SAN FRANCISCO — I really didn’t get comfortable with the most recent version of the HoloLens until I got comfortable.

I’d traveled to San Francisco, California, ostensibly for the Microsoft Build Developers conference, but my real quarry was the company's now-shipping augmented-reality headset, the HoloLens Development Edition. It’s finally shipping to developers who preordered for $3,000. This wasn’t my first experience with HoloLens, but it was the first time I’d get to see the packaging, unbox it myself and use it, unfettered by Microsoft handlers, for hours.

Perhaps more importantly, for the first time, I could finally document my experience in photos, videos and even Vines.

Before I can explain what I felt, saw and heard, you need to understand what the HoloLens Development Edition is and what it isn’t.