Microsoft is deprecating Windows Mixed Reality — it will be removed from a future version of Windows

News
By Andrew E. Freedman
published

Microsoft's latest deprecated features list signals the end for its mixed reality platform.

Acer Windows Mixed Reality headset
(Image credit: Future)

Microsoft's virtual reality ambitions are shrinking. In a list of deprecated features in Windows, the company has added an entry for Windows Mixed Reality, its platform for running apps and games on headsets.

This means the Mixed Reality Portal app and Windows Mixed Reality for Steam will also meet their ends.

Windows Mixed Reality launched back in 2017, with headsets from several PC manufacturers, including Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo and Samsung. At the time, the Oculus Quest and HTC Vive were leading the virtual reality pack.

This isn't a huge surprise, as there weren't a ton of Windows Mixed Reality headsets out there, and they didn't seem a ton of wide adoption despite what, in some cases, were affordable prices. HP stuck with the headsets, launching the Reverb G2 in 2020,  but there weren't regular releases from many of the companies that made them.

This leaves HoloLens 2 as Microsoft's main mixed reality platform, though that's primarily aimed at businesses and starts at $3,500. There have been questions as to when a HoloLens 3 might ever come, and HoloLens lead Alex Kipman left the company in 2022 following misconduct allegations.

Windows Mixed Reality never seemed to generate the type of excitement that Oculus (and, after being purchased, Meta) could create with its headsets. While Sony has dipped into VR for PlayStation with two separate headsets, Microsoft never made a VR headset for Xbox. And now as Apple is set to launch its Vision Pro headset early next year, Microsoft is backing out of the space.

In recent months, Microsoft teamed with Meta to bring Office and Xbox Cloud Gaming to Quest, which seems to be an extension of the company's philosophy of making certain products available on any platform.

I'll always be a bit fond of the potential Windows Mixed Reality had. Back in 2017, I made the mistake of wearing Acer's headset for a full workday, using the "Cliff House" to place browsers around the walls. It was a bad idea that scars me to this day, but modern-day standalone headsets and improvements to passthrough cameras probably make working in VR far more tolerable. Desirable, though? That's a whole other question.

Andrew E. Freedman

Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and Mastodon @FreedmanAE.mastodon.social.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • emike09
    Sad. I started with the first Oculus Rift, sold it because I hated how low-res it was, and motion sickness tech hadn't been refined yet. Got an HP Reverb G2 a couple of years ago and love it. High resolution, great framerate, good tracking, and decent controllers (wish they had finger recognition). It was also affordable. But most of all, none of the FB/Meta analytics, no required logins, and great Steam support.

    I know deprecation means I'll still be able to play all my favorite games, but I was hoping to see continued development of WMR. Curious to see how Valve works with this information. Every Apple lover is going to be buying their headsets just because. I see VR becoming popular again in the next 2 to 3 years.

    There's nothing in VR quite like actually flying a plane in FS2020. Using the controllers to pull knobs, flip switches, grab the yoke. Lean around to see your approach better. Lean in to see your dials better. Such a fun experience.
    Reply
  • Neilbob
    I honestly think VR (as it exists now) comes with too many compromises to ever be more than niche.

    Though this is largely from my perspective; I get dizzy just standing in place. I expect VR would make me implode.
    Reply
  • daworstplaya
    This truly is sad news. WMR has probably one of the most stable VR platforms out there and I'm coming at this after using Oculus, Vive, SteamVR and Varjo. The HP Reverb G2 still has panels that have a higher resolution than the Meta Quest 3 and none of the streaming over USB crap. I would've loved to see an improvement on the HP Reverb G2 but alas that doesn't seem to be in the cards. Once you've experienced the 3D immersion in VR, there is no going back to pancake gaming.
    Reply
  • rluker5
    I've got a couple of HP headsets. They were good enough and cheap. One is lent out to a friend at work and I plugged it in (for the first time in years) to see if it still worked and on the Windows start hub there is this HoloTour app. It just had some Rome stuff the last time I tried it, but now it has the Machu Picchu area as well. I took my daughter there in Peru just this summer and we were a bit rushed through some of it. It was nice to get some more of the standard tourist background and really nice to feel like we were there (recent memories that matched helped, we could look around in VR and it looked just like it did when we were there). In ways it beats the pictures I personally took for remembering the experience.

    That HoloTour was an unexpected treat. Also had fun with multiplayer Serious Sam 3 vr.

    I would not have tried VR if not for the low price of entry with WMR.

    It is a shame to see WMR going the way of 3D gaming.
    Reply
  • George³
    1968 – Sword of DamoclesIn 1968 Ivan Sutherland and his student Bob Sproull created the first VR / AR head mounted display (Sword of Damocles) that was connected to a computer
    From here...
    Hardware is so vastly advanced today that VR headsets should have been something as common, common and cheap as plastic Chinese sunglasses. Why didn't it happen. Too much corporate greed looking for thousands of percent profit.
    Reply
  • eichwana
    Back in 2017, I made the mistake of wearing Acer's headset for a full workday, using the "Cliff House" to place browsers around the walls. It was a bad idea that scars me to this day

    Any chance of hearing more? :D
    Reply
  • kyzarvs
    I went to an arcade in Florida and experienced a full VR with a walking rig and everything and was told that VR was the future.

    Best guess, this must have been no later than 1993 as that was the last year we went as a family to Florida as I was 17/18 then. It's been coming an awful long time and I don't see it ever being mainstream - I've heard "this is the year of VR" for far too long.

    I tried a Rift, flippin superb with a wheel setup for driving games, but was awful to the point of beiong painful with my wide-rimmed glasses. My 22 year old daughter has a Quest2, I've never bothered to give it more than a 5 minute try. The price of entry is huge to get decent performance and there is still the ever present issue of you look like a total berk while doing it and for a huge number of people with families / pets (I have tripped over a dog a couple of times whilst playing Gunsmoke) / a life etc - they just don't want to do it.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    George³ said:
    Hardware is so vastly advanced today that VR headsets should have been something as common, common and cheap as plastic
    Depends on what kind of image quality you expect to have. If you want screens as good a low-end cell phones and the rendering horsepower of low-end cell phones, then VR glasses could be as cheap as maybe 1.5x of a low-end cell phone.

    The problem is that they didn't hit such volumes as commodity cell phones do, and most people want better screens and more rendering horsepower.

    But, hey, you're always free to use Google Cardboard with the phone you do have.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    kyzarvs said:
    Best guess, this must have been no later than 1993 as that was the last year we went as a family to Florida as I was 17/18 then. It's been coming an awful long time and I don't see it ever being mainstream - I've heard "this is the year of VR" for far too long.
    Every decade or so, it undergoes a resurgence as new users discover it and old users try to see how much better it is with the latest technology. Each time, people are hoping it'll gain enough traction to be self-sustaining.

    kyzarvs said:
    for a huge number of people with families / pets (I have tripped over a dog a couple of times whilst playing Gunsmoke) / a life etc - they just don't want to do it.
    Apple might be onto something, with their mixed-reality approach. We'll see...
    Reply
  • jp7189
    I've kept in touch with a few people since school and now we're spread all over the place. However, every Tuesday night without fail we jump in to VR and shoot zombies, or explore a dungeon, or race each other in wingsuits. It's definitely one of the highlights of my week.

    Before VR we would occasionally (once a year maybe) plan and execute a game day. VR brings so much more immersion and sense of connection that has never been achievable with pancake games.
    Reply