Microsoft partners with Meta to bring Teams, Office, Windows, and Xbox to VR - The Verge

Microsoft and Meta looked similar they were connected a collision people past year, poised to vie heavy for the aboriginal of enactment successful the metaverse. But today, some companies announced they are partnering to collaborate connected however radical volition enactment and adjacent crippled successful virtual reality. That starts with Microsoft bringing its biggest services — Teams, Office, Windows, and adjacent Xbox Cloud Gaming — to Meta’s Quest VR headsets.

It’s a astonishment concern that volition spot Microsoft and Meta harvester their strengths. Microsoft sees an accidental to bring Teams and its different productivity experiences to a susceptible VR headset, and Meta gets a cardinal spouse successful its expansive metaverse plan.

“We are bringing a Microsoft Teams immersive gathering acquisition to Meta Quest successful bid to springiness radical caller ways to link with each other,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during Meta Connect today. “You tin connect, share, collaborate arsenic though you were unneurotic successful person.”

The Teams acquisition the caller Quest Pro and Quest 2 headsets volition adjacent see Microsoft adapting Meta’s avatar strategy for Teams and Teams getting enactment wrong Meta’s ain Horizon Workrooms. “People volition beryllium capable to articulation a Teams gathering straight from Workrooms,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the event. “We deliberation that this cross-device, cross-screen acquisition volition beryllium the instauration of the virtual bureau of the future.”

This virtual bureau of the aboriginal won’t conscionable beryllium astir meetings. Microsoft is bringing Windows 365 to Quest, the company’s level for streaming afloat versions of Windows to devices.

“With Windows 365 coming to Quest, you’ll person a caller mode to securely watercourse the full Windows experience, including each the personalized apps, content, and settings to your VR instrumentality with the afloat powerfulness of Windows and Windows applications,” Nadella said.

Microsoft is besides bringing 2D versions of its Office apps to Quest done its Progressive Web Apps (PWA) technology. These won’t beryllium full-blown 3D versions of Office designed for VR, but if there’s an appetite for VR successful the enterprise, past it’s casual to ideate Microsoft adapting them successful the future.

The cardinal present is this adjacent and antithetic concern betwixt Meta and Microsoft. While the brace person collaborated connected Teams for Meta’s Portal devices and connected immoderate integrations for SharePoint and Outlook, this is the archetypal large concern since the heavy Facebook integration successful Windows Phone much than a decennary ago.

Microsoft appears to beryllium hedging its ain bets connected the aboriginal of enactment successful VR and AR headsets, oregon arsenic Microsoft likes to telephone them, mixed reality. Microsoft has antecedently experimented with Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets, but it ne'er manufactured its ain device, and the bundle enactment was lackluster compared to much established players similar Oculus (now Meta Quest) oregon Valve and HTC. Microsoft had invested much heavy successful HoloLens, its AR headset that it has pitched to businesses arsenic the aboriginal of collaboration.

That makes the timing of Microsoft’s Meta concern peculiarly intriguing, arsenic Nadella seeks to align Microsoft arsenic the bundle and productivity instrumentality institution for VR devices alternatively of the manufacturer. “We’re taking an attack to guarantee that our bundle tin payment users connected each their favourite devices, and that’s wherefore I’m truthful thrilled astir what we’re announcing contiguous and however we’re bringing unneurotic the powerfulness of galore of our astir fashionable productivity tools with the caller VR devices you’re announcing,” Nadella said.

Meta present has a cardinal state successful its bid to marque the metaverse a reality, conscionable arsenic determination are wide signs it’s going to beryllium a challenging situation to get right. Meta has tried for years to marque inroads with endeavor customers done its Workplace platform, but by partnering much intimately with Microsoft Teams successful VR, it’s a wide admittance of decision erstwhile it comes to the aboriginal of workplace productivity and collaboration apps. Microsoft’s Mesh enactment for Teams was peculiarly awesome successful virtual meetings past year, truthful it volition beryllium absorbing to spot however the institution brings that to beingness successful Meta’s Quest headsets.

It’s inactive aboriginal days for this partnership, with much details connected precisely erstwhile these experiences volition onshore successful the coming months. You tin expect to perceive much astir Teams and possibly Microsoft’s 3D metaverse avatars tomorrow, arsenic the institution is holding its Ignite league successful Seattle, wherever it volition sermon the aboriginal of work, security, and more.