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Microsoft Corp., in a move reminiscent of its long-running efforts to promote its Windows platform, on Wednesday said it would make its virtual-reality software available to hardware and software developers.

Opening the software known as Windows Holographic is Microsoft's bid to maneuver itself to the center of the emerging market for virtual reality and related experiences. Its HoloLens headset, which delivers experiences known as augmented reality, is expected to compete with similar initiatives by Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc. and others.

The software giant aims to rally device makers and software developers around Windows Holographic, a facet of its Windows 10 operating system. The software would be a foundation that fosters software and hardware products from a variety of companies and allows users of headsets from different makers to share virtual spaces.

Windows Holographic already serves as crucial software for Microsoft HoloLens, which was unveiled in January 2015 but isn't yet available commercially.

Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive vice president of the Windows and Devices Group, and Alex Kipman, a technical fellow at the company, announced plans to let other companies tap the technology at the Computex trade show in Taipei on Wednesday.

Greg Sullivan, a Microsoft marketing executive, described the announcement as a "call to arms" for hardware makers. Virtual reality and augmented reality—together known as mixed reality—are emerging as a potentially important new market, one in which several tech giants are battling for pole position.

Virtual-reality devices such as Facebook's Oculus Rift and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation VR, immerse users in digitally generated sights and sounds.

Microsoft's HoloLens is similar in some ways, but it overlays digital elements onto the user's view of the physical world rather than replacing that view with virtual imagery.

"For our partners, this creates new business opportunities, unlocking mixed-reality experiences across devices," Mr. Myerson wrote in a blog post. "For developers, Windows Holographic apps can be written today with confidence that they will run on the broadest set of devices."

A common operating system for mixed reality could speed the development of the business.

Microsoft is banking that its history as a tech leader and its longstanding relationships with developers and hardware makers will help. "It's not easy to create an entire platform," Forrester Research Inc. analyst J.P. Gownder said. However, he said, "if you are a [hardware maker], it's going to be so much easier to create these devices" with Windows Holographic.

The value of a mixed-reality platform, Mr. Gownder said, is likely to outweigh any misgivings that independent software and hardware developers might have about becoming dependent on Microsoft, which was sued by the U.S. Justice Department in 1998 on charges that it used Windows to gain an unfair advantage over competitors.

Windows Holographic includes programming commands and functions intended to help developers build virtual spaces, including basic user interface elements that let people wearing headset hardware interact with such environments. Microsoft said it conceived the software from the start as a platform for third-party developers and not simply as a foundation for HoloLens.

The company is positioning HoloLens as a guidepost to help other hardware makers design their own gadgets.

In the 1990s, Microsoft came to rule the tech industry with Windows, which continues to dominate the market for personal-computer operating systems.

The software became one of the most successful examples of a technology platform: As developers created applications for Windows, the operating system became more valuable to consumers, corporate customers and partners. That, in turn, led more PC makers to install the operating system.

Replicating that success in mixed reality will be a challenge. Microsoft doesn't dominate in mixed reality as it did in the PC business, forcing software and hardware developers to follow its product cycles.

Moreover, Microsoft faces fierce competition from other tech giants. Facebook, Sony and Samsung Electronics Co. all are developing their own virtual-reality headsets, and haven't signed onto Microsoft's platform strategy. Longtime Microsoft rival Google, a division of Alphabet, is also preparing its own operating system for virtual-reality devices.

Last month, Google announced plans to release Daydream, mimicking its approach with its Android mobile-operating system, in the fall.

Microsoft has signed up several of its longtime partners in the PC world to work on its mixed-reality platform, including Intel Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Acer Inc., and Lenovo Group Ltd. Also included is HTC Corp., which makes its own virtual-reality headset, Vive. In a concept video demonstrating the potential of Windows Holographic, Microsoft showed how a gamer using an HTC Vive was able to connect with a colleague using Microsoft's HoloLens to collaborate on a design project.

The move is part of Microsoft's gambit to build its Windows 10 installed base. The operating system, which launched last summer, includes Windows Holographic. At last count, Microsoft said more than 300 million are running the new operating system.

Write to Jay Greene at Jay.Greene@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 01, 2016 15:25 ET (19:25 GMT)

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