Our great sponsors
-
MSSQLEXPRESS-M1-Install
Installers and installation scripts for Microsoft SQL Server Express on ARM64.
-
WorkOS
The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. The APIs are flexible and easy-to-use, supporting authentication, user identity, and complex enterprise features like SSO and SCIM provisioning.
Hello, I use Visual Studio 2022 and SQL Server on a daily basis on a Mac M2 arm via Parallels Desktop. Overall, it works... but there are some small issues. As you mentioned, SQL Server is not compatible with ARM, but it is possible to install it anyway if you are willing to do without certain components (such as SQL Agent). For local use without networking, it works. You can check out this link for installation instructions: https://github.com/jimm98y/MSSQLEXPRESS-M1-Install. I develop in ASP.NET MVC .NET Framework and everything works except for EntityDesigner. The few times I need EntityDesigner, I use a Windows PC and send myself the code. It's not ideal, but for now, it works. As for Visual Studio, it works well and is responsive. I have more issues with ReSharper, which slows down the use of VS quite a bit. Unfortunately, I have a hard time doing without it. When I deactivate it, everything works correctly, but when I activate it, everything is slower and crashes at times. I imagine that an update will correct this one day. I was surprised to see that certain popular extensions were simply not available (such as Github Copilot). Regarding Windows, you need to use an ARM version that is offered for download by Parallels. My x64/86 license was accepted on ARM, so I didn't need to buy a new license. Windows is responsive and even works faster than some Intel machines I have, which are not bad machines. I haven't noticed any difference between a x64/86 Windows and an ARM Windows in terms of use. To conclude, it's not perfect, but it's possible and I imagine that over time, there will be more and more ways to make it work. I hope this helps you with your decision :)