Yes, Microsoft Just Quietly Renamed Windows Holographic

We just discovered this while recording Windows Weekly today, but Microsoft has renamed Windows Holographic to Windows Mixed Reality.

In retrospect, this should have been obvious: About a month ago, Microsoft renamed Holographic settings in the Windows 10 Insider Preview. And more recently, and more obviously, today’s announcement about mixed reality never once used the term “Windows Holographic.” But the graphic I used in my own article literally says “Welcome to Windows Mixed Reality!”

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Sigh.

Anyway. Here’s the quote from Microsoft, which appeared first in MSPowerUser.

“Microsoft renamed ‘Windows Holographic’ to ‘Windows Mixed Reality’ to be more encompassing of the company’s broader vision for the platform. We’re unifying the mixed reality ecosystem around a platform that enables shared experiences and interoperability between headsets. By opening up the Windows Mixed Reality platform to the industry at large, we anticipate the growth of holographic apps will make for stronger experiences and better devices for everyone.”

With this in mind, I reread today’s announcement to see how obvious this should have been. And while I feel like Microsoft should have just come out and said it, the post does reference such things as a Windows Mixed Reality session at GDC, Windows Mixed Reality experiences that will light up on other devices over time, Windows Mixed Reality-ready PCs, and the Acer Windows Mixed Reality Development Edition headset.

So it was actually fairly obvious. Anyway, there you go.

 

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Conversation 11 comments

  • skane2600

    01 March, 2017 - 4:52 pm

    <p>'Windows Holographic' or 'Windows Mixed Reality’, it's still a technology that the general public has never heard of.</p>

    • MutualCore

      02 March, 2017 - 1:25 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#87476">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>But it's very important, because reasons!</p>

  • 12Danny123

    01 March, 2017 - 5:26 pm

    <p>Majority will call it just Windows MR</p>

  • Bats

    01 March, 2017 - 9:13 pm

    <p>They just substituted one dull name with another. </p>

    • MutualCore

      02 March, 2017 - 1:24 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#87565">In reply to Bats:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Yeah because Apple's iVR is more cooler name right?</p>

  • kenhes

    01 March, 2017 - 9:40 pm

    <p>Gah. In some places they're shortening it to "Windows Mixed". I can see this being renamed to Windows Mixed Up. Holographic was at least cooler but less accurate. Shame they didn't go with "Windows Quantum Leap". 🙂 (Where are the emojis!)</p>

    • skane2600

      02 March, 2017 - 11:41 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#87568">In reply to kenhes:</a></em></blockquote><p>These days almost all use of the words "Hologram" or "Holographic" are incorrect. :)</p>

  • MutualCore

    02 March, 2017 - 1:24 pm

    <p>Wow, a non-snarky post from Paul about Microsoft. It's a miracle.</p>

  • Winner

    02 March, 2017 - 3:46 pm

    <p>Sometimes it seems that the Windows team is in their own Mixed Reality.</p>

  • Tim Onstad

    03 March, 2017 - 3:12 am

    <p>'Windows Loss of Reality'</p>

  • glenn8878

    03 March, 2017 - 2:27 pm

    <p>It's a change that will reduce to an acronym. I prefer Hololens or Holographic. Still, public awareness will be nothing. </p>

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