Update January 18, 2018: Effective today, everyone has access to our updated Oculus desktop app, and you can opt in to the Rift Core 2.0 beta even if you aren’t enrolled in the Public Test Channel. Click here for details.

Last month at OC4, we revealed Rift Core 2.0—our biggest Rift update yet. We’ve completely redesigned your Rift experience from the ground up to help you take full advantage of your PC and everything VR has to offer. Soon, you’ll be able to get hands-on with the beta release of Dash, Oculus Home, and the updated Oculus app.

An Updated Oculus Experience on Your PC

Today, we’re announcing an update to the Oculus desktop app, designed to bring you more of the latest and greatest from across the Oculus Platform. Launching as part of the Rift Core 2.0 beta release next month, the redesign will make it easier than ever to discover games, explore new experiences, and connect with friends in and out of VR. The updated UI includes:

Oculus Updates: The latest Oculus news, improvements, and features.

The latest Oculus news, improvements, and features. Oculus Store: Featured titles, the latest releases, sales, and (new!) quick access to Wishlists—now you can add and remove apps, view your Wishlists in Library, and get notified when saved apps go on sale.

Featured titles, the latest releases, sales, and (new!) quick access to Wishlists—now you can add and remove apps, view your Wishlists in Library, and get notified when saved apps go on sale. Your Library: Quick access to launch your most recently played titles.

Quick access to launch your most recently played titles. Friends: View the apps your friends own or have recently played so you can play together, and see friends of friends to connect with new players.

How-To: Beta Access

The open beta for Rift Core 2.0 begins next month, and we’re excited to get this out to the community for feedback and testing. To enroll, you’ll need to opt-in for beta access via the Public Test Channel:

Open the Oculus app on your PC computer. Select Settings. Click “Beta” in the left menu. Click on the switch next to Public Test Channel. Once you’ve enrolled in the Public Test Channel, you can choose to leave at any time by returning to the Beta section of the Oculus app and clicking next to Public Test Channel.

Rift Core 2.0 is still in the early stages—you may encounter some known incompatibilities and issues, and we’re working hard to get them resolved. We look forward to your feedback and feature requests as we continue making changes and improvements throughout the beta period.

Getting Your PC Ready

Before you dive into the beta, you’ll want to ensure your tower or laptop is prepped to deliver the best possible experience. We put together a few pointers to help you get started.

Windows 10 Recommended: Rift Core 2.0 pushes the boundaries of VR computing. Dash's multitasking, window pinning, and Oculus Desktop features are resource-heavy system tasks we're introducing while still maintaining current performance standards. Oculus Desktop requires Windows 10. To ensure the best Rift Core 2.0 experience, we recommend upgrading your system to Windows 10 if you haven’t already.

You can still use Windows 7 and Windows 8 and enjoy the core functionality of Rift Core 2.0, including the new system menu Dash and Oculus Home. However, you won’t be able to use features like Oculus Desktop virtual computing, and Dash will not be able to run as an overlay on top of your running VR experience or app.

Update Your GPU Drivers: We worked with both AMD and NVIDIA to integrate Dash support at the driver level. You'll need the latest drivers from NVIDIA and AMD to run Dash. Click here for more information on GPU specs.

Touch-First Design: We redesigned the core Rift experience to be truly Touch-native, offering you all the benefits of hand presence in an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. That said most, but not all, previous functionality will continue to work with gamepad and some new functionality—such as customizing your Home— requires Touch. If you want to take full advantage of all the features in Rift Core 2.0, use Touch.

We invite you to be among the first to experience Rift Core 2.0 when it rolls out next month, and we can’t wait to see what you do with Dash and Home.

— The Oculus Team