I just needed to follow these simple steps

One of the things I missed when upgrading my MacBook Pro was the ability to run Windows natively. On my laptop with Intel processor It was enough to run Boot Camp Assistant to install the Microsoft operating system on the dedicated partition. I just needed a little patience, an ISO system image and a valid license.

This procedure worked fine in reverse. If you wanted to go back to using macOS as your only option, you simply had to use Boot Camp to uninstall Windows and reclaim your disk space. All of the above became impossible with the advent of computers with Apple Silicon chips, although some options remained on the table.

When virtualization is the only option

As of 2020, Apple computers have ARM at their heart, a move that I believe is the right one and which is beautifully described in my colleague Javier Pastor’s article “Apple M1: Anatomy of a Revolution.” He architecture change This meant the end of support for x86 versions of Windows, but virtualization remained a possible alternative.

To use Windows on my Apple Silicon Mac, I had three options: two paid and one free, but in preview. I’m talking about Parallels, VMware and VirtualBox respectively. The idea of ​​payment didn’t really convince me, nor did using the development version. The situation changed a few days ago when one of the alternatives became free.

Broadcom announced this week that VMware Fusion Pro will be free for personal use. This news seemed like a great opportunity. return Windows to my Mac. Therefore, if you find yourself in a similar situation, this could be an opportunity for you to use the Microsoft operating system on your computer again. Let’s see how to do this, step by step.

Get VMware Fusion 13 Pro for macOS

• Create a Broadcom account. To do this, enter this link and follow all the steps indicated on the page.
• Login to the Broadcom download portal from this other link and log in using the account you created earlier.

• Search for “VMware Fusion 13 Pro for Personal Use”. In this section you will find several versions. I recommend choosing the latest version, which at the time of writing is 13.5.2.
• If you agree, check the “I agree to Broadcom Terms of Use” checkbox.
• Click the download button to the right of “VMware Fusion 13.5.2 (For Intel and Apple Silicon-based Macs).”
• Double-click the appropriate .dmg file and install the application. You may see a warning message indicating that this application is downloaded from the Internet. Press Open.

Setting up VMware Fusion 13 Pro for Windows 11

• Open VMware Fusion 13 Pro.

• Press Ccontinue in the window asking you to download Windows 11 (Download and install Windows 11).
• Select your Windows 11 ARM version and language. Click Continue.
• Select an encryption system for TPM virtualization and set a password. Click Continue (in my case I chose partial encryption).
• Select the boot firmware type and click Continue (in my case I chose UEFI only).
• Create a virtual disk of the capacity you need. The minimum required space in Windows 11 is 64 GB.

• Review the resource allocation suggested by VMware Fusion 13 Pro and click Continue (I didn’t change anything).
• Click “Finish” and wait for the virtual machine to start running.

Install Windows 11 from VMware Fusion 13 Pro

• VMware Fusion 13 Pro will mount the previously downloaded installation disk.
• At this point, press the key to launch the installer.
• Follow all steps of the installation wizard (language, time format, input method, etc.).

• Enter your Windows product key. If you have a digital license or plan to purchase one later, click I don’t have a product key.
• Accept the terms and select Custom installation in the next window.

• Enter the information the system asks for and, if desired, sign in with your Microsoft account.

Ready. You already have Windows 11 on your Apple Silicon Mac.

If you want your virtualized operating system to have better performance and be able to interact with macOS, you need to install a program called VMware Tools. To do this, follow these steps:

• Open VMware Fusion 13 Pro.
• Sign in to Windows.
• Click “Virtual Machine” in the VMware Fusion 13 Pro menu bar.
• Click Install VMware Tools.

• Immediately after this, you will find a virtual CD/DVD drive called “VMware Installer”.
• Just install the program like any other and restart the operating system.

Images | Screenshots | Hataka | VMware

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