one can’t run an x86 OS on an ARM architecture

This is the limitation. There is an ARM version of Windows, but the comments from Microsoft don't sound terribly promising:

  “Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on ARM to OEMs. We have nothing further to share at this time.” [1]

And Apple has more firmly stated that this won't be an option:

  “We’re not direct booting an alternate operating system,” says Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering. “Purely virtualization is the route. These hypervisors can be very efficient, so the need to direct boot shouldn’t really be the concern.” [1]

1: https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/24/21302213/apple-silicon-ma...