topic Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC in System Administration

[Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

MC_14160667 — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 19:20:18 GMT

After a month of experimenting and testing stability for PTC Creo, I would like to share my solution that will allow you to freely run PTC Creo on your Mac 😊

Tested Requirements:
These are the requirements that I have personally tested, any other version/device may not work similarly.
Tested VMware Fusion Version: 13.6.4
Tested 64-bit ARM Windows 11 build: 26100.4349
Tested Mac Devices: Mac Mini M4 (24GB RAM), MacBook PRO M1 Pro, MacBook Pro M4 Pro, MacBook Air M3.
Tested Creo Releases: Creo 10, Creo 12
Tested MacOS Operating System: Tahoe 26.0.1

Installation Steps:
Download the latest 64-bit ARM Windows 11 build, or better, the one I listed. I sincerely recommend CrystalFetch app (it's free) for getting the ISO file. Create a new Virtual Machine on VMWare Fusion with the previous ISO.
Install your Windows operating system, update it, configure it to your liking, etc...
Make sure that in your VMWare settings you have enabled the following:
1) Settings -> Display -> Accelerate 3D Graphics (Hardware Acceleration) ON
2) Keyboards and Mouse -> use "Mac Profile" -> Double Left-Click on "Mac Profile" -> General -> "Always Optimise Mouse for Games" ON.
The second instruction arises from a specific bug where CTRL input is not successfully transmitted to Creo, resulting in problems such as being unable to do multiple selection of lines, surfaces, etc... which is an essential feature.

After making sure these settings have been enabled in your VM, you can proceed to download your copy of PTC CREO.
The setup (installer application) should, according to my tests, run without issues. Input your license, let the installer finish (possibly Ignore the Java 21 missing warning). After the installer has completed, close the installer and we now need to add a System Variable for Windows.

Go to "Edit System Variables" in your Windows menu, and add the following "System Variable" by clicking on "New". name will be PRO_MACHINE_TYPE and value will be x86e_win64

You should now be able to successfully run your PTC Creo, however there's still a critical problem with the hardware acceleration that has to be fixed.
Reach to the File button, then in the settings find the config.pro settings and add the following:
name: enable_opengl_fbo
value: no
This fixes strange display issues inconsistencies (lines were flipped and moving around without it).

Good luck!

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

DavidBigelow — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 18:58:38 GMT

👏 NICE - Got any videos of it working with a decent size assembly on the graphics? This has always been a major hic-up in previous experiments... Curious if you tried Parallels also?

Dave

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

MC_14160667 — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 23:39:12 GMT

Hi, thank you.
Yes, I've definitively tried Parallels and I absolutely recommend it if you can afford its yearly fees, its way smoother and with less issues, the only thing required for parallels is the environment variable I mentioned before (PRO_MACHINE_TYPE ... etc).
About assembly, I'm sorry but I don't do those much. I'm just a university student and things aren't very complex and hardly above 5-10 items per piece. Graphics are good, I can show you a fun project I did with Freestyle on my Mac mini M4, I didn't feel lag during the process!
Easily running shaded or reflection mode, can even try rendering maybe if you have PRO cpu. Although obviously no support for ANSYS or Simulation so far because missing drivers.

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

DavidBigelow — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:06:11 GMT

Very cool - I have been using Parallels on Intel Mac for years (still works amazing - even the graphics). BUT as you pointed out,,, good luck running any FEA related things as the Graphics Drivers become REALLY important. I wish PTC would embrace the Mac Platform more. Apple seems to have a lot of really cool things going regarding memory and raw performance.... OR... re-open up and distribute Linux [they started with Unix back in the day] - but that comes with driver hell again. With all the Win11 issues this past year, I am sure a LOT of companies would be open to Linux. But... for routine work Parallels on Intel has been perfect and plenty zippy for me at least...

I will have to investigate the performance with Parallels on the M-Series chips - the LACK of support and complaints about graphics over the years across multiple CAD systems on M-Series and Parallels has kind of discouraged the investment. But you have given me a >51% confidence. 😂

Thanks for the share and info!

Nice work BTW - very cool.

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

jgong-3 — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 13:34:55 GMT

Yes, Thanks!

I did follow up all your step, open part and assembly file no problem. But when I create a new part system crash.

Any solution?

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

PA_10361132 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:59:12 GMT

I tried this. It works on UTM with Windows for ARM and Creo 9 as well. The performance is not great despite the fact that I have a M4 macbook pro with 38 gigs of RAM. I will try it on VMWare fusion and see if there are any improvements.

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

jgong-3 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:38:04 GMT

I did all step above, and added line in config.pro following:

graphics win32_gdi

Don't know what that means.

Not good performance But definitely works!

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

DavidBigelow — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:51:21 GMT

That is an old configuration setting that forces a stepover of OpenGL.
Seem to be a reliable one (been using it for years).

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

jgong-3 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 17:12:38 GMT

yes, but lost all color. Hopefully they will fix in the future.

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

DavidBigelow — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 17:17:21 GMT

Might be related to the VM configuration for graphics -- Parallels or VMware?

Also - it might be module specific - Fluids and Analysis packages are VERY sensitive to the drivers (they expect specific things to work - otherwise it looks like a terrible tessellation with no real control of clear view of the models)

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

jgong-3 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:32:21 GMT

VMware 25H2 and 13 is same

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

StephenW — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:33:29 GMT

That option pretty much disables your graphics card. It is good for testing graphics card problems but in generally shouldn't be a long term fix, troubleshooting only. I don't know anything about running creo on a mac.

There are a few other options that may not be as detrimental to performance as that specific graphics option.

Remove the graphics option from your config and test each of these individually, restart creo between each change.

use_software_opengl no
ENABLE_OPENGL_DEBUGGING no
ENABLE_OPENGL_FBO no
ENABLE_OPENGL_SHADER no
ENABLE_OPENGL_VBO no

You can also test the yes/no setting on each

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

jgong-3 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:15:11 GMT

I have MacBook Pro m4_

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

jgong-3 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 21:51:35 GMT

VMware fusion 25h2

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

jgong-3 — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:42:36 GMT

Thanks, I will try.

But I'm thins that's Mac graphics hardware problem.

Also, could be Arm windows 11?

Re: [Tutorial] Running PTC Creo (10-12) on VMware Fusion on Arm MAC

MC_14160667 — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:54:28 GMT

Hi, VMware Fusion will definitively perform better.
After several months from my original post, everything still works correctly even after VMware Fusion major update.
Performance isn't always amazing for advanced projects, but for that I'd recommend trying Parallels which is exceptionally well made.