Microsoft axes Windows Mixed Reality. Is that a bad thing, though?

Whatever we do, it always comes back to us talking about Meta. And I don’t just mean the controversies surrounding the company’s social platforms. I’m talking about hardware, because this firm makes some of the best VR headsets on the market.

But what do awesome pieces of technology like the Quest 3 run on? Well, officially, we call it the “Quest platform”, but in reality it’s based on Android. Now, if that's the case, why we’re not seeing support for general Android apps is beyond me, but here’s another question: what about Windows on a VR headset?

Well, that exists! Erm, existed given the title of this article. But it wasn’t at all what you would expect and that’s probably part of the course as to why Microsoft made the decision to kill off the service moving forward.



So, what was Windows Mixed Reality or WMR for short? Well, it was a Microsoft endorsed PC VR platform, which featured third-party partners such as HP, Asus or Dell as makers dedicated VR headsets for PC VR. Great.

But here’s the deal: these headsets didn’t offer Windows on a standalone experience. No, no: you still had to own a pretty beefy PC. What about games then? Well, Steam was not only compatible, but the platform used Steam’s own SteamVR driver as a solution.

So what’s this about then? It sounds like just plain old PC VR gaming to me!

And it’s not like Oculus Rift — later acquired by Meta — or the HTC Vive series didn’t exist yet. They did. And they supported PC VR. So why did Microsoft make WMR? Well, simple: to compete. And it sort of sucks that things didn’t exactly work out.

But it’s not like that happened without reason. WMR headsets were critiqued for offering incomplete packages, often criticized for bad tracking capabilities and awfully uncomfortable controllers. Oh, and pretty bad displays too.

And all of those? Pretty essential for a solid VR experience for sure, because it’s what helps you get immersed. And having a solid screen resolution also helps avoid the more nasty side effects that VR comes with, such as nausea.

So now, we’re here and Microsoft will officially stop supporting the WMR platform entirely. But in a world where Microsoft’s Office Suite is now available on the Meta Quest Store, along with its first-party gaming solution: Xbox Cloud streaming, is that such a loss?

Well, I’m not a fan of monopoly — yes, even the boardgame! — but I’ve got to admit that beating Meta at its own game is very difficult, especially now. Which is why 2024 is going to be a very interesting year for VR.