Some first impressions from quick testing of some new OS releases for ARM architectures with Fusion 13.6.4 on Apple Silicon
Windows 11 25H2 Release Preview
Microsoft released a beta version of the next version of Windows 11 (25H2) to the Insider Release Preview channel this week. Typically releases to the Release Preview channel allows testing of a new Windows release with code that will closely resemble what will be ultimately shipped.
I successfully enrolled my Windows 11 24H2 Home Edition instance into the Windows Insider program and switched it to the Release Preview channel. I was offered the 25H2 upgrade, and successfully installed it. The build number changed to 26200.5074.
From what I'm reading through online sources such as https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2025/08/29/releasing-windows-11-version-25h2-to-the-release-preview-channel/, Windows 11 25H2 is being released as an enablement package. The enablement package turns on pre-staged new features that have been disabled in Windows 11 24H2 updates and resets the Windows 11 version for software lifecycle purposes. This is similar to what Microsoft did for the transition from Windows 11 22H2 to 23H2.
Because 25H2 is being released as an enablement package, the switch to the Release Preview Channel release was super quick -- compared to the complete OS re-installation (along with the associated disk space requirements) needed for the upgrade from 23H2 to 24H2. I suspect that the official released upgrades will be easy as well.
Note that Microsoft hasn't provided Windows 11 25H2 ARM ISO installation media for this Release Preview Channel release (at this time). They note that they will be providing 25H2 ISO media "next week via the Windows Insider ISO download page", but these have typically been for x86_64 architectures only -- not ARM. Assume for now that you'll need to enroll an existing VM in the Windows Insider program or see if you can build the Insider Preview release from uupdump.net if you want to get a look at 25H2.
Early testing hasn't shown any problems. I'm running my VM with the latest VMware Tools release 13.0.1 with no apparent problems. I would suspect that the version of VMware Tools released with Fusion 13.6.4 would work as well.
Debian 13 "trixie"
Debian 13 (codenamed "trixie") was released in mid August 2025. See https://www.debian.org/News/2025/20250809 for the official announcement and details on what's new and changed.
I've been running the pre-release development arm64 version for some time now, and have found no issues. The upgrade from those pre-release versions to the official release have been successful.
The two scenarios I want to test and report back on are:
- Fresh installation from ISO. Pre-release versions installed without issues, so I don't expect any problems with their released ISOs.
- Upgrade of existing Debian 12 VM in-place. Debian has provided instructions on how to upgrade in the Debian 13 release notes, so I'll be verifying those.
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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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