4 ms·

VMware Fusion will not support x86 emulation on Apple Silicon

39 points by yasserd99 5y ago

rsj_hn 5y ago
Reading the VMWare blog was a little confusing. Parallels announced support for running windows on M1 a couple of weeks ago: https://www.parallels.com/news/press-releases/show/2021-pd16-5-m1chip/ https://www.parallels.com/news/press-releases/show/2021-pd16... With Parallels, it's an "insider Preview", so it appears the limiting factor is Windows releasing a finished version of the OS that includes an emulation layer that works well enough on apple silicon that it's not a preview? Is that vmware's issue?
- meepmorp 5y ago
  Parallels is owned by Corel, not Microsoft.
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    thanks for the correction!
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- nvrspyx 5y ago
  > Since MS owns Parallels, ... Corel owns Parallels, not Microsoft.
  - 0xcde4c3db 5y ago
    Conversely, the VM product line that Microsoft acquired is Virtual PC (though they did not buy out Connectix as a whole).
    - rsj_hn 5y ago
      ahh, that's what I was thinking of
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    corrected, thank you
- mhdhn 5y ago
  Preview ended. Now fully released. https://www.parallels.com/pd/general/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6_2krPup8AIVfz6tBh1EhAHjEAAYASAAEgJC4PD_BwE https://www.parallels.com/pd/general/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6_2k...
yasserd99 5y ago
They are planning to release a preview version this year with support for ARM VMs only, the priority will be for Linux, as Microsoft didn't release an official Windows ARM version yet.
mrpippy 5y ago
This wasn’t a surprise—VMware doesn’t have any other products that do x86 emulation, and it’s pretty clear that desktop virtualization (Fusion and Workstation) is not a high corporate priority. (Seriously, go to vmware.com and tell me if that looks like a company that sells desktop software). Developing an x86 emulator with enough compatibility (and speed) to support all x86 software is not something VMware’s going to do for a side project. Especially since they still have to support Intel and ARM virtualization as well.
tonyedgecombe 5y ago
I wonder if there is enough of a market for this without Windows support. I always imagined the main reason to use VMWare Fusion was to run Windows.
ybitbyte 5y ago
end of this year release? I will buy parallel

39 points by yasserd99 5y ago

Reading the VMWare blog was a little confusing. Parallels announced support for running windows on M1 a couple of weeks ago: https://www.parallels.com/news/press-releases/show/2021-pd16-5-m1chip/ https://www.parallels.com/news/press-releases/show/2021-pd16... With Parallels, it's an "insider Preview", so it appears the limiting factor is Windows releasing a finished version of the OS that includes an emulation layer that works well enough on apple silicon that it's not a preview? Is that vmware's issue?

meepmorp 5y ago
Parallels is owned by Corel, not Microsoft.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  thanks for the correction!
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
nvrspyx 5y ago
> Since MS owns Parallels, ... Corel owns Parallels, not Microsoft.
- 0xcde4c3db 5y ago
  Conversely, the VM product line that Microsoft acquired is Virtual PC (though they did not buy out Connectix as a whole).
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    ahh, that's what I was thinking of
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  corrected, thank you
mhdhn 5y ago
Preview ended. Now fully released. https://www.parallels.com/pd/general/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6_2krPup8AIVfz6tBh1EhAHjEAAYASAAEgJC4PD_BwE https://www.parallels.com/pd/general/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6_2k...

yasserd99 5y ago

They are planning to release a preview version this year with support for ARM VMs only, the priority will be for Linux, as Microsoft didn't release an official Windows ARM version yet.

mrpippy 5y ago

This wasn’t a surprise—VMware doesn’t have any other products that do x86 emulation, and it’s pretty clear that desktop virtualization (Fusion and Workstation) is not a high corporate priority. (Seriously, go to vmware.com and tell me if that looks like a company that sells desktop software). Developing an x86 emulator with enough compatibility (and speed) to support all x86 software is not something VMware’s going to do for a side project. Especially since they still have to support Intel and ARM virtualization as well.

tonyedgecombe 5y ago

I wonder if there is enough of a market for this without Windows support. I always imagined the main reason to use VMWare Fusion was to run Windows.

ybitbyte 5y ago

end of this year release? I will buy parallel