Help & support

Install VMware Fusion and Windows App, download the Windows 11 ARM64 ISO, then open Horef Portal and choose New Windows 11…. Pick the ISO, the language of the ISO, cores, memory and disk size. Horef Portal creates the virtual machine and installs Windows 11 Pro without questions: disk layout, a local account with a generated password, Remote Desktop, separate program windows and VMware Tools with the 3D driver. It takes about 15–30 minutes and several restarts. When the desktop appears and a couple of minutes pass, shut down Windows and click Installation Finished.

Double-click a program in Horef Portal. Windows starts in the background if needed, and the program opens in its own window through Windows App (RemoteApp) — next to your Mac apps, without the Windows desktop. Add any program with Add Program and its path in Windows; right-click a program to create a Dock shortcut. Desktop opens the full Windows desktop.

Local Network — allow it: the virtual machine is reached over VMware’s local network; without it the connection silently fails. Accessibility — lets Horef Portal answer Windows App’s prompts and enter the Windows password for you (button Allow password entry… on the virtual machine’s card). Keychain — the Windows password is stored in your Keychain; choose Always Allow when Horef Portal reads it. Files on an external disk — if the virtual machine lives on an external drive, allow access once.

No. Windows App asks “Connect to …?”, for the password and about the virtual machine’s certificate every time; with Accessibility allowed, Horef Portal answers these prompts itself — only in the window of its own connection and only while it is waiting for it — and enters the password from your Keychain. The password is never written to files or logs. Without Accessibility the prompts stay with you: click Copy Password and paste it. Show displays it for typing in the VMware window; switch Windows to the English layout first. The user name is shown in Horef Portal (user by default).

Open Desktop, then Settings → System → Activation → Change product key, and enter your Windows 10/11 Pro key. Retail keys work; an OEM key tied to another PC usually does not activate in a virtual machine.

Turn on Start Windows with Horef Portal and Windows boots in the background whenever the app opens, so programs appear within seconds. In Settings choose a folder for new virtual machines, or use ⋯ → Move to Another Disk…: the files are copied, checked and the original goes to the Trash. If the disk is not connected, the app says so and skips the start.

Apple silicon only: Windows 11 for ARM runs x64 programs through Microsoft’s built-in emulation, slower than native. 3D works through VMware’s DirectX 11 / OpenGL driver; games with kernel anti-cheat usually do not run in virtual machines. The automatic installation skips Windows 11’s TPM and Secure Boot check, as tools like Rufus do; Microsoft does not officially support such installations. A virtual machine with 4 GB of memory on a 16 GB Mac is comfortable; close heavy apps during the installation.

Horef Portal checks horef.app once a day (Settings → Check for updates automatically) and on Horef Portal → Check for Updates…. When a new version is out, it shows what is new; Install and Relaunch downloads the DMG from horef.app, checks its SHA-256, our developer signature and Apple’s notarization, and replaces the app after it quits. Virtual machines and settings are not touched. You can always download the DMG from this page instead.

Delete the virtual machine in Horef Portal (its disk goes to the Trash), then move Horef Portal to the Trash. Settings: ~/Library/Application Support/WinLauncher; the password: Keychain Access, search “Horef Portal”.