Windows on ARM

Windows Windows OS
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Yes I see that right now with my copy of Parallels.

So, I’m not trying to argue per se, but just puzzling over some inconsistencies.

  1. As of Jan 31st 2023 (the last time MS shows the agreement being amended/revised) the requirements of being run on a Qualcomm SnapDragon processor and only being available as part of a licensed system (in other words a Surface Pro 9/x, Galaxy Book 12, etc. ) remain in the agreement and the there is no provision for purchase of a business or consumer license of WOA Windows 11

  2. As of an hour ago, MS support replied to me that Parallels is not supported by MS according to MS own technical support. With the caveat to that being that I’m going through our normal support channel (large business) so it is possible that the consumer licensing has changed very recently and/or Parallels has struck an agreement with MS that provides a license for their customers as part of the purchase price.

This would be the ideal outcome IMHO and I’d love to share that with our customers. But as of this morning I can find nothing on Parallels web site that positively confirms that.

Since it’s Saturday I won’t get an answer until sometime next week, but I did email our contact with Parallels for information and clarification, and I’ll post back when they respond, but if they did I’m surprised they haven’t notified us about it.

  1. To be clear, the WOA download through the link Parallels has been providing is indistinguishable (even at a bit level) to the ISO image on MS Surface devices and does not say “developer” or “insider” etc.
    The “status” of the license (standard, pro, enterprise etc.) is always 100% determined by the activation key used to activate it, and in Parallels on my machine, right now I only see the activation key with no indication that it’s developer or insider build, but OTOH that was true from the outset.

So TLDR I have a lot more questions than answers as of this moment. And I would love clarity on this as I have multiple customers (totaling hundreds of potential licenses) that would move immediately if they had some certainty.

Unfortunately, my largest customer (and me as well) remembers the absolute clusterf*** that occurred with the old SoftPC where MS threatened several large customers including mine with litigation. Admittedly that was quite a few years ago and was in the “bad old MS” days, but as @dstrauss can attest to, 99% of companies will go to any lengths they can to knowingly not expose themselves to possible litigation.

So I’ve said my two cents on this and when I know more, I’ll be happy to share.

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