Microsoft has long been working on an alternative that could cut down on the overhead by using components that are far more stable. These components, called Majorana quasiparticles, are not real particles. Instead, they are special patterns of behavior that may arise inside certain physical systems and under certain conditions.

Microsoft has just announced a chip that it claims will "redefine" how quantum computing works. But experts say there's a long way for that vision to become a reality.