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> AWS are offering the first ever officially supported macOS virtualisation AWS is offering dedicated bare metal Mac Minis for rent with virtual NICs and virtu

> AWS are offering the first ever officially supported macOS virtualisation AWS is offering dedicated bare metal Mac Minis for rent with virtual NICs and virtual storage powered by AWS Nitro, there is no macOS virtualisation.

sudhirj 6y ago
Technically no, but the word has come to mean something different. Because even bare metal instances come under the same APIs, security, architecture and usage model as the other "real" VMs, the difference is very slim now. We can think of them as VMs of a specific size with a minimum billing time and get on with using them with our existing tooling.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Virtualization means virtualization. Nobody's changed the definition of a VM.
- Sohcahtoa82 6y ago
  > but the word has come to mean something different No, it hasn't. If you're using "VM" to include bare metal, then you are using the wrong term for something. The definition of the word "virtualization" has not changed.
- rescbr 6y ago
  You can call them EC2 instances then. They aren’t VMs at all.
- pbronez 6y ago
  I think you’re using the terms incorrectly. This is “Hardware as a Service” not a “virtual machine.” Yes, AWS Nitro provides extensive management services for both, but they are fundamentally different things even if you access them in similar ways. The new instance name is “mac1.metal” just like AWS’ other hardware as a service offerings: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-amazon-ec2-bare-metal-instances-with-direct-access-to-hardware/ https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-amazon-ec2-bare-metal-i...
danpalmer 6y ago
Neither is it first. MacStadium have done this for years. GitHub Actions, Semaphore CI, CircleCI, Bitrise, they have all done actual virtualisation of macOS for a number of years too. Yes it's a slightly more specialised problem domain, but nothing about this is correct.

sudhirj 6y ago

Technically no, but the word has come to mean something different. Because even bare metal instances come under the same APIs, security, architecture and usage model as the other "real" VMs, the difference is very slim now. We can think of them as VMs of a specific size with a minimum billing time and get on with using them with our existing tooling.

saagarjha 6y ago
Virtualization means virtualization. Nobody's changed the definition of a VM.
Sohcahtoa82 6y ago
> but the word has come to mean something different No, it hasn't. If you're using "VM" to include bare metal, then you are using the wrong term for something. The definition of the word "virtualization" has not changed.
rescbr 6y ago
You can call them EC2 instances then. They aren’t VMs at all.
pbronez 6y ago
I think you’re using the terms incorrectly. This is “Hardware as a Service” not a “virtual machine.” Yes, AWS Nitro provides extensive management services for both, but they are fundamentally different things even if you access them in similar ways. The new instance name is “mac1.metal” just like AWS’ other hardware as a service offerings: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-amazon-ec2-bare-metal-instances-with-direct-access-to-hardware/ https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-amazon-ec2-bare-metal-i...

danpalmer 6y ago

Neither is it first. MacStadium have done this for years. GitHub Actions, Semaphore CI, CircleCI, Bitrise, they have all done actual virtualisation of macOS for a number of years too. Yes it's a slightly more specialised problem domain, but nothing about this is correct.