![]() The largest part of any virtualisation system are its VMs. Overall, VirtualBuddy has by far the best interface and controls, UTM could do with a redesign, and Parallels should be embarrassed at releasing a product missing a proper control interface. ![]() However, the solution currently adopted by UTM, with a popup menu offering no less than 35 different settings and an HiDPI checkbox isn’t the answer, particularly when there’s no mention of the Studio Display, surely one of the more popular hardware options. Even when you think you’ve got the settings right, you’ll open a VM only to find it has gone microscopic or is bursting out of its window. This isn’t well documented, and is currently quirky to say the least. The most common problem with all these apps is configuration of the virtual display. Although UTM does provide good GUI controls, they’re hidden behind a tool in its toolbar. Parallels, which provides excellent GUI controls for Windows and Linux VMs, offers none at all for macOS guests, instead requiring the user to edit a text configuration file within the VM bundle. This contrasts with the size of VM disk storage, which is set at first installation and can’t be changed later.Īlthough all the apps give full access to VM settings at installation, they’re not all so easy to change when you run a VM. The Virtualization framework allows VM settings such as the number of vCPUs, memory and display to be made defaults for that VM, and for them to be changed whenever that VM is run. ![]() The only reliable cover for those is with a second bootable system allowing your Mac to start up in Monterey, not virtualisation. None of the apps supports Apple ID connections, which is a serious problem for making the transition to Ventura: this means that a Monterey VM can’t run App Store apps at all, except for Apple’s free apps, such as Numbers. Clipboard support is another feature which is either not available yet, or only supported in an early and experimental form. To exchange files between the VM and the Mac host you should enable file sharing on the host, and connect to that from the guest. This also means that none of the apps supports proper shared folders with the host, because of a limitation in Monterey. That’s essential if you want to downgrade or disable Secure Boot, for example if you want to turn SIP off in your VM. ![]() The one notable exception to this is VirtualBuddy, which apparently uses an undocumented method of booting a Monterey guest into Recovery mode. VirtualBuddy is free and open source, and Viable is also free.Īll four of these apps currently use Apple’s Virtualization framework to download, install and run macOS guests, thus have almost identical core features and shortcomings. Parallels Desktop costs upwards of $/€99.99 or £89.99, and UTM is available from the App Store for around $/€/£9.99, or free from its own site. There’s also my free app Viable now in beta 3.Īlthough VMware Fusion is available in a pre-release version and can run Windows 11 for ARM and various Linux distros as guests, it can’t run macOS as a guest. There are currently three major apps to run macOS as a guest on an Apple silicon Mac with Monterey 12.5 as a host: Being able to run up a Monterey VM is highly desirable to safeguard your Mac’s transition. Although early indications are that apps compatible with Monterey are unlikely to have problems with Ventura, if you want to upgrade to macOS 13, having an escape route is essential. Virtualising Monterey is important to many users with the forthcoming release of macOS Ventura. This article is a brief survey of what’s currently available, placing emphasis on the most challenging task, running macOS as a guest operating system. When it comes to doing the same job on Apple silicon Macs, choice is more limited. Running a different version of macOS or another operating system in a virtual machine is fairly straightforward on an Intel Mac, and there’s no shortage of apps to do that.
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