Oculus Drops Support for Windows 7 & 8.1
Oculus announced that it’s dropping support for Microsoft’s old operating systems. The company revealed new minimum and recommended system specifications for the Rift headset, and they don’t include Windows 7 and 8.1, which means it's time for Rift owners to get Windows 10.
Oculus’ shift shouldn’t come as a surprise. Last October, the company revealed that it would be releasing a revamped Oculus Home environment and core software. In late November we learned that some features of Oculus’ Rift Core 2.0 update, such as Oculus Desktop and Oculus Dash, would require Windows 10. When that information came to light, it was clear that Oculus would eventually abandon legacy operating systems.
Oculus changed the minimum specification ahead of the Rift Core 2.0 release to ensure that people are ready to take advantage of the Rift platform’s new features. Oculus said it decided to drop Windows 7 and 8.1 support because Microsoft doesn’t support those operating systems anymore, either, and Windows 10 ensures that Oculus can “deliver the best performance standards for Rift owners while aligning with industry standards.” The change won’t affect many Rift owners, though. Oculus said that 95% of Rift owners already run Microsoft’s current OS.
Oculus is encouraging the remaining 5% of its customers who are still holding on to Windows 7 or 8.1 to update as soon as possible. However, the stubborn few who will undoubtedly hold on to their beloved Windows 7 (does anyone love Windows 8.1 that much?) won’t lose access to their Rift. Oculus said that the change would affect new software releases, but the existing software would continue to function as it always has.
| Specifications | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GTX 1050Ti / AMD Radeon RX 470 or greater | Nvidia GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater |
| Alternative Graphics Card | Nvidia GTX 960 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater | Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or greater |
| CPU | Intel i3-6100 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200, FX4350 or greater | Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater |
| Memory | 8GB+ RAM | 8GB+ RAM |
| Video Output | Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output | Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 port, plus 2x USB 2.0 ports | 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port |
| OS | Windows 10 operating system | Windows 10 operating system |
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Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.
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techy1966 I could see maybe Windows 7 because it is in extended support now but Windows 8.1 is still in main stream support for a while yet. I guess that does not mean anything any more to any of these companies. Heck even then Win 7 & Win 8.1 still have a huge user base much to Microsoft's dismay and they are trying their hardest to force people over to windows 10.Reply
I like Windows 7 it still lets you run your computer the way you feel it should run Windows 10 has been slowly taking those freedoms away from the end user. I have both windows 7 & win 10 machines at work and only win 10 at home mainly because it seems if you want to play any games that are new you need win 10 when in fact most would run fine on windows 7 & 8.1. -
therealduckofdeath Techy1966, I'm sure Oculus is basing this on hardware surveys taken from PC's with Oculus. If you're on a VR PC you're almost certainly on a pretty current higher end PC. Better than a GTX 1060-based device. I'm guessing they're seeing >99% of their users already being on Windows 10.Reply -
cryoburner Reply
Actually, mainstream support for Windows 8.1 ended nearly half a year ago, on January 9th. It still has some years left of extended support though.21093517 said:I could see maybe Windows 7 because it is in extended support now but Windows 8.1 is still in main stream support for a while yet.
It says 95% right in the article. >_>21093565 said:I'm guessing they're seeing >99% of their users already being on Windows 10. -
chicofehr windows 10 is hell to deal with. every 6 months the major updates screws stuff up for me. How do I deal with that? I'm waiting for them to slow down on these big updates. I just want stability and don't care about a bunch of useless features I don't need. I like that windows 7 stays the same. I don't want to do a fresh install every 6 months to prevent any problems and I got too much stuff on my computer for that. If i switch to windows 10 I might just turn updates off just to make it easier.Reply -
jayobyrd I am wondering how much The micro$hits are paying Oculus to dump winders 8.1 and the superior winders 7 for their monstrosity winders 8.95.26, AKA winders 10. I hope Oculus has their Linux version ready to go because it will be a cold day at the micro$hit's kampus before winders 10 slithers its way in to any PC I have anything to do with.Reply
James Byrd
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bananaforscale Funny, dislikes by people who don't get that stability is a good thing. I'm not switching to Windows 10 until Microsoft manages to not screw up their updates for a reasonable period (let's say 18 months).Reply -
USAFRet Reply21095174 said:I am wondering how much The micro$hits are paying Oculus to dump winders 8.1 and the superior winders 7 for their monstrosity winders 8.95.26, AKA winders 10. I hope Oculus has their Linux version ready to go because it will be a cold day at the micro$hit's kampus before winders 10 slithers its way in to any PC I have anything to do with.
James Byrd
<Personal email Redacted by Moderator>
Worried about Windows 10, yet you post your personal email in a public Forum.
Genius!