Valve have announced that a new version of the Steam client is available in an optional public beta.

All current Steam users can access the beta through the settings>Beta Participation>UI Update menus. Anyone without Steam can download the current client for free and then follow the above steps. Conveniently, if you want a run-down of all the features before updating (or don’t want to update at all) then you can find them on the dedicated beta page.

Hit the jump to find out the major features of the update.

Major features:

• Complete overhaul of Steam client UI design to improve discoverability of features and to better expose all the information related to games in your library
• Complete overhaul of in-game overlay UI design to create a richer in-game experience exposing context sensitive information related to the game you are currently playing
• New game details view, presenting a detailed view of all the information for a single game in your library
• New grid view, presenting a graphical view of your game library
• New news page in the store/client/overlay which aggregates from Valve related news sites, official community groups, and third-party gaming news feeds
• New downloads view in the client, making it easier to track your progress downloading new games or game updates
• New Steam store design, including more integrated community features, improved recommendations, and improved video and screenshots viewing (and much more!)
  (Source: Steam News)

With a service that has 25 million users, 1000+ games and clocks up 12 billion player minutes per month, it’s good to see that Valve are not resting on their laurels and looking to improve an already impressive service.