parallels on Macbook Air M1

shehr85 wrote:

is it ok to install parallels on my Mac Air M1 2020.

Yes. It's fine. Nothing dangerous or wrong about it.

is it same as bootcamp?

No. Bootcamp lets you install Microsoft Windows or other non-Apple operating systems on an Intel Mac besides macOS. Each OS is independent of the other and runs without the other one running.

Parallels let you install Windows inside macOS in what is known as a Virtual machine. An App if you will that has Windows inside a window and runs at the same time as macOS.

With that said, currently M1 Macs do not support running Microsoft Windows directly, and Parallels only supports the ARM version of Windows which is currently only available in BETA testing form, and not really meant for regular users.

Just to add to what Phil mentioned. The ARM64 Insider Preview of Windows 11 runs very well on an M1 MacBook Air in Parallels Desktop. However, the Windows applications you wish to run, may or may not be compatible with ARM64. There's also no support if you run into a problem.