Microsoft has removed Windows Mixed Reality from Windows 11.
With Windows 11 24H2, the latest major version of Microsoft’s PC operating system, you can no longer use a Windows MR headset in any way – not even on Steam.
This includes all the Windows MR headsets from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, including HP’s Reverb G2, released in 2020.
Screenshot taken by UploadVR.
UploadVR tested Windows 11 24H2 with a Reverb G2 and found the above notice. Microsoft confirmed to UploadVR that this is an intentional removal when it originally announced the move back in December.
In August 3.49% of SteamVR users were using a Windows MR headset, which we estimate to be around 80,000 people. If they install Windows 11 24H2, their VR headset will effectively become a paperweight.
“Existing Windows Mixed Reality devices will continue to work with Steam through November 2026, if users remain on their current released version of Windows 11 (version 23H2) and do not upgrade to this year’s annual feature update for Windows 11 (version 24H2).”
The death of Windows MR headsets comes on the same week Microsoft revealed that HoloLens 2 production has ended, and that software support for the AR headset will end after 2027.
Despite the name, all Windows MR headsets were actually VR-only, and are compatible with most SteamVR content via Microsoft’s SteamVR driver.
The first Windows MR headsets arrived in late 2017 from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, aiming to compete with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive that had launched a year earlier. They were the first consumer VR products to deliver inside-out positional tracking, for both the headset and controllers.
[…]
In recent years Microsoft has shifted its XR focus to a software-based long term strategic partnership with Meta.
Soon, it will also bring automatic extension of Windows 11 laptops by just looking at them, including spawning entirely virtual extra monitors.
And earlier this year Microsoft announced Windows Volumetric Apps, a new API for extending 3D elements of PC applications being streamed to Meta Quest into 3D space.
A real crying shame. So another reason people will hang on to their Windows 10 installations even more. Hopefully (but doubtfully) they will release the source code and allow people to chug on under their own steam. Bricking these headsets in under four years should be illegal.
Robin Edgar
Organisational Structures | Technology and Science | Military, IT and Lifestyle consultancy | Social, Broadcast & Cross Media | Flying aircraft
