Parallels Can Now Run x86 Windows and Linux On Apple Silicon Mac

Parallels Desktop now supports running 64-bit x86 operating systems on Apple Silicon Macs through its proprietary emulation engine, enabling users to run traditional Windows and Linux distributions. However, performance is said to be 'really slow.' How-To Geek reports: The latest Parallels Desktop 20.2 update adds early support for x86 emulation on Apple Silicon, allowing traditional x86 PC operating systems to work on newer Mac computers. There were already apps like UTM that could do it (most of them are based on QEMU), but this feature uses Parallels' 'proprietary emulation engine' paired with Apple's built-in hypervisor. Parallels on Apple Silicon can now 'run existing x86_64 Windows 10, Windows 11*, Windows Server 2019/2022, and some Linux distributives with UEFI BIOS via Parallels Emulator.' You can also create new Windows 10 21H2 and Windows Server 2022 virtual machines if needed.

There are some big limitations. You can only run 64-bit x86 operating systems -- sorry, FreeDOS fans -- but those 64-bit operating systems can run 32-bit applications. There's also no support for USB devices, nested virtualization (so WSL2 won't work), or the Parallels hypervisor. Performance will also be 'really slow,' since x86 instructions have to be translated to ARM. The company said, 'Windows boot time is about 2-7 minutes, depending on your hardware. Windows operating system responsiveness is also low.'

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