I just ordered new Macbook Air M1, my question is - Will I be able to install Windows 10 on my Mac with Boot Camp Assistant?

No, unless Microsoft releases a version that can be installed in a virtual machine.

What you need to understand is that Windows and all apps for Windows are made for x86 processors. Intel and AMD make x86 processors, so Windows is made to run on their processors.

The M1 chip is not an x86 processor, but based on ARM architecture. That means Windows can't run on the M1 chip, unless Microsoft releases a version that is made for running on the M1 chip. They have versions that run on ARM (among others, the Surface line has ARM based devices), but they are not for sale to the end customer.

Even if Microsoft releases a version for ARM, the apps that run on Windows won't all just work. They need to be recompiled for the new version of Windows, or emulated. Microsoft is working on emulation, but there's not definitive yet.

In conclusion, currently you can't run any Windows apps on the M1 Macs. It may be possible in the future, but that depends on support from Microsoft and app developers. I don't expect any of that to happen in the coming few months.

Read the article I linked.

For those not willing for some reason:

"With virtualization, the virtual machine uses hardware directly, although there is an overarching scheduler. As such, no emulation is taking place, but this limits what can be run inside virtual machines to operating systems that could otherwise run atop the underlying hardware."

In short: software can only run inside a VM if it can run on the hardware itself. The only thing you will be able to run inside VMs on Apple Silicon Macs are operating systems built for ARM. The VM demo on stage during the M1 introduction was an ARM build of a Linux distro.

The Windows version you can buy from Microsoft today only runs on x86 hardware like processors from Intel and AMD. It does not run in ARM hardware. Therefore, it will not run inside a VM that runs on ARM/Apple Silicon.

Anyone saying this is wrong or I don't understand how it works: please show me either x86 software run in a VM (not emulated) on ARM or vice versa, or show me an article from a VM software company or Microsoft or any reputable source that proofs me wrong. Otherwise, read the article I linked before and learn something.

rccharles wrote:

Sign up to the Parallels Apple M1 Technical Beta Here;

https://b2b.parallels.com/Apple-Silic...

Also, https://www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-apple-silicon-mac/.

I'm sorry, but I'm correct. Parallels has already announced that they've been working on allowing Windows to run on the M1 as-is. Whether they do so using emulation or virtualization is irrelevant; the question from OP was, "will there be any other way to install Windows?" The answer is yes, there will be (and as @twoframesperminute points out, you can use CrossOver to run specific Windows apps in the meantime).

No.

You can check with the virtual machine vendors, Parallels, Fusion, or VirtualBox, to see if their virtual machines will run on that model computer.

Please point me to that source. The only thing Parallels has said (https://www.google.nl/amp/s/www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-apple-silicon-mac/%3famp) that I can find is they are working on virtualization, and excited to see Microsoft working on x86 emulation on ARM. They haven't said x86 Windows will work on ARM. They haven't said they can virtualization Windows. They haven't said they will do emulation.

I think you are a little confused about what a virtual machine like Parallels, Fusion, or VirtualBox are and provide. Windows is Windows, there are not different versions of Windows, one that runs natively using Boot Camp and one that runs in a virtual machine. A virtual machine creates a virtual hardware environment.

Loner T wrote:

Microsoft Office was ported to macOS because many consumers wanted a Mac, but also Office. BTW, I have a copy of 2004 MS Office.

Today's Microsoft might do it for that reason, but the Microsoft of 1989, when Microsoft Office for Mac was originally introduced, did it as a strategic move to help Apple stay alive in an attempt to avoid monopoly charges by the DoJ.

cpatch wrote:

Today's Microsoft might do it for that reason, but the Microsoft of 1989, when Microsoft Office for Mac was originally introduced, did it as a strategic move to help Apple stay alive in an attempt to avoid monopoly charges by the DoJ.

Quite true. Bill Gates invested heavily in Apple, which, at that time, made me wonder. It did work out very well for Apple in the long run.

You have no idea how a virtual machine works.

One of the main advantages of a virtual machine is that it allows you to run operating systems that weren’t designed to be run on your native OS or processor, so of course Microsoft doesn’t have to release a version of Windows made for running on the M1 in order for Windows to run on the M1. Boot Camp is, of course, a different story.

Unfortunately, cpatch is wrong. Look up the difference between emulation and virtualization. To run the normal version of Windows it would require emulation of an x86 system. I know of no projects to do whole system emulation for x86. CrossOver does single app emulation and seems to works already, though.

The definition of a "virtual machine" is that it virtulizes hardware. An operating system running in a virtual machine does not use the physical hardware so no hardware dependent drivers are required. Boot Camp provides native installation of Windows using the actual hardware. Boot Camp installed Windows will not run on M1 hardware. Intalling Windows using a virtual machine visualizes the hardware so Windows, and other operating systems will run in the virtual machine running with M1 hardware..