remember AVM, anyone? it's that seemingly forgotten app which seems to be in oblivion. anyway, AVM 0.1.3 is out. not sure on the windows fixes, but now, it supports Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, as well as windows 11. USB devices, excluding flash drives, work now in both supported operating systems, with a plained fix on the way. the developer is working with Apple, for that. , a workaround for the TPM, in windows 11, on the roadmap. . the app now automatically updates without you having to manually download it from it's website, copy it to the applications folder, and replace the entry for the previous version you've got. . now, I, for one, am excited for where this app is headed next. ., . that it's still being maintained is a welcome surprise.. I had thought that V 1.0.1 would be the last version. I googled it, and a prerelease build, which is the one i'm referencing here, is alive and well. the Ubuntu support is by another developer. it does not talk, in virtual machine creation, with Orca, which is normal behaviour . the mac system voice says Ubuntu is installed, orca will speak in about a minute. it as well says the version, which is hard to find, if you don't know what to look for. what you need is Ubuntu desktop 26.04 LTS, for ARM 64. fan speed increases, which is expected and normal, as well during insulation.. the setup assistant for Ubuntu, asks for no questions, and i think, going forward, this should be an option for windows 11. the reverse for Ubuntu should be optional, as well. Ubuntu works well in my experience, in AVM, but I don't know anything of orca and Linux keyboard shortcuts, so cannot do a whole lot of testing on that right now. . it's good Windows 11 support is still being worked on, with improvements plained and incoming.
Comments
Wonder what framework they're using
From your description, they don't seem to be using the Virtualization framework at all, which provides both Linux and macOS support right out of the box and only needs a user interface. Also, what's the advantage of AVM compared to UTM, which is accessible and does support Windows 11 through qemu?
I'm using the Vmware Fusion virtual machine tool
I am using Vmware Fusion 26h1 u1 version. It's running windows 11. But when VoiceOver is on, the virtual machine shuts down. I can share the Yandex link for those who want to use it.
Re: I'm using the Vmware Fusion virtual machine tool
How's that superior to the experience provided by UTM? Is it just for running Windows applications as if they were running directly on macOS? Usually people reach for Windows to take advantage of the screen-readers available on the platform, so I don't understand the point here.
Re: I'm using the Vmware Fusion virtual machine tool
i am also facing the same issue with vm ware fusion pro. recently the windows is not opening. it is saying like, vm ware fusion pro is not responding. i am not able to start the vm
i want to know the differences between utm and avm.
about screen reader performance and audio lag. are they same in utm and avm?
AVM
AVM is build from the ground up for accessibility with VoiceOver from the start. it has a predictible UI, and it is userfriendly for newbes. I relish the simplisity AVM affords. i have neever used UTM myself so can't say anything about it. VMWare fusion, VoiceOver crashes it, so I don't use the software.
I have never been able to use a Windows virtual machine
I mean shit, I'd love to but the audio drivers are broken in the ARM version so Narrator doesn't start. I'm not using VOCR or an app on my phone to go through setup because I can't aim my camera to save my life. If that's been fixed and if I can get Narrator turned on for my 3.5 mm headphones, let me know
Re: I have never been able to use a Windows virtual machine
I don't have a license of Windows 11 Pro that I can use to test this, but have you tried to make Apple's USB-c to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter available to the virtual machine? It's a pretty standard and pretty decent USB audio adapter especially given its price, and it even supports lossless microphone input if you plug in headphones with a TRRRS jack compatible with Apple's wired earPods. In UTM you can also select one of several sound card chips ranging from the Sound Blaster 16 that was ubiquitous back in the 90s to pretty recent Intel High Definition Audio, so there's a high chance that you'll find a hardware configuration that is supported by the Windows installer.
Re: I have never been able to use a Windows virtual machine
Idk this one but I always have a ugreen 3.5mm jack to usb adapter and I just expose it to the guest vm in whatever virtualization software that os is running and it always works. But I am pretty sure since 1-2 years just a regular jack is seen as generic audio device by windows so it works too, on arm.
I really, really don't see the point of this app. If he [the og dev] wanted to have an alternative to fusion, which is an honorable goal if broadcom history is an indication, then he should have tried to see what already exists on the market and UTM would have solved it.
And honestly, if one is stuck to the point of needing a windows vm on mac, then he might as well educate himself a bit and learn about computers a bit, installing an os gives some soft skills. My point is, this sounds like the usual AT device trap where we are protected from the reality of computing / softwares. Like... it's hard to explain, but nobody is really asking for an accessible ssh client? AKA dumb terminal at the end of the day. At least nobody serious. Mac terminal works perfectly fine, and windows has a built-in ssh server under optional features since forever. Like at some point you stop looking for everything accessible and you learn your way around currently existingsystems, which will arguably always be more robust than something that's unable to handle even 1% of real edge case... I just don't get why this thing exists in the first place. Probably something an llm would have encouraged to code.
And okay, okay, I am hypocritical myself for paying 1 year of parallels cause I wanted a one click experience that was objectively worse but for the 1 gaming experience I had on it (utm doesn't support anything gpu related or something, parallels does). But hey, humans make stupide mistakes 😂 we can just learn and grow. Talking about myself.
User of AVM here
Couple answers incoming. as to why people run virtual machines on Mac aside from the screen readers? To play games, yes? Siince most of the accessible games and mods are on Windows. that's basically the only reason I use a VM. I haven't used UTM myself, so can't speak to it. I can confirm that VMWare fusion does crash VoiceOver, and I gave up on it specifically because I had no way to install Windows on it again without sighted help--and no, I didn't have the funds on hand to purchase a USBC to 3.5 adapter. AVM bypasses the need for that by installing the ARM version of Windows, including the audio drivers.