How to Run Windows 11 on an Apple Silicon Mac with Tart

Running Windows 11 in a virtual machine on an Apple Silicon Mac is nothing new. Apps such as Parallels Desktop and UTM have supported Windows on Apple’s ARM-based Macs for years.

But Tart, the command-line virtualization tool designed to create, run, and clone virtual machines almost like containers, has traditionally been limited by Apple’s Virtualization framework. Officially, Apple’s virtualization support is intended for macOS and Linux guests, leaving Windows outside Tart’s supported guest operating systems.

That is now changing thanks to an experimental fork created by developer Mustafa Akin. His version of Tart adds support for installing and running Windows 11 ARM64 on Apple Silicon Macs directly from the command line.

I tested the fork on a Mac Studio with an M4 Max using a French Windows 11 ARM64 ISO, and the installation worked surprisingly well. The process is still experimental, however, and there are several important limitations to understand before using it.

Here’s how to get Windows 11 running with Tart.

What You Need Before Installing Windows 11

Before getting started, make sure you have the following:

• An Apple Silicon Mac with an M-series chip
• macOS 26.6 or macOS 27
• Xcode, required to compile the modified Tart build
• A Windows 11 ARM64 ISO
• Enough free SSD storage for the Windows virtual machine
• Basic familiarity with Terminal and PowerShell

You can download the official Windows 11 ARM64 ISO from Microsoft:

Download Windows 11 ARM64

There is an important caveat here. This Tart fork depends on two private, undocumented Apple virtualization settings. Apple could remove or change them in a future macOS update, potentially breaking Windows support.

In other words, this is best treated as an experimental virtualization project rather than a foundation for a production homelab.

Build the Windows-Compatible Tart Version

Mustafa Akin provides a prebuilt binary, but compiling Tart yourself has an advantage: the included packaging script locally signs the application with the virtualization entitlement required by the modified build.

First, clone the Windows guest support branch:

git clone --branch windows-guest-extras https://github.com/mustafaakin/tart.git
cd tart
git checkout e4c623c
./scripts/package-windows-preview.sh 0.1.0-windows-preview
export PATH="$PWD/dist/windows-preview/tart.app/Contents/MacOS:$PATH"

The final export command places the newly compiled Tart executable at the front of your PATH. This ensures your terminal uses the experimental Windows-enabled version rather than another Tart installation that may already be present on your Mac.

Once the build is ready, you can create a Windows 11 virtual machine directly from your ARM64 ISO.

For example:

tart create win11 --from-iso ~/Downloads/Win11_Arm64.iso

Tart takes care of the rest. It downloads the required virtio-win drivers and WinFsp, creates the installation media, and starts the Windows installation process.

In my test, the complete process took approximately 26 minutes before I had a working Windows 11 VM.

Windows Language and Keyboard Limitations

The installation process currently expects U.S. English, and other Windows languages may cause problems.

Interestingly, a French Windows 11 ARM64 ISO worked correctly in my test, and Windows remained in French after installation.

The main issue was the keyboard layout. The initial environment used a QWERTY keyboard, so keep that in mind when entering commands during the setup process.

Install the virtio-Socket Driver and Tart Guest Agent

There is one additional manual step that is easy to miss.

According to the developer, the Tart guest agent currently needs to be installed manually. However, there is another important detail: the viosock driver, which provides communication between macOS and the Windows guest, is not among the drivers automatically injected by Tart.

The drivers included by the process are:

• viostor
• viogpudo
• NetKVM
• viorng
• viofs

Without viosock, tart exec won’t work correctly.

Fortunately, Tart keeps the downloaded virtio-win ISO in its cache. You can mount that ISO and copy the ARM64 viosock driver into a shared directory.

Run:

hdiutil attach -readonly -nobrowse ~/.tart/cache/windows/sha256:303f7ae40dad495d6ae474fdc571df58958a4dbc5c37a522d80f9a203867949d.iso

mkdir -p ~/tart-share

cp -R /Volumes/virtio-win-0.1.302/viosock/w11/ARM64 ~/tart-share/viosock

hdiutil detach /Volumes/virtio-win-0.1.302

curl -L -o ~/tart-share/tart-guest-agent.exe https://github.com/mustafaakin/tart/releases/download/windows-preview-0.1.0/tart-guest-agent.exe

tart run win11 --dir=share:$HOME/tart-share

Keep the tart run command running in this terminal.

Open a second Terminal window for the remaining steps and make sure you are using the experimental Tart build again:

export PATH="$PWD/dist/windows-preview/tart.app/Contents/MacOS:$PATH"

Configure Windows 11

When the VM starts, Tart automatically logs into the Windows environment using the default account:

• Username: admin
• Password: admin

The shared macOS folder should appear inside Windows as drive Z:, with the shared files located in the share directory.

Open PowerShell as Administrator inside Windows. Remember that the keyboard is initially configured as QWERTY.

Install the viosock driver and configure the Tart guest agent to launch automatically:

pnputil /add-driver Z:\share\viosock\viosock.inf /install

mkdir "C:\Program Files\Tart"

copy Z:\share\tart-guest-agent.exe "C:\Program Files\Tart\"

$a = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "$env:SystemRoot\System32\conhost.exe" -Argument '--headless "C:\Program Files\Tart\tart-guest-agent.exe" --run-agent'

$t = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtLogOn -User $env:USERNAME

$s = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -ExecutionTimeLimit ([TimeSpan]::Zero) -RestartCount 999 -RestartInterval (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 1)

$p = New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal -UserId $env:USERNAME -LogonType Interactive -RunLevel Highest

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Tart Guest Agent" -Action $a -Trigger $t -Settings $s -Principal $p

Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Tart Guest Agent"

Get-Service VirtioSocketWSP

The final command should report:

Running

If the VirtioSocketWSP service does not exist or isn’t running, the viosock driver wasn’t installed correctly. Check the output from pnputil and make sure the shared viosock directory contains the viosock.inf file.

Test Windows 11 from macOS

Once the guest agent and driver are working, you can control the Windows VM directly from your Mac’s Terminal.

For example:

tart exec win11 cmd /c ver

A successful installation should return the Windows version, such as:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.8037]

The VM identifies itself as an Apple Virtualization Generic Platform running Windows 11 ARM64.

This is where Tart becomes particularly interesting.

Create Disposable Windows 11 VMs

The biggest advantage of running Windows with Tart isn’t necessarily using it as your primary Windows desktop.

It’s the ability to create disposable Windows environments that can be cloned and destroyed extremely quickly.

First, shut down the original VM:

tart exec win11 shutdown /s /t 0

Then create a clone:

tart clone win11 w1

The clone operation is essentially instantaneous because Tart uses the VM image as the basis for the new instance.

You can then launch the cloned VM without a graphical window:

tart run w1 --no-graphics

This is particularly useful for automated testing and command-line workflows. Once the VM is running, you can execute Windows commands remotely from macOS using:

tart exec

When you’re finished, stop the VM:

tart stop w1

And remove it completely:

tart delete w1

That makes Tart particularly interesting for developers who need temporary Windows environments rather than a permanent desktop installation.

What Doesn’t Work Yet

Despite the impressive installation experience, this Windows 11 Tart implementation has significant limitations.

It shouldn’t currently be considered a replacement for Parallels Desktop or a full Windows virtualization solution.

No Audio

The virtualized Windows installation currently doesn’t provide working audio.

No GPU Acceleration

There is also no hardware-accelerated graphics, which means graphics-intensive Windows applications and games aren’t an appropriate use case.

No VM Suspension

You can’t suspend the Windows VM in the same way you might with a more mature desktop virtualization product.

Nested Virtualization Is Problematic

Nested virtualization is another major limitation.

Windows can freeze when attempting to start technologies such as WSL2 or Hyper-V, making those workloads unsuitable for this setup.

No TPM

Running:

Get-Tpm

confirms that the virtual machine doesn’t currently provide a TPM.

This can matter for applications or Windows features that depend on TPM functionality.

Disk Performance and Storage Usage

Storage is another area worth watching.

According to the developer, disk performance is currently one of the weaker aspects of Windows 11 ARM64 under Tart. Tart can also generate logs quickly, potentially consuming a significant amount of SSD space over time.

If you’re experimenting with this setup, monitor your Mac’s available storage.

Change the Default Windows Password

One security detail should not be overlooked.

The experimental VM starts with:

Username: admin
Password: admin

You should change this password immediately if the VM will remain accessible on your network.

The Tart environment also exposes SSH functionality on its internal network, so the default credentials shouldn’t be treated as safe for anything beyond a temporary test environment.

Who Is This Windows 11 Tart Setup For?

Despite its limitations, the project has a very specific use case.

If you simply want to run Windows applications on an Apple Silicon Mac every day, mature solutions such as Parallels Desktop or UTM remain much more practical.

Tart becomes more interesting when you need fast, disposable Windows environments from the command line.

For example, developers can use cloned Windows VMs to:

• Test Windows applications
• Run automated scripts
• Reproduce software issues
• Create temporary Windows environments
• Experiment without modifying a primary Windows installation
• Quickly create and delete clean VM instances
• Integrate Windows testing into development workflows

The container-like workflow is arguably the most interesting part of the project. Instead of maintaining one large Windows installation, you can create a base image, clone it whenever necessary, perform your tests, and delete the clone afterward.

Final Thoughts

Running Windows 11 ARM64 on an Apple Silicon Mac through Tart is still an experimental project, but the concept is remarkably compelling.

The installation process can create a functional Windows 11 VM from the command line, while Tart’s cloning capabilities make it possible to spin up disposable Windows environments with very little overhead.

There are substantial limitations today: no audio, no GPU acceleration, no TPM, no VM suspension, and problems with nested virtualization such as WSL2 and Hyper-V. The project also depends on private Apple virtualization functionality that could change in a future macOS release.

For everyday Windows use, this isn’t the solution to choose. But for developers, testers, and Mac users who want lightweight, scriptable and disposable Windows 11 ARM64 environments, the project is worth watching.

Source: Mustafa Akin’s documentation and Windows-on-Tart project.