VirtualBox Preview 7.0 for Mac OS X M1/M2 Chip

[JM38712]

I have done lots of work with VirtualBox on Windows host computers running Windows guest OS but I don't have much experience with VB on Mac computers. I have a student who is trying to do my Windows Server 2019 labs under VirtualBox on his new Mac, which I assume is an M1/M2 chip and he is having a lot of issues. I have told him to give up for now until VB for Mac M1/M2 evolves but want to explain it a bit better for him.

I see that VirtualBox Mac OS X M1/M2 is still a developer preview and from what I read it only supports running 32-bit guest operating systems for emulated Intel CPU's. But I have seen YouTube videos and announcements claiming to install Windows 11 on VirtualBox on a Mac OS X M1/M2 chip and I see that Windows 11 is only a 64-bit OS. My student also showed me a screen shot looking like he installed Windows 11 under VB on his Mac.

So is that true that VB Mac OS X M1/M2 chip can now run a Windows 11 guest OS? Does that mean that 64-bit emulation is now supported fully or is there something very specific to Windows 11 being done currently?

Sorry if this is answered somewhere in the forum but I did a few searches and can't find the answer.

Thanks.

BTW, I am very impressed with VirtualBox on Windows computers, great at what it tries to do and I am sure this Mac version of VirtualBox will get there soon as well.

[scottgus1]

Would need to see the video and check that it is legit. But as things stand now, based on forum reports, the M# beta is still unable to run modern OS's. Please see the M1/M2 sticky in Mac Hosts for the latest we have reports on.

And if you want to post the link to the video, I could see what it's doing. Obfuscate it if you need to, or post it in a text file using the forum's Attachments tab.

[fth0]

So is that true that VB Mac OS X M1/M2 chip can now run a Windows 11 guest OS?

I don't know. But the only VirtualBox version that potentially might be able to do that is the development snapshot (e.g. 7.0.97r160496 or newer) from the VirtualBox test builds. It's still work in progress and the 7.0.13 test builds do not get the M1/M2-related updates.

[JM38712]

Here is the video I am thinking of in particular. Although after watching it again, he never shows W11 running under VirtualBox on the Mac OS X M1, he just shows the VB New VM and Start VM processes. See the attached txt doc.

[multiOS]

I haven't had an opportunity (yet) to test virtualisation of Windows 11 ARM (or Linux ARM) on 7.0.97_BETA5-160496, but I did quickly try some DOS and Windows XP (32-bit) VMs ('emulations') which were working satisfactorily with some earlier beta builds and they all failed to start!

[exekutive]

I successfully run Windows 11 ARM on my M2 Mac using VMware Fusion 13

[scottgus1]

Thanks, exekutive, for your report! Unfortunately, though, it's an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Windows 11 ARM isn't Windows 11 x86, and Virtualbox on Mac ARM only emulates x86 OS's. Running an ARM-virtualizing hypervisor instead of Virtualbox and using an ARM OS instead of x86 is cheating.

(Of course it's not "cheating", but it's not Virtualbox either, and getting Virtualbox & x86 OS's to run on M# Macs is the point toward which folks are pressing.)

[JM38712]

Ok, thanks everyone. I am coming to the conclusion that the videos I see on YouTube are stretching the truth and especially the one I watched which never showed the actual running Windows 11 VM. I will ask my student what they did to get the screen shot.

Happy coding to the Oracle team working on evolving this version of VirtualBox!

[exekutive]

I just mentioned it because some x86 Windows apps may run on Windows 11 ARM, in case someone was trying to do that.

Oh, and the latest Parallels works too.