UTM Virtual Machines
Run other operating systems
Only for Mac
$9.99
UTM lets you run Windows® 11, Ubuntu®, or macOS(*) fully virtualized with maximum performance. Run Windows® 7, Windows® XP, and other older operating system emulated with decent performance.
UTM uses the popular QEMU system emulator securely in a sandboxed environment to protect your data from viruses and malware in the emulated operating system.
Designed for macOS using the latest and greatest Apple technologies, UTM is built from the ground up with the Mac in mind.
Features:
• Run ARM64 operating systems such as Windows® for ARM and Ubuntu® ARM on your Apple Silicon Mac fully virtualized at near native speeds
• Run Intel/AMD operating system such as Windows® 7, Windows® XP, Ubuntu® Linux, and more (emulated with limited performance on Apple Silicon Macs, fully virtualized on Intel Macs)
• Run macOS 12 or higher in a virtualized environment(*)
• Run Intel applications on Linux with Rosetta(**)
• Over 30 processors can be emulated by the QEMU backend including i386, x64, ARM32, ARM64, MIPS, PPC, and RISC-V for developers and enthusiasts
• Supports macOS Sandbox to protect your data from any viruses or malware infecting the emulated operating system (such as Windows®)
• GUI display mode, terminal console mode, and headless mode (with support for multiple displays)
• Attach USB devices to your virtual machine
• Experimental: GPU accelerated OpenGL on Linux VMs
• Bridged and shared networking support
• Run and store VMs from external drives
• Don't know how to use QEMU? Confused at all the options QEMU provides? UTM provides an easy to understand UI for creating and configuring VMs that does not require knowledge of QEMU command line arguments
Current Limitations:
We are working hard to provide new features. Below are some things currently missing from UTM. We hope to support at least some of these features in the future.
• No direct mounting of external disks and drives, only mounting disk images is supported
• No drag & drop of files and data, only copy paste of text and sharing of a single directory is supported with tools installed
• No GPU acceleration for Windows® and only experimental OpenGL acceleration for Linux (most Windows® games will NOT run)
• macOS virtualization only runs on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 12 and up. macOS 12 does not support USB sharing, copy/paste, or dynamic resolution.
(*) macOS virtualization is only supported on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 12 and up.
(**) Linux with Rosetta is only supported on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 13 and up.
more UTM is quirky, whereas parallels and VMware are polished products. Getting an installation for linux or windows install on my Mac was painstaking because they left out little things. I personally haven’t installed a Windows bistro in years. I kept on crashing the install process for the simply reason of to hit enter as soon as I saw the prompt for example. Parallels now charges a monthly subscription fee, whereas VMware you have to get a Broadcom account the get the free sw, however their is no option for registering as a new user. So there out for now. UTM USB is inconsistent. CD rom images that are not need are still there in the sim, haven’t figure out how the detach them. Sharing folder only can copy non-executable file as opposed to using to move over old already downloaded install programs have around, which got me Tinto how inconsistent the usb device behavior is.
UTM is quirky, whereas parallels and VMware are polished products. Getting an installation for linux or windows install on my Mac was painstaking because they left out little things. I personally haven’t installed a Windows bistro in years. I kept on crashing the install process for the simply reason of to hit enter as soon as I saw the prompt for example. Parallels now charges a monthly subscription fee, whereas VMware you have to get a Broadcom account the get the free sw, however their is no option for registering as a new user. So there out for now. UTM USB is inconsistent. CD rom images that are not need are still there in the sim, haven’t figure out how the detach them. Sharing folder only can copy non-executable file as opposed to using to move over old already downloaded install programs have around, which got me Tinto how inconsistent the usb device behavior is.
I read several of the reviews before purchasing this app, and I honestly do not understand what all the complaining is about. I found this app to be an easy, clean and convenient way to preview new linux distributions, create a macOS and upgrade it to the latest version for preview, or even having a little nostalgia with some older OS’s that can be emulated. I also found this to be a fun and convenient way to run alternative OSes on my iPad. It seems that many of the previous reviewers may not have used ARM based ISO images which could have caused their problems. However, my experience with this has been great! My only issue, which is not bad enough to rate this down a star, is that macOS cannot be used remotely via the UTM Remote iOS app because it cannot be a QEMU based image. Otherwise, this is a very fun and useful tool.
I read several of the reviews before purchasing this app, and I honestly do not understand what all the complaining is about. I found this app to be an easy, clean and convenient way to preview new linux distributions, create a macOS and upgrade it to the latest version for preview, or even having a little nostalgia with some older OS’s that can be emulated. I also found this to be a fun and convenient way to run alternative OSes on my iPad. It seems that many of the previous reviewers may not have used ARM based ISO images which could have caused their problems. However, my experience with this has been great! My only issue, which is not bad enough to rate this down a star, is that macOS cannot be used remotely via the UTM Remote iOS app because it cannot be a QEMU based image. Otherwise, this is a very fun and useful tool.
I emulated Win 7 quick. I’ve used Fusion, it crashes easily. I used the trial for Crossover, it doesn’t really work that well. UTM is updating an emulated install of Win 7 very well. I want to run Audition 3 in Win 7 a DAW I bought years ago and have wav files in an obsolete format that doesn’t work in anything but Audition. I have to RIP the DVDs and convert them in a speedy UTM install of Win 7 then burn DVDs of the converted music. Wish I would have bought UTM instead of trying to run Windows programs in Whisky or Crossover in Rosetta 2. It works on Mac m4 without any issues. My next objective is to install Win 11 intel in UTM and see if I can run halo MCC!
I emulated Win 7 quick. I’ve used Fusion, it crashes easily. I used the trial for Crossover, it doesn’t really work that well. UTM is updating an emulated install of Win 7 very well. I want to run Audition 3 in Win 7 a DAW I bought years ago and have wav files in an obsolete format that doesn’t work in anything but Audition. I have to RIP the DVDs and convert them in a speedy UTM install of Win 7 then burn DVDs of the converted music. Wish I would have bought UTM instead of trying to run Windows programs in Whisky or Crossover in Rosetta 2. It works on Mac m4 without any issues. My next objective is to install Win 11 intel in UTM and see if I can run halo MCC!
Works great for ARM versions of Windows 11 and Linux, as well as emulated Windows XP and Mac OS 9. Does not seem to work for x86 Windows 10 or Linux (unusably slow). If you absolutely need to use x86 software, you should probably stick with x86 hardware.Other feedback: there are some settings that seem like they should be enabled by default but aren’t, like Retina mode and some graphics settings for Linux.The gallery of pre-built images is extremely outdated and the ones I’ve tried have been buggy. You’re much better off doing a fresh install from an iso directly from the distributor.
Works great for ARM versions of Windows 11 and Linux, as well as emulated Windows XP and Mac OS 9. Does not seem to work for x86 Windows 10 or Linux (unusably slow). If you absolutely need to use x86 software, you should probably stick with x86 hardware.Other feedback: there are some settings that seem like they should be enabled by default but aren’t, like Retina mode and some graphics settings for Linux.The gallery of pre-built images is extremely outdated and the ones I’ve tried have been buggy. You’re much better off doing a fresh install from an iso directly from the distributor.
* Fixed some rare conditions that could lead to a VM fail to start and spin infinitely
* Fixed some rare crashes that can happen after a VM stops
* Fixed parsing of file paths with commas in the name (thanks @nikolan123)
* ANGLE: Fixed a memory leak issue in the GLES backend (#7546) (thanks @cnnn)
* ANGLE: Fixed a memory leak issue in the Metal backend (#4958)
* Localization: Updated Chinese (Hong Kong, Simplified) (thanks @changanmoon)
* Fixed App Intents on macOS 26 (#7412) (thanks @peterneutron)
* Fixed an error when file locking is disabled and a removable drive with no image selected is started (#7527)
* (AVF: Fixed shared directory disconnecting when window is resized (#7488) (thanks @evan314159)
4.7.5 Jan 11
• QEMU v10.0.2: The backend has been updated to the latest upstream QEMU which brings with it a variety of bug fixes and performance improvements.
• Liquid Glass: UTM adopts the Liquid Glass design on macOS Tahoe.
• App Intents: New support for automation with Shortcuts.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Define custom key combinations (such as Ctrl+Alt+Del) that can be sent to the VM from the new Keyboard menu.
• Improved Wizard: Simplify the creation of emulated machines by selecting from a list of well-supported configurations. The updated wizard can create more working configurations such as RISC-V64 Ubuntu, classic Mac OS 8.x/9.x, and Windows 95/98.
4.7.4 09/17/2025
v4.6.5 reverted a change from v4.6.4 due to reports of crashes and kernel panics on some machines. As a result, there will be issues when upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 where the screen will go black. An alternative fix is provided as a driver update. Please update the Windows driver from the CD icon -> Install Windows Guest Tools before updating Windows.
* Reverted virtio-ramfb changes from v4.6.4 due to some users experiencing crashes and kernel panics. (#6919)
* Localization: Updated Chinese (Hong Kong, Simplified) (thanks @changanmoon)
* Localization: Updated Korean (thanks @somnisomni)
* Scripting: added icon, display, and registry configuration options (thanks @naveenrajm7)
* Fixed an issue where the cursor might be captured while a modal is presented, making closing the modal impossible (#6960, #7092)
* VM Config: Improved layout of the Apple VM shared directory page (#6712)
* When toggling a shared directory from read-only -> read-write, UTM will crash if the change fails. Now, the option will be disabled if it is known to fail. (#7001)
* Settings: New option to handle first click in QEMU VMs even if the window is in the background (#7098)
* utmctl: Fix utmctl not detecting the application bundle path if UTM.app was renamed (#7094)
4.6.5 07/18/2025
* Fixed an issue with virtio-ramfb device where Windows may sometimes try to render to an inactive display target causing black screen, "Guest has not initialized the display (yet)", or broken cursor. This sometimes happens right after installing the viogpudo drivers for the first time and more recently while upgrading to Windows 11 24H2. (#6332, #6883)
* Fixed a crash that might occur when a serial port is used and a large amount of data arrives at startup
* Fixed a crash that might occur on a VM with a serial port if data arrives as the guest is shutting down
* Fixed a crash launching any ARM64 virtualized QEMU VMs on macOS Monterey or older (#6881)
* Fixed a deadlock (freeze) which can be observed if a Linux VM with GL acceleration enabled is left running for a long time (#5205)
* Fixed auto-resolution restore not working properly after a macOS guest is paused or suspended (#6874)
* Fixed an issue causing the mouse cursor to disappear when a macOS guest is paused (#6875)
4.6.4 01/02/2025
Changes:
* QEMU v9.1.2 The backend has been updated to the latest upstream QEMU which brings with it a variety of bug fixes and performance improvements.
* (macOS 15) Nested virtualization for Linux Linux VMs using Apple Virtualization backend on macOS 15 and M3 or newer will now have nested virtualization enabled by default.
* (macOS 15) Total Store Ordering for QEMU VMs using QEMU backend on macOS 15 can now enable TSO (in QEMU settings) at the hypervisor level. When TSO is enabled on a guest operating system that is aware of the system register (i.e. Rosetta for Linux), performance of Intel emulation within the guest can be greatly improved. Note that if the guest kernel supports dynamically toggling TSO, you do not need to enable this.
* (macOS 15) Improved macOS guest support The last window size (including full screen size) will be restored when the guest supports dynamic resolution. Removable drives and shared directories can now be ejected and changed while the macOS VM is running. Copy/paste synchronization between macOS 15 guest and host now works when the guest tools are installed (from the CD icon in the toolbar).
* v4.6.3 fixed an issue in the last update that caused VMs to not boot
Other notes:
* There is a known issue with macOS 15.0 and 15.0.1 where accesses to files will fail due to permission error. This issue has been resolved with macOS 15.1.
* There is a known issue on M4 series of Macs where virtualization fails for macOS guests older than 13.4. The issue should be addressed by Apple in a future update. (#6794)
* There is a known issue (#6332) with Windows 11 24H2 that causes the display to show a black screen or "Guest has not initialized the display (yet)" upon boot. We recommend not upgrading to 24H2 for existing installs and 23H2 for new installs. If you have already upgraded, please follow the workaround described in the linked issue.
* The default CPU for x86_64 emulation and virtualization will now try to match the architecture of your system or the highest architecture that QEMU supports. For example, a 2016 MacBook Pro or newer will now emulate a "Skylake" based processor instead of a generic x86_64 processor. This should improve compatibility and performance of newer operating systems but may cause issues with older operating systems. If you run into issues, you can manually change the CPU model to an older one in the VM's System settings.
4.6.3 12/04/2024
Changes:
* QEMU v9.1.2 The backend has been updated to the latest upstream QEMU which brings with it a variety of bug fixes and performance improvements.
* (macOS 15) Nested virtualization for Linux Linux VMs using Apple Virtualization backend on macOS 15 and M3 or newer will now have nested virtualization enabled by default.
* (macOS 15) Total Store Ordering for QEMU VMs using QEMU backend on macOS 15 can now enable TSO (in QEMU settings) at the hypervisor level. When TSO is enabled on a guest operating system that is aware of the system register (i.e. Rosetta for Linux), performance of Intel emulation within the guest can be greatly improved. Note that if the guest kernel supports dynamically toggling TSO, you do not need to enable this.
* (macOS 15) Improved macOS guest support The last window size (including full screen size) will be restored when the guest supports dynamic resolution. Removable drives and shared directories can now be ejected and changed while the macOS VM is running. Copy/paste synchronization between macOS 15 guest and host now works when the guest tools are installed (from the CD icon in the toolbar).
Other notes:
* There is a known issue with macOS 15.0 and 15.0.1 where accesses to files will fail due to permission error. This issue has been resolved with macOS 15.1.
* There is a known issue on M4 series of Macs where virtualization fails for macOS guests older than 13.4. The issue should be addressed by Apple in a future update. (#6794)
* There is a known issue (#6332) with Windows 11 24H2 that causes the display to show a black screen or "Guest has not initialized the display (yet)" upon boot. We recommend not upgrading to 24H2 for existing installs and 23H2 for new installs. If you have already upgraded, please follow the workaround described in the linked issue.
* The default CPU for x86_64 emulation and virtualization will now try to match the architecture of your system or the highest architecture that QEMU supports. For example, a 2016 MacBook Pro or newer will now emulate a "Skylake" based processor instead of a generic x86_64 processor. This should improve compatibility and performance of newer operating systems but may cause issues with older operating systems. If you run into issues, you can manually change the CPU model to an older one in the VM's System settings.
4.6.2 12/02/2024
* Fixed an issue causing "The file ... couldn't be opened" immediately after creating a new VM (#6398)
* The timestamp of the .utm package will always update to the last time it runs, this should make managing backups easier (#6474)
* Fixed the error "Failed to lock byte 100: Operation not supported" when trying to attach an ISO which the OS has mounted or from a network drive that does not support locking (#6564)
* Fixed an issue where release notes loading can be delayed by a lack of internet connection (it should just fail silently)
* Localization: Added Arabic (thanks @muhammadbahaa2001)
* Localization: Updated Chinese (Simplified + Hong Kong) (thanks @changanmoon)
* Localization: Updated Japanese (thanks @MMP0)
users
* Remote Server: Immediately start server when "autostart" option is checked (#6429)
* Remote Server: fixed crash when specifying an invalid port number (#6584)
4.5.4 08/26/2024
* Tweaked new icon picker: clicking the icon opens the picker (#6316) and fixed some layout issues (#6317)
* Fixed an issue where mouse/keyboard was not getting released when an error message popped up and "Capture .. automatically ..." is enabled (#6352)
* (macOS 14+) AVF: New option to mount drive on virtual NVMe interface when running a Linux guest with Apple Virtualization. This should address file system corruption issues. (thanks @gnattu)
* (macOS 12+) AVF: Use full synchronization mode for all non-external drives. This should address file system corruption issues. (thanks @gnattu)
4.5.3 05/24/2024
## Highlights
UTM Remote server for macOS: On macOS 13+, you can enable UTM Server from the new option on the home screen or from Window -> UTM Server. Once enabled, you can stream QEMU backend VMs to supported clients. The preferences page includes additional options including auto-starting the server and allowing external connections so it can be used outside of the local network. New documentation pages will be added in the future. The remote client will be on the iOS and visionOS App Store shortly.
## Other Changes
* Improved icon selector UI (thanks @js-john)
* Changed the position of destructive buttons in various confirmation alerts to better comply with Apple Human Interface Guidelines
* Wizard: New options for "Other" operating system to allow for Floppy boot as well as legacy hardware (useful for setting up a DOS machine)
* Wizard: Fixed an issue where the Windows Guest Tools will be downloaded even when a non-Windows VM is created
* New setting: "Capture input automatically when window is focused" when enabled will automatically capture mouse/keyboard when a QEMU VM is started and when the VM window is clicked on (thanks @js-john)
* (When "Capture input automatically when entering full screen" is enabled and the cursor moves to a different workspace (for example through a gesture), the cursor will be captured again upon re-entering the QEMU VM (#6242) (thanks @haroldm)
* Home: Support drag & drop onto a removable drive or shared directory (#3312) (thanks @hamtiko)
* Fixed an issue where cloning/moving an AVFW VM is extremely slower than Finder (#6262)
* Added a progress indicator for long duration tasks such as cloning/moving a VM or reclaiming free space (#4006)
* Fixed an issue with file locking resulting in VMs refusing to boot (#5757, #5830)
* Show confirmation popup for VM downloads (#6156)
* Removed automation URI scheme due to potential security issues (#6155)
* Fixed display of newly selected custom icon (#6137)
* Wizard: allow completely deleting RAM and storage size (#5885)
* Scripting: Fixed file and process commands not working due to incorrect object life cycle (#5963)
* Fixed a crash when removing a device while a text field is highlighted (#5901)
* Fixed error message when double-clicking on a headless VM which has already been started (#5972)
* AVF: New display option to disable dynamic resolution in macOS 14+ VMs (#5873)
* Remove "VM display size is fixed" global setting because it was confusing and does not do the right thing
* Fixed incorrect display scaling when host screen resolution is smaller than VM display size (#6214)
* Updated ANGLE to latest Safari version
* Fixed a crash due to screenshot being saved while the image was being destroyed (#4009)
* Fixed a memory leak caused by a retain cycle while observing changes in the VM state
4.5.2 05/01/2024
4.4.4 fixes an issue where the keyboard was not working on older macOS guests. The changelog for 4.4.3 is as follows:
* macOS Sonoma support: New Apple Virtualization features include save/restore VM state and dynamic resolution for macOS Sonoma guests. Note that currently, you must remove the Sound and Entropy device in order to use save/restore VM state.
* Automatically save state when you close a VM: This will only work on VMs that support save states. If your VM does not support it, you will get an error message with an explanation.
* USB commands in utmctl: You can now use utmctl usb commands to connect and disconnect USB devices from a running VM.
Notes:
* If you are running a virtualized VM on an Intel Mac with TPM enabled and the guest freezes on startup, you will need to temporarily disable Hypervisor (Settings -> QEMU -> Use Hypervisor), boot into Windows, and then re-enable Hypervisor after shutting down. The TPM device changed in v4.4 and this causes an issue on existing VMs.
* Linux guests: Mesa 23.2.1 introduced a bug that will crash UTM with the error GL_ARB_clear_texture. If you experience this bug, temporarily disable GPU acceleration, then downgrade your Mesa package (or update to the next version when it comes out/nightly build), and the switch back to GPU acceleration.
4.4.4 10/21/2023
* macOS Sonoma support: New Apple Virtualization features include save/restore VM state and dynamic resolution for macOS Sonoma guests. Note that currently, you must remove the Sound and Entropy device in order to use save/restore VM state.
* Automatically save state when you close a VM: This will only work on VMs that support save states. If your VM does not support it, you will get an error message with an explanation.
* USB commands in utmctl: You can now use utmctl usb commands to connect and disconnect USB devices from a running VM.
Notes:
* If you are running a virtualized VM on an Intel Mac with TPM enabled and the guest freezes on startup, you will need to temporarily disable Hypervisor (Settings -> QEMU -> Use Hypervisor), boot into Windows, and then re-enable Hypervisor after shutting down. The TPM device changed in v4.4 and this causes an issue on existing VMs.
* Linux guests: Mesa 23.2.1 introduced a bug that will crash UTM with the error GL_ARB_clear_texture. If you experience this bug, temporarily disable GPU acceleration, then downgrade your Mesa package (or update to the next version when it comes out/nightly build), and the switch back to GPU acceleration.
4.4.3 10/18/2023
NOTICE: The previous update introduced a bug which broke VM startup. This update addresses that by reverting the QEMU version back to 7.2.0 (from 8.0.2). We apologize for any inconvenience.
Highlights from the previous update:
- Rewrite of QEMU support internals: Much of the code to support QEMU has been refactored into a new project, QEMUKit, which will make it easier to support QEMU changes as well as support for new platforms.
- TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot: This is required for Windows® 11 updates to 22H2. To enable TPM on an existing virtual machine (only x86_64, i386, and ARM64 architectures are supported), open the VM settings, go to the QEMU page and select "UEFI Boot", "TPM 2.0 Device", and "Reset UEFI Variables." Any new VM created through the wizard will have TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot enabled by default if Windows® 10+ support is checked.
Notes
On i386 and x86_64 machines, HPET is now disabled by default. This improves performance (slightly) on some guests and also addresses boot issues with OpenIndiana. This change means that suspended VM state from previous versions are not compatible, so please shut down those VMs before updating. If you require HPET to be enabled for any reason, go into the VM's settings and under QEMU → QEMU Machine Properties, add the text hpet=on.
4.3.5 08/05/2023
Highlights
- QEMU backend updated to v8.0.2
- Rewrite of QEMU support internals: Much of the code to support QEMU has been refactored into a new project, QEMUKit, which will make it easier to support QEMU changes as well as support for new platforms.
- TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot: This is required for Windows® 11 updates to 22H2. To enable TPM on an existing virtual machine (only x86_64, i386, and ARM64 architectures are supported), open the VM settings, go to the QEMU page and select "UEFI Boot", "TPM 2.0 Device", and "Reset UEFI Variables." Any new VM created through the wizard will have TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot enabled by default if Windows® 10+ support is checked.
Notes
On i386 and x86_64 machines, HPET is now disabled by default. This improves performance (slightly) on some guests and also addresses boot issues with OpenIndiana. This change means that suspended VM state from previous versions are not compatible, so please shut down those VMs before updating. If you require HPET to be enabled for any reason, go into the VM's settings and under QEMU → QEMU Machine Properties, add the text hpet=on.
4.3.4 08/03/2023
* Guest interface commands. New commands accessible from the scripting interface as well as the command line interface (utmctl) can be used to read/write files, execute commands, and list IP addresses. These commands require QEMU guest agent to be installed.
* Scripting interface additions. The scripting interface now allows for creation of a new VM, configuration an existing VM, changing drive image, and more. See the documentation site for more details which includes a cheat sheet for example usage.
* External read-write drive images. In QEMU, if a supported drive interface is selected (USB, Floppy, etc) along with an image type of Disk, the drive can now be marked as either read-only or read-write. This can be used as an alternative way of transferring data to and from the VM when the guest does not support SPICE or VirtFS. In AVF, support for read-write images has be fixed as well (when "read only" is unchecked in the settings).
Additionally, some issues with GPU acceleration on Linux has been fixed (windows showing up as black rectangles for example). Other issues (such as Firefox not launching) can be worked around by switching to Xorg (instead of Wayland) from the log-in screen.
4.2.5 04/25/2023
This is the same release as v4.1.5 but with the change to default enable GPU acceleration for Linux reverted. This is due to a number of guest-side driver issues in the latest version of Mesa (#4983). As a result of these issues, we decided to disable GPU acceleration in Linux by default for new VMs created by the wizard. If you have an existing VM with graphical issues, you can disable GPU acceleration by going into the VM settings, under Display, change the Emulated Display Card to virtio-gpu-pci or another card that does not have -gl in the name. You can verify that GPU acceleration is disabled when the checkbox below the card is unchecked.
4.1.6 02/27/2023
* QEMU backend updated to v7.2.0. Also updated usbredir (0.13.0), virglrenderer (latest commit), ANGLE (latest commit)
* Improved renderer backend. Lots of bug fixes and stability improvements to GPU accelerated Linux VMs (most common crashes when GPU acceleration is enabled should be gone now). New option to change the renderer backend to ANGLE Metal and limit FPS (in Preferences). Switching to Metal is highly recommended.
* AppleScript (OSA) support and CLI interface. You can control parts of UTM through the OSA interface. Currently there is support for listing VMs as well as start/stop/suspend operations and the ability to print out the guest serial port connections. More functionality will be added in the future. A command line application is also provided in UTM.app/Contents/MacOS/utmctl (which you can symlink to /usr/local/bin/utmctl if desired) that can be used for automation tasks without needing to learn AppleScript.
* (macOS 13+) Menu bar extra. You can enable the menu bar extra icon in Preferences (Cmd+,) as well as disable the dock icon. The menu bar extra provides a minimal interface to start/stop/suspend VMs and is useful when paired with headless VMs (a VM that does not have any display or terminal console installed).
Notes:
* Newly created Linux VMs will now use virtio-gpu-gl-pci by default. It is recommended that you change the display card of existing QEMU backend Linux VMs to this card in order to take advantage of the improved renderer backend. This should result in improved performance in GUI rendering. Note that some applications (particularly 3D applications) may lock up or crash UTM and if you are experiencing issues, you can go back to virtio-ramfb or virtio-vga.
* Newly created Windows VMs will now use virtio-ramfb-gl (Apple Silicon) or virtio-vga-gl (Intel) by default. There is NO 3D acceleration drivers for Windows yet, so unlike Linux, this will not improve any compatibility with applications. However, the GL backend can still be beneficial to Windows users because it has smoother animations and less tearing and artifacts. The overall benefits will not be as pronounced as for Linux VMs so it is optional that you change existing VMs to a -gl display card.
4.1.5 01/05/2023
This is a major update to UTM with the following highlights:
• Multiple display and headless mode is now supported for QEMU machines.
• macOS Ventura updates to Virtualization: GUI Linux, Rosetta for Linux, clipboard sync, and more
• VirtFS sharing for QEMU
• Easier Windows® 10/11 installation and Windows® guest tools downloader
• Resize QEMU disk images
• Added more international translations
• Many bug fixes, back end updates, and more...
Detailed release notes and important information at: https://docs.getutm.app/updates/v4.0/
Important note: networking on Linux guests may require reconfiguration after updating to UTM v4, please read the full changelog linked above for more information.
4.0.9 10/21/2022
* QEMU 7.0.0: The backend has been updated to the latest release. Additionally, other backend components such as SPICE GTK, libusbredir, and more have also been updated.
* Reclaiming space: the host will attempt to TRIM any page of all zeros when committed to the QCOW2 disk image. Additionally, a new button in disk settings will allow you to re-convert a disk image to reclaim space (of all-zero pages) as well as compress an existing disk image (macOS 12+ only). Note compression is only done statically which means when the guest modifies a sector, it will be stored uncompressed just like before.
* Disposable mode: right click/long press on a QEMU VM and select "Run without saving changes" to start VM in "disposable mode." In this mode, changes will not be saved to disk and will be discarded once the VM is stopped. (thanks @ktprograms)
Reminder: for troubleshooting common Windows® and Ubuntu® install issues (such as no networking), please check out the guide for Windows® 11 or Ubuntu® 22.04 (linked from the main page with the "Browse UTM Gallery" button).
If you manually added "highmem=on" or "highmem=off" to your QEMU Machine Properties as a workaround to issues in a previous release, please remove it.
3.2.4 05/21/2022
3.1.5 fixed booting recent updated Linux kernel ("EFI stub: Exiting boot services and installing virtual address map...") and a freeze when restarting VM.
3.1.4 introduces the following changes:
* Store .utm bundles anywhere on disk (including on external drives) and import them as a shortcut. See notes below for some limitations.
* Wizard redesign (thanks @js-john)
* Various UI tweaks, fixes, and improvements (thanks @j-f1). Note that some settings have moved to different categories
* Overhaul of the UTM backend which should improve application stability
Notes:
* You can now run .utm files stored anywhere. There are a few caveats: First, all newly created VMs will still be created in the default storage (app sandbox). You can move the VM after creation with the new button on the toolbar or by right clicking (or force touch) on the VM entry and selecting "Move..." Second, when VM shortcuts are deleted, the underlying data is unaffected, and shortcuts are automatically deleted when they are no longer valid (for example, the .utm was moved). You can re-import the .utm by either double clicking it from Finder, or using "File -> Import Virtual Machine..." Finally, Apple VMs do not support persistent shortcuts, which means the shortcut is always deleted after UTM quits. This means you must re-import Apple VMs every time UTM is launched.
* Default machine properties will now always be included unless explicitly set to another value in QEMU settings. For example, if you are booting an aarch64 virt machine, the property highmem=off will be appended unless the user specifies highmem=on in QEMU settings. Previously, when you select virt in VM settings, the machine properties text box will auto populate with highmem=off. If the user deletes it, then the VM will not boot because it requires highmem=off. Advanced users can still specify highmem=on and it will not be overridden.
3.1.5 03/12/2022
* Store .utm bundles anywhere on disk (including on external drives) and import them as a shortcut. See notes below for some limitations.
* Wizard redesign (thanks @js-john)
* Various UI tweaks, fixes, and improvements (thanks @j-f1). Note that some settings have moved to different categories
* Overhaul of the UTM backend which should improve application stability
Notes:
* You can now run .utm files stored anywhere. There are a few caveats: First, all newly created VMs will still be created in the default storage (app sandbox). You can move the VM after creation with the new button on the toolbar or by right clicking (or force touch) on the VM entry and selecting "Move..." Second, when VM shortcuts are deleted, the underlying data is unaffected, and shortcuts are automatically deleted when they are no longer valid (for example, the .utm was moved). You can re-import the .utm by either double clicking it from Finder, or using "File -> Import Virtual Machine..." Finally, Apple VMs do not support persistent shortcuts, which means the shortcut is always deleted after UTM quits. This means you must re-import Apple VMs every time UTM is launched.
* Default machine properties will now always be included unless explicitly set to another value in QEMU settings. For example, if you are booting an aarch64 virt machine, the property highmem=off will be appended unless the user specifies highmem=on in QEMU settings. Previously, when you select virt in VM settings, the machine properties text box will auto populate with highmem=off. If the user deletes it, then the VM will not boot because it requires highmem=off. Advanced users can still specify highmem=on and it will not be overridden.
3.1.4 03/09/2022
New Feature Highlights:
* Wizard for VM creation: Easily create a new VM with the correct default settings with a guided step-by-step wizard. Preview: https://twitter.com/UTMapp/status/1475606159428046854
* QEMU v6.2.0: Updated QEMU backend to the latest release. Full changelog: https://wiki.qemu.org/ChangeLog/6.2
* (macOS 12+, ARM64) Virtualize macOS 12: New integration with Apple's Virtualization.framework backend allows native hardware accelerated virtualization of macOS 12 (supporting both CPU and GPU virtualization). UTM can also download the latest macOS installer directly from Apple. (This is only supported on macOS 12+ running on an ARM64 Mac.)
* Virtualize Linux with Apple backend: You now have the option to use Apple's Virtualization.framework to virtualize Linux. Note that while there are some performance benefits, it is still recommended to use the QEMU backend as it is more stable, has more device support (including graphical display), and is easier to configure.
Important Notes:
* The default CPU for ARM64 virtual machine has changed from "cortex-a72" to "default". This is the recommended option and you should change your existing VMs to use it. When using virtualization on M1(X) macOS, the "cortex-a72" CPU is known to have compatibility issues which causes the VM to sometimes freeze (including during Windows install). default will use the host CPU model when virtualization is used and "cortex-a72" when emulation is used.
* The GL hardware acceleration support is now marked experimental to highlight that it is not stable. It is also no longer the default option. If you are experiencing lots of crashes, make sure that you chose a display hardware that is not marked as "GPU Supported".
* The cursor and resolution change issues on ARM64 Windows has been fixed in SPICE tools 0.164.3. If you are using an older version and experience such issues, please update to the latest SPICE tools at https://mac.getutm.app/support/
* If you manually added virtualization=on to your VM machine properties, you should remove it.
Other Changes:
* The downloader will no longer perform CRC checks on the ZIP file and this will significantly speed up extraction.
* Redesigned VM settings
* Make HVF per-VM configurable (#2493)
* New Terminal frontend with SwiftTerm, currently only used with Apple backend on macOS
* Add virtio-rng-pci device to fix boot warning about randomness source (thanks @ktprograms)
* Default upscaling mode is now "nearest neighbor"
* Fixed floppy drives being read-only (thanks @conath) (#3333)
* Fixed an issue where sometimes a VM will not boot due to invalid drive id (thanks @conath) (#3388)
* Changing target to PC (i440FX) will now turn off hypervisor on x86_64 by default because it is unstable (#2420)
* Any imported drive on an interface that is NOT floppy, pflash, or none will be converted to QCOW2. This does not apply to removable drives.
* Fixed an issue where an imported drive does not use the selected interface
* Add new preference to terminate when all windows are closed (previously this was the default) (#3483)
* Fix retina mode support for QEMU VMs (note that previously there was a global preference to enable retina mode that is now removed, per-VM setting should be used instead) (#3471)
* Remove QEMU VM setting for "Fit to Screen" as it was never implemented for macOS
* Changed the default USB 3.0 controller from qemu-xhci to nec-usb-xhci which addresses an issue where the DVD drive disconnects randomly on Windows ARM64 and causes random errors during setup (#3194)
* Fixed save panel opening when you try to close the settings (#3494)
* Fix invert scrolling option (thanks @ktprograms) (#3497)
* Hide non-disk drives from the drives icon menu and properly describe the "EFI Variables" "drive" in settings
* Fixed suspend save state being broken in a previous update
* Fixed a crash when a toolbar icon is hidden due to small window size and a toolbar option is selected from the menu
3.0.4 01/23/2022
## Notes
**Note that some changes require updates to your VM configuration so please read this part carefully.**
* Cursor disappearing on Windows 10/11 has been fixed with an updated VirtIO GPU driver. Additionally, dynamic resolution (auto-change resolution when VM window is resized) and more fixed resolutions (matching all the screen resolutions of the latest Mac computers) were added to the driver. This requires you to download the latest SPICE tools ISO from https://mac.getutm.app/support/ and run the installer again (or manually updating your GPU driver from the ISO if you know how).
* In v2.4.0, newly created Q35 and PC machine (x86 and x86_64) defaulted to the `Skylake-Client` CPU model. Subsequently, it was discovered that the change caused performance regressions. v2.4.1 reverted the default CPU model to `Default` but if you created a new Q35/PC VM in v2.4.0, it is recommended that you manually change the CPU in System settings to `Default`.
* Since v1.0.0, UTM used the RTL8139 network card as the default for Q35 VMs (x86 and x86_64) and Virt VMs (ARM64). There is a bug in the device implementation that causes the Windows driver to freeze the system and many users reported Windows Installer freezing as well as random freezes through normal use. In v2.4.0, we changed the default network card for Virt machines to `virtio-net-pci` and in v2.4.1, we changed the default network card for Q35 machines to E1000. However, this change only applies to newly created VMs, and any existing VMs may still suffer from the random freeze issues. It is recommended that you change your network card to `e1000` for Q35 machines and `virtio-net-pci` for Virt machines. Windows 7 and above should have the Intel E1000 network card drivers already installed, but the VirtIO Network card requires drivers in the SPICE tools ISO from https://mac.getutm.app/support/ (if you previously installed this, you should have the drivers already on your system).
* Since v2.1.2, UTM provided an option (Cmd+,) to "Use only performance cores by default" which defaulted to off. When on, any VM which does not have a manually configured CPU count (> 0) will set the CPU count to the number of performance cores on the system. In v2.4.1, we have made this option on by default which means if you previously have not modified this option, then it will now be on. If you turned the option on, it should not change and if you turned the option on and later off again, it should still be off. The reason for this change was because users may not be aware of this option which can result in degraded performance when left off and we believe the default should reflect the best possible performance. Note that as before, if you manually set a VM's CPU count > 0, then this option does not change anything.
## Changes
* Improved zh-Hans translation (thanks @js-john)
* Fixed inverted mouse cursor colour in Windows
* New VMs will only use PCores by default (unless manually overridden with Preferences or per-VM config), this also fixes #3180
* Changed default Q35 audio card to intel-hda
* Changed default Q35 network card to E1000 and Virt network card to virtio-net (#3130)
* Removed default CPU for Q35 and PC configurations because the Skylake-Client CPU resulted in performance regression (#3249)
* Fixed downloadVM URL action when the ZIP name collides with the .utm name (thanks @conath)
* Fixed a race condition leading to crash when a VM is shut down suddenly
2.4.1 11/07/2021
## New Features (Summary)
* Improved support for SPARC and S390x
* Updated macOS icon thanks to a real designer (@JackHinkle)
## Changes
* Fixed crash when trying to pause a GL accelerated VM (#3207)
* Configuration should reset more settings when changing architecture
* Fixed UTM exit when deleting a VM
* Fixed an incorrect mapping of removable drives causing an error "device not removable" when drives are moved around.
* On ARM64 virt systems, use the virtual USB 3.0 bus for the virtual DVD drive, should improve read times and fix some Windows installer issues (#3194) (thanks @conath)
* Fixed a crash booting OpenBSD (#3197) (thanks @agraf)
* Fixed a crash caused by a race condition when an error occurs during VM launch
* Keyboard mapping accidentally swapped left/right Cmd and Option (#3175) (thanks @zeldin)
* Removed "beep" when pressing Cmd+key while mouse is not captured (#3217)
* Pass Ctrl+Tab to VM even when not captured because it is a common shortcut. VoiceOver users can use VO+Arrow to navigate.
* Unhide cursor when alert prompt shows up
* Fixed crash when trying to share a VM (#3208)
## Known Issues
* VM sometimes randomly freezes (#3130, #301)
2.4.0 10/31/2021
## New Features (Summary)
* **URL automation and VM downloading** (#2670) (thanks @conath) Allows for controlling and downloading VMs with `utm` URL.
* Improved cursor/keyboard capturing and handling: permit macOS shortcuts (minimize, full-screen) when not captured, fix various cursor bugs, basic support for VoiceOver and capturing, and more.
* Various UI enhancements: export log/args to file (#3056), title bar changes (#3125), exit confirmation works beyond Cmd+Q/W (#3154) (thanks @ktprograms and @conath)
## All Changes
* Fixed DNS resolution on IPv6
* Updated zh-Hans localization (thanks @ty-yqs)
* Ensure temporary files are deleted when VM creation is canceled (#3012)
* Support re-generating and customizing MAC address (#2724)
* On PC/Q35 devices, USB mouse and keyboard will be disabled in order to prevent interference with the PS/2 keyboard and mouse that is always added to the machines. Some software such as Windows Installer will not work with the second mice.
* Move VM name in main window from title to subtitle, reduces confusion when switching windows (#3099) (thanks @conath)
* Show confirmation alert when closing/quitting with the menu or the button (#3103) (thanks @ktprograms)
* Error alert (instead of crash) when trying to use unsupported features on below macOS 11.3 (#3118)
* Support starting input capture with Ctrl+Opt (#3119)
* Reduced UI thread blocking in terminal mode with lots of output spewing (#2404, #2555)
* Add alternative hotkey for capture (Cmd+Opt) (#2710)
* Unhide cursor when popup alert shows (#3101)
* Fixed crash when Fn key is pressed (thanks @ktprograms) (#3179)
* Fixed Unicode support in terminal mode (thanks @tie)
* Added additional Windows icons (thanks @conath)
* Fixed numpad issues
* Correct key mapping for ISO keyboards (#3175)
* Layout issues in settings on macOS Monterey
## Known Issues
* Networking can be broken in some instances, we are still investigating the cause. (#3051, #3094)
* Windows 11 installation may randomly freeze and be corrupted (#3130)
2.3.1 10/26/2021
## New Features
* (macOS 11.3+ Only) **Bridged networking and shared networking support**. You can configure it in the Network settings for your VM.
* (macOS 11+ and iOS 13+) **GPU acceleration for OpenGL on Linux**. Use `virtio-ramfb-gl` or `virtio-vga-gl` display device and compatible Linux drivers (most modern Linux distros will have it already installed). Windows is not supported because there is currently no virtio-gpu driver for Windows that supports 3D acceleration. Note that newly created VMs will default to a "GPU Supported" display device on supported architectures but existing VMs must manually change the display device in Display settings. GPU acceleration is still an experimental feature, so it may not work in some situations (including many 3D use cases).
* **EFI Boot**. By default new VMs created for pc, q35, and virt* machines will have EFI enabled. In previous versions, EFI is only enabled for virt* machines. Due to compatibility with boot, existing pc and q35 VMs will NOT have EFI enabled and must be manually turned on in Settings -> System -> Advanced Configuration -> UEFI Boot. This may also require you to re-install the bootloader on your VM. As part of this change, EFI variables will also be properly handled (on both ARM and x86 VMs). Note that if you've configured a custom pflash device for your VM, the new UEFI Boot option will take no effect (same as before).
* **QEMU v6.1.0** is now used for the backend.
## Changes
* Fix crash when setting custom VM icon (#2387) (thanks @ktprograms)
* Disable Port Forwarding feature for bridged networking (thanks @conath)
* Fixed memory leak (#2720)
* Fix layout issues in settings on macOS Monterey (#2644)
* Fix capturing of hotkeys (such as Cmd+Tab) (#2677)
* Disable port forwarding options for shared & bridged networking
* Refactored non-OpenGL rendering code, fixing some random crashes seen in TestFlight reports.
* Windows BSOD on boot/setup due to `PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA` (#2721)
* Settings no longer crash when an error occurs while saving a new VM
2.2.4 09/10/2021
* Fixed some rare conditions that could lead to a VM fail to start and spin infinitely
* Fixed some rare crashes that can happen after a VM stops
* Fixed parsing of file paths with commas in the name (thanks @nikolan123)
* ANGLE: Fixed a memory leak issue in the GLES backend (#7546) (thanks @cnnn)
* ANGLE: Fixed a memory leak issue in the Metal backend (#4958)
* Localization: Updated Chinese (Hong Kong, Simplified) (thanks @changanmoon)
* Fixed App Intents on macOS 26 (#7412) (thanks @peterneutron)
* Fixed an error when file locking is disabled and a removable drive with no image selected is started (#7527)
* (AVF: Fixed shared directory disconnecting when window is resized (#7488) (thanks @evan314159)
more Version 4.7.5 Jan 11
Data Not Linked to You The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity: