Windows Mixed Reality: headsets welcome until the OS they need stops existing
Windows Mixed Reality deprecated and then removed in Windows 11 24H2
The market's verdict: +0.9% on MSFT in the week after.
What actually happened
On December 21, 2023, Microsoft quietly deprecated Windows Mixed Reality, and when version 24H2 shipped the following year the platform was removed from Windows entirely, along with the Mixed Reality Portal app and the SteamVR driver. Every WMR headset, including the HP Reverb G2 that sim and flight communities rated above gear costing twice as much, can no longer be set up on a current install. Owners can keep flying only by freezing their PC on 23H2, which Microsoft stops patching in November 2026. Buying the headset was the cheap part; keeping an operating system hostage is the subscription.
This one is officially acknowledged.
Links
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Acknowledgement
- Microsoft Learn (official)
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Impact
- Neowin (publication)
↳ caused by Windows Mixed Reality deprecation (December 2023)
Timeline
- Dec 21, 2023 Stood by it Microsoft stood by it.