We tell you how to run Windows on a Mac

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2 How to run Windows on modern Macs with M1 and M2 chips?

2.1 Windows Virtual Machine with Parallels

Surely you know the step by step to install Windows 10 on your Mac with the Boot Camp assistant
MacOS also makes it easy for us to run Windows inside a virtual machine on a Mac M1 or M2
What are the ways we can create virtual machines to have Windows there?

Many users don’t know it, but it’s not only possible to run Windows on a Mac, but it’s also relatively easy if you have some experience in the matter, so you shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of those features that set these operating systems apart. But, how can you run windows on mac?

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Basically, the two solutions that exist in this type of situation are the ones that we will mention:

Run Windows inside a virtual machine on a Mac with an Apple Silicon M1, M2 or similar chip
Run Windows by installing it or via an ISO image on a Mac with an Intel chip and Boot Camp

That is to say, no matter what model of Mac you have, you will always be able to run Windows alongside MacOS.

Can Windows run on an M-series Mac?

This is one of the main questions we receive from users, and the answer is yes, you can. Since Apple switched to ARM-based proprietary chips with the arrival of the M1 in 2020, it’s already possible.. On the other hand, this means that it is not possible to launch the version of Windows that would be installed on a standard PC.

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The thing is, mainstream processors from Intel and AMD use a different processor architecture. We are talking about x86. So, until that year 2020, these machines were compatible with “standard” Windows. That is precisely why we said that if you have an older computer, you will still be able to use that version.

At the time, we already explained the step by step to install Windows 10 on your Mac with the Boot Camp assistant. So this time, we want to focus on how to run Windows on modern Macs with M1 and M2 chips.

How to run Windows on modern Macs with M1 and M2 chips?

If you have an Apple Mac Silicon, you are currently limited to installing Windows 11 in a virtual machine or VM. A virtual machine is an application that emulates a computer, enabling the installation of a full operating system such as Windows or Linux within the current desktop environment, in this case MacOS.

Installing Windows in a VM is the only option some have, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have benefits. Obviously, when installing Windows inside MacOS, you will not have to reboot the system to run it. Basically, although it is not the most direct way, it is the most reliable to have Windows 11.

In our tests, we have found a fairly fluid Windows experience on Mac, which has very little to envy to what you have on Windows computers from the factory, to the point that most applications work without screen freezes, something essential for demanding users.

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Continuing with the advantages, if you have a configuration of multiple monitors, you can dedicate one to Windows. Likewise, you’ll either have to sacrifice too much disk space upfront but just enough to make it work.

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Finally, As a Mac owner, you should know that Windows running in the background eats up battery life, but it’s nothing dramatic.so you can run it alongside MacOS without fear of battery life getting too low.

Windows Virtual Machine with Parallels

Parallels Desktop is probably the easiest way to get Windows on ARM up and running on your Mac.

You have to download the program from this linkwith the free trial available, and create a new machine. Once the virtual machine is created, tap on Get Windows 11 from Microsoft and it will take care of everything. As it has been specially developed for this purpose, the application is ideal for not wasting so much time.

For those who are not too familiar with it, it must be said that Parallels is a premium application, quite expensive by the way, but that will offer you spectacular functionality of Windows on MacOS. Remember that you will need a windows licensealthough you probably already have one with you.

Another good news is that you can use it to quickly install Linux distributions like Ubuntu.

Windows virtual machine with VMware

Likewise, you can run Windows on your Apple Mac Silicon with VMware Fusion, which is completely free. Download the program from this link, sign in with a personal account, and go to VMware Customer Connect. Within it, download VMware Fusion Player 13m, install it and enter the key that you will receive in your email.

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The process to set up VMware Fusion 13 with Windows 11 on ARM is not as straightforward as it is on Parallels Desktop. First, you’ll need to download the Windows 11 on ARM Insider Preview .VHDX from Microsoft, and then convert it to VMDK using qemu, a free app that’s available through Homebrew. After that, you’ll need to get busy creating a custom VIM in VMware Fusion using the Windows 11 preset.