4 ms·

Parallels in operating in a legal gray area and using Insider builds of Windows on ARM that are not licensed for M1 hardware. There is currently no legal way, f

by fckgw 4y ago

Parallels in operating in a legal gray area and using Insider builds of Windows on ARM that are not licensed for M1 hardware. There is currently no legal way, from a licensing standpoint, to have an ARM build running on a device that Microsoft does not have an existing agreement with. If you're running an M1 with Parallels in any type of business or money-making environment then you're putting yourself at risk.

matthewmacleod 4y ago
What's the basis for this view? Microsoft will happily sell me a license key for Windows 11, will let me download a Windows arm64 build and activate it, with the license explicitly stating that installation on a single virtual machine is permitted, and with no apparent restrictions on the hardware which can be used. It's totally possible that I'm just missing something but I don't really see what it is – as far as I can tell I purchased and activated a copy of Windows 11 21H2 directly from Microsoft.
- n8cpdx 4y ago
  I don’t get it. Microsoft just refuses to license windows on ARM to end users. There’s a VS community post about it, and I think there must be some denial or something going on. Lots of deliberately obtuse thinking and circular reasoning for why this can never ever happen, despite 100,000 Parallels users demonstrating that it works. https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/Native-ARM-Support-for-Visual-Studio/1161018 https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/Native-ARM-Sup...
miles 4y ago
> There is currently no legal way, from a licensing standpoint, to have an ARM build running on a device that Microsoft does not have an existing agreement with. That appears to be incorrect[0]: > Fortunately, they had something to share later, again through an official Microsoft spokesperson (that faceless PR-driven process where press or analysts can ask Microsoft for an official response to a question). A lengthy Twitter thread on the topic[1] (driven by a new ARM64-based mini-desktop computer that ships with Windows 11 but without a license — until that was changed by the manufacturer of the device to say that it did indeed include a license) pointed to a blog post from Wes Miller[2], an analyst and licensing expert with Directions on Microsoft[3]. That post included this quote: >> Yes customers can use retail copies to run Windows 10/11 on Macs, including ARM Macs. The Windows retail EULA does not have any use rights restrictions on the type of device you install Windows on. Note that the EULA does stipulate that not all versions of Windows are supported on all device types, so theoretically customers could run into compatibility issues with performance & support case by case, but this is not a licensing restriction. Customers can find more details on compatibility at https://aka.ms/minhw https://aka.ms/minhw. [0] https://oofhours.com/2022/04/12/microsoft-will-let-you-run-windows-11-on-an-m1-mac-but-they-wont-support-it/ https://oofhours.com/2022/04/12/microsoft-will-let-you-run-w... [1] https://twitter.com/mniehaus/status/1512962942165262337 https://twitter.com/mniehaus/status/1512962942165262337 [2] https://getwired.com/2022/02/03/can-you-run-windows-on-arm-on-an-apple-silicon-mac-after-all-it-depends/ https://getwired.com/2022/02/03/can-you-run-windows-on-arm-o... [3] https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/ https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/
dev_tty01 4y ago
No, I bought a license and Windows activated itself running in Parallels. What is the risk?

by fckgw 4y ago

matthewmacleod 4y ago

What's the basis for this view? Microsoft will happily sell me a license key for Windows 11, will let me download a Windows arm64 build and activate it, with the license explicitly stating that installation on a single virtual machine is permitted, and with no apparent restrictions on the hardware which can be used. It's totally possible that I'm just missing something but I don't really see what it is – as far as I can tell I purchased and activated a copy of Windows 11 21H2 directly from Microsoft.

n8cpdx 4y ago
I don’t get it. Microsoft just refuses to license windows on ARM to end users. There’s a VS community post about it, and I think there must be some denial or something going on. Lots of deliberately obtuse thinking and circular reasoning for why this can never ever happen, despite 100,000 Parallels users demonstrating that it works. https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/Native-ARM-Support-for-Visual-Studio/1161018 https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/Native-ARM-Sup...

miles 4y ago

> There is currently no legal way, from a licensing standpoint, to have an ARM build running on a device that Microsoft does not have an existing agreement with. That appears to be incorrect[0]: > Fortunately, they had something to share later, again through an official Microsoft spokesperson (that faceless PR-driven process where press or analysts can ask Microsoft for an official response to a question). A lengthy Twitter thread on the topic[1] (driven by a new ARM64-based mini-desktop computer that ships with Windows 11 but without a license — until that was changed by the manufacturer of the device to say that it did indeed include a license) pointed to a blog post from Wes Miller[2], an analyst and licensing expert with Directions on Microsoft[3]. That post included this quote: >> Yes customers can use retail copies to run Windows 10/11 on Macs, including ARM Macs. The Windows retail EULA does not have any use rights restrictions on the type of device you install Windows on. Note that the EULA does stipulate that not all versions of Windows are supported on all device types, so theoretically customers could run into compatibility issues with performance & support case by case, but this is not a licensing restriction. Customers can find more details on compatibility at https://aka.ms/minhw https://aka.ms/minhw. [0] https://oofhours.com/2022/04/12/microsoft-will-let-you-run-windows-11-on-an-m1-mac-but-they-wont-support-it/ https://oofhours.com/2022/04/12/microsoft-will-let-you-run-w... [1] https://twitter.com/mniehaus/status/1512962942165262337 https://twitter.com/mniehaus/status/1512962942165262337 [2] https://getwired.com/2022/02/03/can-you-run-windows-on-arm-on-an-apple-silicon-mac-after-all-it-depends/ https://getwired.com/2022/02/03/can-you-run-windows-on-arm-o... [3] https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/ https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/

dev_tty01 4y ago

No, I bought a license and Windows activated itself running in Parallels. What is the risk?