Windows 11 on Macs with parallels just seems to complicate the entire requirements story. The minimum system requirement for macs has become more of a mess. This led to Microsoft pulling out its tools for checking the compatibility of PC. At the moment, Microsoft seems to be bullish on the TPM 2.0 as one of the requirements to make sure windows 11 users are safe and secure.
Windows 11 on Macs
It seems that the company would be willing to bend the rules in other to accommodate other markets that include China and Russia. A promise that was recently made to eventually bring windows 11 to Macs might once again bring up the question. This question is “how essential is TPM security requirement anyway.”
Microsoft Windows 11 Disqualifies Old PCs
TPM happens to be more or less an industry-standard that Microsoft just recently created in other to ensure the security of their Windows operating system on compliant PCs. However, it needs to be specialized in hardware for cryptography, and Microsoft would need its presence, specifically version 2.0 of the standard, for windows 11.
This disqualifies PCs that come with much older Intel or AMD processors and custom-built computers without TPM 2.0. And, some question if the TPM would remain critical to windows 11, to begin with.
Yes, The Standard increases windows’ security to some point but is yet to be applied or even allow everywhere. Microsoft’s own documentation notes that windows 11 would not require TPM to be enabled in such cases. Cases like the special images for markets like Russia and China. Whether the TPM hardware would still be required is yet to be present regardless remains unanswered.
Windows 11 Requirements on Macs
Things would also become a bit less clear outside of AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, Windows 11’s officially supported processors. This might just be one major hurdle for Parallels, makers of the very popular windows virtualization software available for macOS.
Recently, the company just committed to bringing windows 11 to Macs but they did not provide a timeline for that. However, without the time factor, the technical problems might just become a barrier that parallels would not be able to overcome.
Parallels actually do offer support for a virtualized TPM for Windows 10. The thing is, it only works on Intel-based Macs. A version for the M1 Macs has also been promised but, again without any indication as to when.
It might just be possible for developers to come up with virtualized TPM 2.0 implementation for the ARM-based M1 Macs. But it might not actually meet Microsoft’s requirements for windows 11. If, on the other hand, Microsoft does not make an exception for virtualized environments, that includes VMWare, then TPM might not be that hard of a requirement for windows 11 after all.
