Installing Windows 11 on M1 Mac Using Parallels

I recently purchased an M1 Mac and have been trying to install Windows 11 using Parallels. Although I've made some progress, I've also encountered a few challenges along the way.

For example, I initially followed the instructions provided by Parallels to install a prerelease version of Windows 11 on my M1 Mac. However, after installing the operating system and VM (except for Norton), I struggled to get the final steps done to obtain a licensed full release of Windows 11 and ensure that Norton was working properly.

Upon further investigation, I realized that I should have researched more thoroughly before purchasing the Mac M1. Despite following the Parallels instructions carefully, I encountered issues with downloading and installing Windows 11 on my M1 Mac.

One of the main difficulties I faced was getting Norton to work properly in the virtual machine. After attempting to download the latest version of Norton from within the VM, I received an error message stating that it was not compatible with the operating system (which I assume is Windows 11).

From what I've learned so far, in order to run Windows on an M1 Mac using Parallels, you need to install Parallels 17, which has been designed specifically for the M1 chip. Once installed, you can then download and install Windows 11.

Overall, while installing Windows 11 on my M1 Mac using Parallels has been a bit of a challenge, I've managed to get most apps working properly (including newer apps like Microsoft 365 and older legacy apps dating back 10 years). The only app that still doesn't work is Norton.

Parallels on m1 mac