Microsoft / Qualcomm agreement coming to an end

Lakados

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https://9to5mac.com/2021/11/22/micr...W0u8f24GCJfriWufsgCHX_kQXeG90pv8NFfa_aKU8h9os

https://www.xda-developers.com/qualcomm-exclusivity-deal-microsoft-windows-on-arm/

Apparently Microsoft had a sort of exclusivity agreement with Qualcomm for Windows ARM support. With that coming to an end it could pave the way for a supported method for installing Windows on the new M1 Mac’s.

I know that the Windows RT was a flop for a lot of reasons the requirement to use the windows store not being the least of them but they would have been at least compelling if Qualcomm had actually delivered a decent chip to power them. The Surface Pro X could have been the perfect machine but instead it got spanked by anything costing more than half its retail costs.
 
Apparently Microsoft had a sort of exclusivity agreement with Qualcomm for Windows ARM support. With that coming to an end it could pave the way for a supported method for installing Windows on the new M1 Mac’s.
Apple would have to provide drivers and more just to allow Windows to boot off of their M1 Macs. Besides that being one giant amount of work that Apple would never do, why would Apple do it? To support Microsofts ecosystem while also destroying theirs?
I know that the Windows RT was a flop for a lot of reasons the requirement to use the windows store not being the least of them but they would have been at least compelling if Qualcomm had actually delivered a decent chip to power them. The Surface Pro X could have been the perfect machine but instead it got spanked by anything costing more than half its retail costs.
The death of the Windows ARM is the lack of X86 compatibility and performance. That's the whole reason why anyone uses Windows is for it's legacy application support. That and Windows allows for more control over the hardware you use it on compared to Mac OSX. Without cheap and compelling ARM solutions for Windows, you won't see Windows for ARM go anywhere. If Qualcomm made a SoC with good GPU performance and decent x86 compatibility for a cheap price then we're talking. Otherwise nobody is going to spend the amount a Surface Pro X asks for while also going backwards in performance and compatibility.
 
Apple would have to provide drivers and more just to allow Windows to boot off of their M1 Macs. Besides that being one giant amount of work that Apple would never do, why would Apple do it? To support Microsofts ecosystem while also destroying theirs?

The death of the Windows ARM is the lack of X86 compatibility and performance. That's the whole reason why anyone uses Windows is for it's legacy application support. That and Windows allows for more control over the hardware you use it on compared to Mac OSX. Without cheap and compelling ARM solutions for Windows, you won't see Windows for ARM go anywhere. If Qualcomm made a SoC with good GPU performance and decent x86 compatibility for a cheap price then we're talking. Otherwise nobody is going to spend the amount a Surface Pro X asks for while also going backwards in performance and compatibility.
At no point has Boot Camp ever destroyed either ecosystem and Windows always ran incredibly stable with Apple’s drivers and they made them for a long time. It’s not some insurmountable amount of work for Apple to make drivers for a handful of M1 chips.
 
At no point has Boot Camp ever destroyed either ecosystem and Windows always ran incredibly stable with Apple’s drivers and they made them for a long time. It’s not some insurmountable amount of work for Apple to make drivers for a handful of M1 chips.
I’m less interested in Bootcamp and more about Parallels. Nobody has time to shutdown and reboot, just launch it and go.
 
I’m less interested in Bootcamp and more about Parallels. Nobody has time to shutdown and reboot, just launch it and go.
Windows ARM can only be emulated at this point and the lack of compatibility with a lot of software causes blue screens, so it's important to take a system snapshot before installing anything.
 
At no point has Boot Camp ever destroyed either ecosystem and Windows always ran incredibly stable with Apple’s drivers and they made them for a long time.
When Apple created Boot Camp it was when Apple migrated from PowerPC to x86, which at that time Apple's market share wasn't doing so well. When Apple went Intel around 2006 they also introduced Boot Camp and that started a massive surge from 4% to over 7% in just 2 years. Now Mac OSX has a 9.5% market share. Mac OSX didn't have much of a market share to be destroyed. Now at nearly 10% if I were Apple I would avoid supporting Windows.
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It’s not some insurmountable amount of work for Apple to make drivers for a handful of M1 chips.
No but why would they? To put resources to support Windows ARM that nobody uses while Microsoft tried to lock people into their Windows Store, doesn't make much sense for Apple to poor resources into.
 
Windows ARM can only be emulated at this point and the lack of compatibility with a lot of software causes blue screens, so it's important to take a system snapshot before installing anything.
That’s why I’m not terribly upset with Parallels running Windows 10 in translation mode via Rosetta2. I only need it for ancient ass software and IE. Even with all the overhead it still performs better than the ancient ass laptops/desktops it’s replacing.
 
The death of the Windows ARM is the lack of X86 compatibility and performance.

Everything i've read seems to indicate that Windows 11 for ARM will include x86-64 emulation, even though Windows 10 for ARM does not (and won't).
 
Everything i've read seems to indicate that Windows 11 for ARM will include x86-64 emulation, even though Windows 10 for ARM does not (and won't).
Updated 11/16/2021: x64 emulation for Windows is now generally available in Windows 11. For those interested in experiencing this, a PC running Windows 11 on Arm is required.

Today, we’re releasing the first preview of x64 emulation for ARM64 devices to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel starting with the Build 21277. It can be installed on Windows 10 on ARM PCs by following the instructions as explained in this blog post.
 
Everything i've read seems to indicate that Windows 11 for ARM will include x86-64 emulation, even though Windows 10 for ARM does not (and won't).
To fix x86 compatibility and performance you would need more than just software support. Microsoft needs to do what Apple did and make custom SoC's that implement similar features to x86 so that emulation is faster.
 
To fix x86 compatibility and performance you would need more than just software support. Microsoft needs to do what Apple did and make custom SoC's that implement similar features to x86 so that emulation is faster.
That sounds about right if Qualcomm isn't going to step up its game. Qualcomm is certainly part of the problem — it has a pretty lazy attitude toward updating its computer chips and let Apple steamroll it. I suspect we'll get an update soon, but it might be too little too late when Apple's M2 is likely coming in a few months.
 
Adding this below in case anyone has not seen this:

Microsoft to support Windows 11 on Apple M1 and M2 Macs through Parallels partnership​

Microsoft partners with Parallels to unlock a virtualized Arm version of Windows for Apple’s latest laptops.​


https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/16/...-mac-m1-m2-support-parallels-virtual-machines

Microsoft is officially supporting Windows 11 on Apple’s M1 and M2 Macs thanks to a partnership with Parallels to allow the operating system to run in a virtual environment. Parallels Desktop version 18 is “an authorized solution” to run Arm versions of Windows 11 on Apple’s latest M1 and M2 Macs, according to a new Microsoft support article published today.
While Microsoft has limitations on which CPUs are supported to run Windows 11 natively, the company is happy for Apple M1 and M2 users to run the OS in a virtual machine. That won’t provide the best performance that would be capable through a native solution, but Apple has shown no signs of supporting Boot Camp on M1 or M2 Macs.
Still, Microsoft’s plan to officially authorize Parallels to support this way of running Windows 11 on Apple’s latest Macs is a step beyond what we’ve had so far. Up until now, Microsoft has only licensed Windows versions of Arm directly to OEMs, making it difficult for M1 and M2 users to officially run it in VM.


Parallels started supporting Windows on M1 chips with the Parallels Desktop 16.5 release, but this latest version lets you download and install Windows 11 in a single click. Parallels is also handling the complexity of Windows 11’s TPM and Secure Boot requirements with a virtual TPM that’s paired with Apple silicon.
While you could technically purchase a Windows 10 license key and activate the Arm version before this wasn’t officially licensed. That’s a bigger problem for enterprise users of Windows that might have a mix of Windows- and macOS-powered laptops.
Weak, thought this was native implementation?

"Microsoft does say that there are some limitations when it comes to virtualizing Windows 11 on top of macOS, pointing primarily to features that require nested virtualization to function as not being supported. Those include:


  • Windows Subsystem for Android
  • Windows Subsystem for Linux
  • Windows Sandbox
  • Virtualization-based Security (VBS)
Additionally, Microsoft says that DirectX12 and OpenGL3.3 is also not guaranteed to function, and that 32-bit ARM apps are also not supported when running on a Mac, and are actually being removed from Windows altogether soon."

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/soft...port-for-windows-11-on-mac-with-apple-silicon
 
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