VMware Fusion for M1 Macs gets private beta, official Windows support not included

VMware this week released a private beta version of Fusion for M1 Macs, though users eager to run Windows VMs on their new MacBook Air might want to look elsewhere.

Announced in a tweet from VMware Fusion manager Michael Roy, the release is officially considered a private tech preview, meaning those interested must request access to the software. A public beta is expected in about two weeks.

Details of the latest iteration of VMware Fusion were outlined in an April blog post that notes a specific focus on Linux VMs. Windows is considered a "second priority" as Microsoft does not currently license Windows 10 ARM and while Parallels feels comfortable integrating support for the operating system into its virtualization solution, VMware does not.

That said, the company is working to bring Fusion in line with Microsoft's end-user license agreement.

"VMware has had a pretty strategic partnership with MS for a long time. (see: vSphere.)," Roy said in a tweet. "I'm not sure what else I'm allowed to say other than 'we're not operating in a vacuum on this'."

As noted by MacRumors, Roy added that Windows VMs should run in Fusion as an "other" operating system alternative, but the company will not be providing first-party drivers and tools. Also not included is support for x86 Intel-based distributions of Windows and Linux, and macOS VMs are still in development.

VMware Fusion's private tech preview arrives roughly a month after Parallels Desktop 17 debuted with M1 support for ARM previews of Windows 10 and 11. Parallels says its software will provide full support for Windows 11 when the operating system launches in October.

12 Comments

rob53 14 Years · 3351 comments

About 3 years ago

Already dumped my Windows 10 x86 Fusion VM, added a Parallels client and imported the Fusion VM into Parallels. Works fine. Have Windows 11 ARM running on my M1 MBA using Parallels and it runs a ton faster than Fusion even ran Windows. For those who have to have VMWare VMs, fine, but for the majority of users who only want to run a couple VMs, Parallels is a more than adequate product and costs less as well.

I hope people understand VMWare is still owned by Dell (per their website) so they have no real reason to do anything special for Mac users.

mikethemartian 19 Years · 1616 comments

About 3 years ago

Besides having Windows compiled for ARM don’t you need all the individual apps compiled for ARM as well?

rob53 14 Years · 3351 comments

About 3 years ago

mikethemartian said:

Besides having Windows compiled for ARM don’t you need all the individual apps compiled for ARM as well?

Maybe, maybe not. Microsoft is supposed to also be working on something similar to Rosetta. Can't remember what it's called but it might allow x86 apps to run under Windows 10/11 ARM. I'm running Firefox on Windows 11 ARM on my M1 MBA.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

craman 4 Years · 2 comments

About 3 years ago

Codeweaver's Crossover will run most Windows applications without the Windows OS.

djames4242 15 Years · 658 comments

About 3 years ago

craman said:

Codeweaver's Crossover will run most Windows applications without the Windows OS.

I’d be surprised if it runs Windows applications on an M1 Mac. Crossover (which is a commercial implementation of Wine) simply translates Windows API calls to run on Unix-based systems. It’s not providing any x86/x64 emulation.

Also, it’s a bit of a stretch to say it runs most Windows apps. There’s definitely first-class support for Office and other mainstream apps. I’ve also had reasonable luck running some older Steam games and even had a blast playing multiplayer Battlefield 1942 and Metal of Honor sessions, but these are 10-20 year-old games. I tried GTA5 for kicks and it was a no-go. Even Quicken support isn’t rated very high.