[mickelsen]

The problem is that the whole virtualization situation was left as an afterthought in the Apple ecosystem, and it got worse during the Apple Silicon transition years.

Just now things are starting to catch up, but there's still a wide gap in features; Apple Virtualization Framework is still very limited. And a personal limitation I hit recently, no USB4/Thunderbolt passthrough anywhere, not in UTM (which uses AVF), not in VMWare either.

Also remember the final Apple Silicon version of VMWare supporting M1/M2 wasn't available until November 2022 (it was a tech preview before), while all the Broadcom situation was ensuing. And I think only as of 2024 it runs smoothly. So far it's still the most reliable for desktop Linux VMs for me. Windows 11 for ARM runs very well too, and it does x86 emulation transparently, even 2010s games run well.

[burnt-resistor]

The uncomfortable reason is, despite WWDC hooplah and ostensible dev support, Apple looks down on developers as annoyances because designers, rich people, and celebrities are their north star... because it's all about the elite culture and lifestyle.

[prmph]

I see. But how exactly do I get VMWare now if I can't log into Broadcom's website?

[burnt-resistor]

You have to create an account with an email address they accept.