Enlarge Image Claire Reilly/CNET

When Microsoft's Mr. Virtual Reality, Alex Kipman, took to the stage at Computex in Taiwan today, there were plenty in the room who might have expected him to reveal a launch date for Microsoft HoloLens.

Those people were ultimately disappointed.

Instead, Microsoft revealed that it would be opening up the "mixed reality" platform that drives HoloLens, known as Windows Holographic, to partners including HTC.

That may leave some to wonder whether they'll ever get their hands on augmented reality devices that tap into the HoloLens hype.

According to Microsoft, "they're months away...not years."

"Don't expect them next week," said Terry Myerson, executive VP of Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group. "Really it's up to the partners to some extent. We need to complete the platform for them, because we're learning a lot from these very early engagements."

Enlarge Image Claire Reilly/CNET

But ultimately, Microsoft is hoping to turn the world's gaze towards manufacturing partners such as HTC, saying they will be the ones to drive the future of Microsoft Holographic.

In a world where Microsoft anticipates as many as 80 million mixed-reality devices by the year 2020, Myerson "expects most of them to be third-party."

So when can we expect our mixed reality future? It's coming soon, just don't look to Microsoft to be the first in stores.

Check out all the news from Computex 2016 here.