From Gears of Biz:
Microsoft announced that a major update to its Windows operating system will be released globally on October 17. Release of Windows 10 “Fall Creators Update” will come the same day that Windows Mixed Reality headsets powered by the software hits the market, Microsoft executive vice president of operating systems Terry Myerson said in a blog post.
Unlike virtual reality gear already available, Windows headsets made by partners such as Acer, Asus, HP and Lenovo will not require cameras to track user movements, according to Myerson.
Windows headsets will be priced as low as $299, and will need to be plugged into computers powered by the Fall Creators Update, Microsoft said. [...] At [the company’s annual developers’ conference early this year ], Myerson said the update will offer, among other upgrades, “enhancements in gaming, security, accessibility, and immersive new experiences made possible by Windows Mixed Reality.”Sigh... Well, it was nice while it lasted.
Microsoft appears to be banking on VR/AR/MR/whatever-R being a major driver of Windows 10 adoption, in the same way that everybody connected to VR seems to think that consumers will rush to the technology and drive all kinds of things in the process, but there's a major problem with that logic. Consumers haven't been interested in VR at all, up until now, and 48.43% of them are also still using Windows 7... and are, therefore, not interested in Windows 10, either. So, why would these same consumers suddenly decide that VR is so exciting that they'll switch to Windows 10 in order to pay hundreds of dollars to be early adopters the tech?
The existence of low-cost VR headsets, which are both easier to set up and more portable than existing gear, will almost certainly be enough to doom HTC's Vive and Oculus' Rift, but chaining the new headsets to Windows 10 guarantees that only 26.77% of the market will even consider buying one... having given zero fucks about VR headsets, up until now. If the new headsets were Windows 7 compatible, then at least you could sell them to most of the PC market, but nailing them to Windows 10 means that, for all the talk of SteamVR compatibility, they really aren't fully compatible with SteamVR, either, closing off a huge chunk of the one VR distribution platform that might actually be big enough to matter to VR's future.
Although, in one sense, I guess it's a match made in heaven. Nobody wants VR, and Microsoft can't give Windows 10 away, so bundling the two together at least makes for a package whose components are uniformly unpopular. GG, Microsoft! Well played.
Sarcasm aside, though, Microsoft really need to stop trying to force people to adopt Windows 10. I can't stress this enough; this kind of heavy-handed, borderline-coercive approach is the thing which is preventing Microsoft from rebuilding their relationship with their customers, something which they absolutely must do if they want to avoid having Windows 7 turn into the next XP.