Installing and running op system on a M1 MacBook

[bakkabakka]

Hey I'm new to Lennox and I could use a hand. I've honestly never really even use a desktop before and I just purchased this MacBook Air with M1 chip. I have an external hard drive connected and I would like to download an operating system like Whonix tails and I'm pretty sure they won't run directly on this computer. Please help.

 

[Brickwizard]

Whonix tails

Not over familiar with them, but I am aware these two applications/programs are best run in virtual machines, and are designed to work with any main operating system with a VB. And neither are particularly novice friendly

 

[KGIII]

As it stands, I don't think any mainstream are fully set up for the M1 architecture. Support was just added in a recent kernel and the whole OS would have to be compiled for that architecture - it's an ARM but I can't find any distros supporting it yet.

How to Run Linux on an M1-Based Mac

Apple is on a roll with its current lineup of M1-based Macs. Thanks to their ARM architecture, M1-based Macs are extremely power-efficient and offer better performance than many comparable PCs. It isn’t impossible to run Linux on M1-based Mac and we’ll discuss how to run Linux on an M1-based Mac.

linuxhint.com

The information at that link appears to still be true.

So, enjoy your Mac for a while and Linux will catch up shortly. Probably...