Of course, special attention was given to running Windows through Parallels Desktop but the virtualization platform can also run popular Linux distributions as well. That includes support for DirectX 11 even when compared to an Intel MacBook Pro with a dedicated Radeon graphics card. The post boasts about the greater performance and efficiency of Parallels Desktop 16.5 on M1 Macs compared to their Intel equivalents. And if Parallels is to be believed, these M1 Macs might be the best way to actually run Windows 10 on Apple’s OS.

With Boot Camp not making its way to the Arm-based macOS Big Sur, it is the only officially supported way to run Windows 10 on these Macs. Parallels Desktop has long been the tool of choice for many Mac users who need access to other operating systems. That’s the benefit of virtualization technologies like Parallels Desktop, whose newly-baked version 16.5 brings official support for M1 Macs. That was, of course, still an unofficial method without much optimizations and access to official macOS APIs and hidden hooks. The fact that Windows 10 ARM reportedly ran better emulated on an M1 Mac compared to running natively on Microsoft’s own Surface Pro X was particularly telling of the power of Apple’s first desktop Arm chip.