Developers successfully run Windows 10 on Apple M1 chip
Apple M1 chip is based on the ARM architecture, but for now, Apple and Microsoft have no cooperation, so Windows 10 cannot run directly on this chip.
Microsoft has not yet stated its position on this matter. It is estimated that it has not made a decision, but now some developers have successfully run Windows 10 through the virtualization project.
Developer Alexander Graff said on Twitter that QEMU, an open-source virtual machine project that supports Windows 10, can run successfully after modification.
Who said Windows wouldn't run well on #AppleSilicon? It's pretty snappy here 😁. #QEMU patches for reference: https://t.co/qLQpZgBIqI pic.twitter.com/G1Usx4TcvL
— Alexander Graf – @agraf@fosstodon.org (@_AlexGraf) November 26, 2020
QEMU virtualization does not directly allow Windows 10 to run on the M1 chip, so Alexander Graff modified QEMU based on experience.
Now Graf has provided 7 patches for QEMU virtualization. After users install these patches, Windows 10 can run on the M1 chip.
It is worth noting that Graf runs Windows 10 ARM64 through the hypervisor framework, which can directly execute guest code on the M1 chip.
This makes the Windows 10 ARM64 version almost get the performance of the machine, from the actual experience, there is no lag or other problems in the operation.
What’s interesting is that after running through virtualization, you can even run 32-bit desktop software, that is, run the 32-bit desktop software on the ARM-based M1 chip.
The reason is that Windows 10 ARM 64 has built-in x86 emulators for running 32-bit desktop software, and these emulators can still work normally after virtualization.
So users can not only run Microsoft’s UWP universal platform software but also directly run 32-bit desktop software and even 64-bit software in the future.
Microsoft is currently developing an x64 emulator for Windows 10 ARM 64. Perhaps after the release, the MacBook based on the M1 chip will become an all-rounder.
