Petition: Windows Mixed Reality should be open source, not deprecated

More and more people are signing it by the hour

3 min. read

Published onFebruary 20, 2024

published onFebruary 20, 2024

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We reported earlier thatMicrosoft will discontinueWindows Mixed Realityfrom Windows 11, version 24H2, and the feature will reachEnd of Life(EoL) in Nov’26. It now appears that the decision wasn’t well received by the community.

There’s apetition onChange.orgdoing rounds urging Microsoft to make theWindows Mixed RealityVR Platform an open-source project to let developers improve the functionality and keep it alive!

The petition states two critical reasons for makingWindows Mixed Realityopen-sourced:

Created onFebruary 14, 2024, the petition has already garnered629signatures at the time of writing and has an initial goal of1000.

The number is expected to increase in the coming days, given that many who invested inWMR-supported devicesare enraged with the decision. We came across multipleRedditthreads where users shared similar concerns.

However, your WMR headsets won’t stop working right away. As perMicrosoft’s official page,

So, to continue using your WMR devices with Steam untilNov’26, you will have topermanently disable Windows updatesand stay with the currently installed version.

This does put the PC at risk, given that it wouldn’t receive any updates in the time frame. It’s something Microsoft should address!

AfterNov’26, when Microsoft stops releasing security updates forWindows Mixed Reality, it will become vulnerable and prone to threats, and you will have to be a lot more cautious.

Coming to whether this or any other similar petition will make Microsoft change its decision, the chances are bleak. Windows Mixed Reality wasn’t a profitable venture and offered limited capabilities.

The decision to deprecate WMR doesn’t affectHoloLens. Microsoft remains committed to it.

If you, too, wantWindows Mixed Realityto remain available, sign the petition and show your support! And do not forget to share your thoughts on the decision in the comments section.

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Petition: Windows Mixed Reality should be open source, not deprecated#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Petition: Windows Mixed Reality should be open source, not deprecated