In recent news, Parallels is bringing an update to its Desktop virtual machine software which will now allow M1 Mac owners to install Windows 10 on Arm. The 16.5 version will now properly support users to use the Arm version of Windows 10 on the M1 powered MacBooks.
The latest version of Parallels Desktop even allows users to run traditional x86 apps side by side with Mac applications. However, it is expected that there will be numerous limitations when emulating Windows 10. Moreover, support for x64 based applications and their emulation will soon come about.
According to Parallels Desktop maker Corel, the latest 16.5 version bring about better results in terms of performance and battery improvements in comparison to running software on Intel-based Macs. Moreover, the 16.5 update uses up to 250 percent less energy on an M1 Mac, compared to an Intel-based MacBook Air. There’s also a promise of up to 60 percent better DirectX 11 performance and up to 30 percent better overall virtual machine performance running the Arm version of Windows 10 on an M1 Mac instead of a Windows 10 VM on an Intel-based MacBook Pro.
However, one of the few drawbacks here is that you would need to run a preview version of Windows 10 to make it work as the company licenses the Arm version to PC makers only. The preview of this build can be downloaded from the official Windows Insider website by clicking here.
Apart from the causal Windows, the Parallels Desktop 16.5 version also supports Linux distros such as Ubuntu 20.04, Kali Linux 2021.1, Debian 10.7, and Fedora Workstation 33-1.2.
