Windows in Horizon is a deep cross-company collaboration between Microsoft and Meta — a bridge between Windows workflows and Horizon OS that lets consumers and enterprise users alike connect to their PC from inside a Quest headset and expand into a fully immersive workspace. Up to 12 apps. Ultrawide curved monitors. Your entire Windows environment, untethered from your desk — available free on hardware starting at $300.
I led the design of both core applications — Mixed Reality Link on Windows and Windows App on Meta Quest — from early concept through engineering handoff, PM alignment, store assets, and ship. The remote desktop UX on Quest was a deep daily collaboration with Meta's design, engineering, and PM teams. Team: Marco Plewe, Jonathan Lyons, Thom Mignone, Roman Shakhmanaev, and many others across both companies.
The hardest problem wasn't the technology — it was making two operating systems feel like one. The integration required deep, complex coordination across Microsoft and Meta infrastructure, but the user-facing experience had to feel native and frictionless on both sides. Security was non-negotiable: we were asking people to connect personal and enterprise PCs to a headset, so every pairing decision was pressure-tested against both usability and trust. Rather than asking users to enter credential strings — awkward in any context, nearly impossible in headset — we designed around the headset's natural capability: point at a QR code to establish the connection, then confirm intent with a 2-digit PIN. Two steps. Two devices. No typing.
Mixed Reality Link is a brand-new Windows application that advertises the PC's presence on the local network, handles identity sharing, and provides device management. Designed to be invisible until you need it — and effortless once you do. Now preinstalled on Windows PCs, most users arrive at the pairing moment with zero manual setup on the Windows side.
The first time Windows App was designed for a mixed reality client. On Quest, it notifies the Meta remote desktop system when a compatible PC is ready to connect. Windows App already existed as a hub for Windows 365 and local PCs — the challenge was extending that familiar foundation while fully rethinking it for a spatial interface, where layout, hierarchy, and interaction primitives all behave differently.
A key challenge for a net-new product is getting users to the moment of connection without them knowing they needed it. Our solution was the first spatial affordance UI in Horizon OS anchored to a tracked physical object — a small toast that appears above a user's keyboard when a compatible Windows PC is nearby and ready to connect. Meeting users at that exact moment removed the biggest barrier: knowing the feature existed at all.