not sure why you have to be so upset on your M2 just because of Windows. Is the update really necessary? Is it broken if you don't update it? Can you ask your friend/family that have a Windows laptop?

 

[Mike Boreham]

Hi!

I'm not happy about it but I NEED to install windows for just a little software update for a HDMI 2.1 Splitter.

Boot Camp? Not available for M2

VMWare Fusion Player? Errorcode 14

VirtualBox Tech Preview for M2? Virtual machine doesn't respond and will be exited

Parallels 18? You need a ARM version of windows

For gods sake, how am I supposed to install windows on this machine??!?!?! I'm so upset rn. Native or VM I don't care

if windows is important a bit surprised you didn't discover pre purchase that Silicon macs can't run Bootcamp and only ARM in VMs. if recent purchase can you return?

As you mention Parallels 18 can download, install and run release version of Windows 11 very easily. ARM version of course.

 

[bobcomer]

Only option to have it installed on the computer. If you can live with only being able to use Windows while connected then you can do all that in the cloud.

That's a good option too. I kind of do it by having a Windows desktop at home that I can access from anywhere.

 

[russell_314]

Parallels 18? You need a ARM version of windows

For gods sake, how am I supposed to install windows on this machine??!?!?! I'm so upset rn. Native or VM I don't care

You answered your own question here. The M2 is an ARM processor so it requires the ARM version of Windows. Just use Parallels with the ARM version of Windows.

If you must have the x86 version of Windows your choices are buy a Windows laptop or an older Mac with an Intel processor

 

[wonderings]

You answered your own question here. The M2 is an ARM processor so it requires the ARM version of Windows. Just use Parallels with the ARM version of Windows.

If you must have the x86 version of Windows your choices are buy a Windows laptop or an older Mac with an Intel processor

Windows does an ok job for x86 emulation. I have 20 year old software here that is pretty complex and it runs great. Easy thing to test though before you even buy anything, download the demo of Parallels, load Windows 11, install app and see how it goes

 

[haralds]

The ARM64 version of Windows runs an x86/64 translator just like Rosetta2. Most apps like installer will run.
Parallels Desktop automatically downloads Windows 11 to set up a machine. You can use the 14-day trial to do what you need.

 

[iAppleOrchard]

You need to be an insider to get the Arm version of Windows.

However, you can use this video:

 

[leman]

You can install an ARM version of Windows in a virtual machine but I doubt that it allow you to update drivers for an external device.

 

[Mike Boreham]

You need to be an insider to get the Arm version of Windows.

That was true up until Nov 30th 2021 when Parallels released version 17.1.1 which incorporated the ability to download and install release version of Windows 11 ARM.

 

[MacAndMic]

Not sure if it will satisfy your need but have you looked into Crossover? I use a program called Forscan to make changes in my Ford Ranger’s BCM and it only runs in X86 Windows and it works well on my M1 for that.

 

[gilby101]

but I NEED to install windows for just a little software update for a HDMI 2.1 Splitter.

Do you have a friend with Windows?

 

[Yael-S.]

Asahi Linux and OpenBSD are close to the point where they should start working properly on the M1 and M2 chips. In certain aspects, they are already more stable and/or faster than macOS at the moment.

I wonder if you can't simply run the windows apps on Asahi Linux via wine?

Another option might be to use bhyve. Apple has copied bhyve from FreeBSD and given it its own name. With bhyve on FreeBSd you can emulate windows10/11 and this gives higher performance than on Linux with KVM.

I'm not sure what the exact bhyve equivalent of macOS can do but it shouldn't be difficult for Apple to let it emulate windows10/11.

 

[bobcomer]

Asahi Linux and OpenBSD are close to the point where they should start working properly on the M1 and M2 chips. In certain aspects, they are already more stable and/or faster than macOS at the moment.

I wonder if you can't simply run the windows apps on Asahi Linux via wine?

Another option might be to use bhyve. Apple has copied bhyve from FreeBSD and given it its own name. With bhyve on FreeBSd you can emulate windows10/11 and this gives higher performance than on Linux with KVM.

I'm not sure what the exact bhyve equivalent of macOS can do but it shouldn't be difficult for Apple to let it emulate windows10/11.

You can run Wine on MacOS, there's even a package called crossover that has some tuning. However Wine isn't a perfect emulator of Windows in any case. Some things will run, some wont, and what it's particularly weak at (ODBC access), makes it so it's useless to me. Drivers wont run, so anything that needs a specialized driver wont. WHat it does run, runs well though, so it's worth a try.

 

[Yael-S.]

Some things will run, some wont, and what it's particularly weak at (ODBC access), makes it so it's useless to me.

What you also see very often is that people specifically use wine to run an old windows app that no longer supports the latest windows10 or windows11.

In the specific case of windows apps from 7 years ago or older, you see that wine often offers better support than the latest windows versions.

Another thing is that the Linux version of wine and the macOS version are not 100% the same. There is already a difference in versions, the macOS version is much behind:

wine-stable

Homebrew’s package index

formulae.brew.sh

Current version: 7.0

Arch Linux - wine 9.9-2 (x86_64)

archlinux.org

Current version: 7.20-1

There is also a difference between the two versions in terms of functionality and stability. You can say that the Linux version of wine is of a higher quality than that of macOS.

 

[maflynn]

You need a ARM version of windows

That's because your CPU is an ARM cpu and not X86. Bootcamp and running regular Windows is no longer possible for M1 and M2 based macs.

 

[Basic75]

Of course there's always UTM which might just be enough for your needs of an x86 operating system https://mac.getutm.app/

 

[Yebubbleman]

Parallels 18? You need a ARM version of windows

That's the nuts and bolts of it. You're not going to get an x86-64 version of Windows to run on an Apple Silicon Mac without a full-on x86-64 emulator (well beyond using a mere hypervisor). If you want to run x86-64 Windows on a Mac, get an Intel Mac. You can still find decent deals on 2019 16-inch MacBook Pros and 2020 iMacs if you need something hefty. Same for 2020 10th Gen Intel 13-inch MacBook Pros.