Firefox and Unreal Engine are coming to HoloLens

At its event at Mobile World Congress 2019 today, Microsoft announced the HoloLens 2, the second generation of its untethered holographic headset. The company's Alex Kipman also announced that Microsoft really wants an end to walled gardens, and that the firm's products should be open, embracing other web browsers and other app stores.

The Microsoft Store and Edge aren't going anywhere, but Kipman announced that Firefox is coming; not only that, he said that it will be a first-class citizen. This implies that Microsoft could be removing its rules about only allowing EdgeHTML browsers in the Microsoft Store.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also took to the stage, announcing support for Unreal Engine on HoloLens. While the HoloLens 2 is squarely a business device and is not meant for consumers, it seems that there will be gaming applications for it sooner or later.

In addition, Sweeney confirmed that Epic will be supporting HoloLens in all of its future endeavors. It's a far cry from the days when Sweeney used to call out Microsoft for Windows 10 S, saying that the company plans to break all other app stores besides its own.