A similar thing will happen with WMR headsets in November of 2026, by the way (they’ll work beyond that, but you can’t download the software anymore after that date):
Since these depend on Windows itself, I don’t think there will be an easy (or even possible) workaround.
Sad news, because these are cheap, high-res, fast to set up, easy to use and generally very decent headsets. Controllers are not top of the class, but good enough for almost anything. Ideal for people interested in tipping their toes into proper PCVR.
There are already third party/open source drivers being developed for WMR hardware, though. Like Monado.
It’s unlikely WMR headsets will be completely unusable after M$ drops support, but A) they will still work with existing systems, B) third party software will hopefully be okayish by then and C) it will almost certainly be possible to “pirate” the Microsoft WMR application(s) the same way it is already possible to manually re-add modules back into Windows that have been officially discontinued.
Thanks for informing me about Monado, but it seems like it’s exclusive to Linux. That’s hardly ideal. Then again, it’s more than two years until November of 2026, so a lot might happen until then.
For Monado on Windows iirc the current state is that it works but not with real hardware (which is usually well supported officially anyway) due to lack of drivers. Now if it becomes the only platform to keep supporting WMR the developer incentive is definitely there.
A similar thing will happen with WMR headsets in November of 2026, by the way (they’ll work beyond that, but you can’t download the software anymore after that date):
https://www.uploadvr.com/windows-mixed-reality-headset-support-end-date/
Since these depend on Windows itself, I don’t think there will be an easy (or even possible) workaround.
Sad news, because these are cheap, high-res, fast to set up, easy to use and generally very decent headsets. Controllers are not top of the class, but good enough for almost anything. Ideal for people interested in tipping their toes into proper PCVR.
There are already third party/open source drivers being developed for WMR hardware, though. Like Monado.
It’s unlikely WMR headsets will be completely unusable after M$ drops support, but A) they will still work with existing systems, B) third party software will hopefully be okayish by then and C) it will almost certainly be possible to “pirate” the Microsoft WMR application(s) the same way it is already possible to manually re-add modules back into Windows that have been officially discontinued.
Thanks for informing me about Monado, but it seems like it’s exclusive to Linux. That’s hardly ideal. Then again, it’s more than two years until November of 2026, so a lot might happen until then.
For Monado on Windows iirc the current state is that it works but not with real hardware (which is usually well supported officially anyway) due to lack of drivers. Now if it becomes the only platform to keep supporting WMR the developer incentive is definitely there.