Windows 10 has been out for a while, with Microsoft launching the operating system (OS) back in 2015. Oculus has supported the most current OS alongside its older brethren Windows 7 and 8.1 since the Oculus Rift arrived, however that’s going to start to change from today with the company announcing that Windows 10 will now be the minimum and recommended spec for running virtual reality (VR) experiences.
As Oculus continues to advance and upgrade the core experience for users this means staying up to date with Windows 10 to power the full Oculus Rift experience. The company states that most headset owners already run Windows 10 (citing 95 percent) so the change shouldn’t affect that many.
For those who do still run Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 they’ll still be able to use their Oculus Rift just as they’ve always done. However, with Microsoft support deprecating for Windows 7 and 8.1 so will Oculus’. This means many new and upcoming apps and features might not be supported as time goes on, especially when it comes to Rift Core 2.0.
Again, that core functionality including things like responding to platform notifications, interacting with friends on the platform, and managing your device will be available but options like Oculus Desktop require Windows 10, and Dash will not be able to run as an overlay.
So naturally Oculus recommends upgrading to Windows 10 if you haven’t done so already. For those who aren’t sure what hardware they have then head on over to Oculus’ compatibility check tool to see if your computer meets the minimum or recommended system specs.
Here are Oculus’ newly refined Min and Rec specs:
Rec Spec
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
- Alternative Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater
- CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
- Memory: 8GB+ RAM
- Video Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
- USB Ports: 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
- OS: Windows 10 operating system
Min Spec
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti / AMD Radeon RX 470 or greater
- Alternative Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 960 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater
- CPU: Intel i3-6100 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200, FX4350 or greater
- Memory: 8GB+ RAM
- Video Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
- USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0 port, plus 2x USB 2.0 ports
- OS: Windows 10 operating system
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Oculus, reporting back with the latest updates.
via Mint VR