Good Bye Windows Mixed Reality Platform—Microsoft Ends Availability for Future Use

It is official, Microsoft is ending the future availability and integrations of the Windows Mixed Reality platform in its releases, with the renowned experience no longer something it will feature with its offers. However, the good thing is it will not exactly be gone, as it will remain on the platform where it is currently available, offering a way for its remaining devices to get the experience.

This latest shutdown of Microsoft centers on the apps affiliated with its mixed reality platform too, and not only the main software.

Good Bye Windows Mixed Reality Platform

Microsoft's official list of deprecated features for the Windows client revealed that the Mixed Reality Platform that the company introduced six years ago is now part of it. What this means is that the company would no longer include this on future versions of Windows, and essentially, it is a discontinued experience for the desktop, tablet, and other devices to experience it.

This is like Microsoft's development of the HoloLens series, the platform no longer sees updates and new experiences for Microsoft, with its announcement taking place only this month.

Back when it was released, Microsoft offered a way for users to experience an in-person mixed reality, sharing this initial feature with the world, and was adopted by several VR companies for their tech.

Microsoft Ends Availability for Future Use

This Microsoft shutdown centers on the Windows Mixed Reality software for the desktop that launches automatically when hooking up the headset after driver installation. It also includes the shutdown of its Mixed Reality Portal where users are allowed the live experience from the feed.

Lastly, there is also the Windows Mixed Reality for Steam VR, the service connected to the Steam VR Beta, also deprecated by the company.

Microsoft's Windows XR Platform

There is no doubt that Microsoft's Windows is one of the first modern experiences that offers the best of the augmented and virtual reality platforms in the world, going ahead of others in the competition. This centered on its first take on the Windows Mixed Reality headsets in 2017, offering it for a starting price of $399, but it first focused on virtual reality as this was the growing experience back then.

While it did not reach massive fame like what Oculus Quest and Apple's Vision Pro experience now, Microsoft was iconic for this release, particularly with the Windows 10 Preview Build 18329. This specific build release allowed users to run traditional desktop apps in the Mixed Reality platform, integrating more of Windows' experience to the wearable, expanding more in the virtual space.

However, while this was an iconic feature that Microsoft offered before, it was ahead of its time and did not quite get the recognition it deserved from the world. Despite Microsoft's focus on mixed reality in the past until now, it was not able to ride the trend unlike Meta and Apple's take on XR.

Sadly, this Windows experience will soon be unavailable leaving behind the Mixed Reality platform to current software, and soon, no longer offered by Microsoft.