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By the end of 2024, owners of Meta’s Quest 3 and Quest 3S VR headsets will get to run Windows 11 desktops without using third-party apps.
You can either pair and link with a local Windows PC, or else stream a desktop hosted in the cloud via Windows 365, Microsoft revealed during its Ignite 2024 event. The connection process reportedly takes seconds, and brings users into a mixed reality workstation that includes support for multiple virtual monitors. The December release will be in public preview form, so there may be some bugs.
Quest owners have long been able to access their Windows PCs through third-party apps like Virtual Desktop, but native support could potentially make the experience more seamless, depending on system requirements. Microsoft hasn’t identified those yet — but Virtual Desktop requires that a local Windows PC be on 5GHz Wi-Fi or connected directly to a router via Ethernet, since anything less might introduce too much lag. Along those lines, Microsoft also hasn’t said anything about how well gaming might work. Even modest lag can make some VR games unplayable.
The company does explain that you can resize virtual monitors, and that users will get the “full capabilities” of Windows 11. That draws parallels with the Apple Vision Pro, for which extending Mac desktops is a centerpiece feature. The Vision Pro’s main advantage in that arena is a sharper resolution, although that comes with a hefty $3,500 price tag versus the $500 for a Quest 3 or the $300 for a Quest 3S.
Cloud access to Windows was a major theme of Ignite 2024, mainly because of the newly-announced Windows 365 Link, a small desktop device meant purely for cloud computing. There’s no local app or data storage on the Link, which is presumably how Windows 365 will work on Quest headsets.
