Do you still have an Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, or Samsung VR headset lying around? If you recently tried plugging it back in on Windows 11, you probably discovered something frustrating: it just stopped working. That wasn’t a glitch or a driver issue on your end — Microsoft deliberately removed Windows Mixed Reality (Windows MR) support with the Windows 11 24H2 update. Overnight, thousands of people were left with perfectly functional hardware that had been turned into nothing more than an expensive paperweight. Windows 10 users are safe using this -more reliable- OS (even without upcoming updates).
What makes this worse is that Windows MR wasn’t some half-baked experiment. It was a mature, well-developed ecosystem with years of engineering behind it and official integration with SteamVR, supporting multiple graphics cards at once—even being different models—and efficient enough to require less horsepower to run apps and games. And yet, instead of maintaining support or offering a graceful transition, Microsoft simply walked away — leaving its customers behind.
Then came a surprising twist. Matthieu Bucchianeri, a lone Microsoft engineer working on his own time, released Oasis, an unofficial SteamVR driver that brought Windows MR headsets back to life on Windows 11. He did what Microsoft wouldn’t: he gave users their devices back, for free.
Now Valve has stepped in. With SteamVR Beta 2.13.1, Oasis is automatically installed when you try to use a Windows MR headset on Windows 11 24H2 or later. In other words, even if you’ve never heard of Oasis or the drama around Microsoft’s decision, you’ll be able to plug in your headset and jump back into SteamVR without headaches.
This is crucial, because most VR owners don’t follow industry news closely. Without Valve’s change, someone dusting off an old headset — or picking one up secondhand — might never have figured out why it wouldn’t work. They might have simply assumed it was broken and thrown it away.
The bottom line? Microsoft had a solid ecosystem with dedicated customers. Instead of respecting that investment, it abandoned both the technology and the people who relied on it. Thankfully, individuals like Bucchianeri — and companies like Valve — have shown that users don’t have to lose out just because a tech giant gave up.
Microsoft had the remarkable HoloLens, offering a richer user interface than the Apple Vision Pro—but only through an augmented reality headset. They didn’t need to reinvent the wheel; all it would have taken was a virtual reality headset with AR-capable cameras, like Vision Pro, to capitalize on over a decade of ecosystem development and finely tuned AR programs. Instead, they seem determined to ignore their own advantages, throwing years of hard work straight into the trash while Apple marches ahead. Much like Google does with many of its most interesting apps.
Kudos to Valve—always looking out for its users, even those using competitor products, like providing updates to ensure GOG or Epic Games Launcher run smoothly on the Steam Deck, or on headsets other than Valve Index.