diff --git a/.babelrc b/.babelrc
index 41d0cf6..7373025 100644
--- a/.babelrc
+++ b/.babelrc
@@ -1,26 +1,20 @@
 {
-  "stage": 0,
-  "optional": "runtime",
-  "loose": "all",
+  "presets": [
+    "es2015",
+    "stage-0",
+    "react"
+  ],
   "plugins": [
-    "typecheck"
+    [ "transform-runtime" ],
+    [ "typecheck" ],
+    [ "transform-decorators-legacy" ]
   ],
   "env": {
     "development": {
-      "plugins": [
-        "react-transform"
-      ],
-      "extra": {
-        "react-transform": {
-          "transforms": [{
-            "transform": "react-transform-catch-errors",
-            "imports": [
-              "react",
-              "redbox-react"
-            ]
-          }]
-        }
-      }
+      "plugins": []
+    },
+    "production": {
+      "plugins": []
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/bin/build.js b/bin/build.js
index d0f2bc7..3697e8b 100755
--- a/bin/build.js
+++ b/bin/build.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
-require('../server.babel'); // babel registration (runtime transpilation for node)
+// require('../server.babel'); // babel registration (runtime transpilation for node)
 
 var webpack = require('webpack');
 var webpackConfig = require('./merge-configs');
diff --git a/bin/local-dev.sh b/bin/local-dev.sh
index 7c5e4cc..bf5e970 100755
--- a/bin/local-dev.sh
+++ b/bin/local-dev.sh
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ compile() {
   cp $ROOT_DIR/.babelrc $PROJECT_PATH/node_modules/universal-redux
   cp $ROOT_DIR/.eslintrc $PROJECT_PATH/node_modules/universal-redux
   cp $ROOT_DIR/server.babel.js $PROJECT_PATH/node_modules/universal-redux
-  babel $ROOT_DIR/src/ -d $PROJECT_PATH/node_modules/universal-redux/lib > /dev/null
+  babel $ROOT_DIR/src/ --presets es2015,stage-0,react --plugins transform-runtime --out-dir $PROJECT_PATH/node_modules/universal-redux/lib > /dev/null
   echo Update complete, continuing to watch...
 }
 
diff --git a/bin/merge-babel-config.js b/bin/merge-babel-config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..365752a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/merge-babel-config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+var fs = require('fs');
+var strip = require('strip-loader');
+var path = require('path');
+var util = require('util');
+
+module.exports = function(userBabelConfig, verbose) {
+
+  var babelrc = fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(__dirname, '..', './.babelrc'));
+  var babelConfig = {};
+  var jsLoaders;
+
+  try {
+    babelConfig = JSON.parse(babelrc);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error('==>     ERROR: Error parsing your .babelrc.');
+    console.error(err);
+  }
+
+  if(userBabelConfig) {
+    console.log('Merging universal-redux Babel defaults with project Babel configuration');
+
+    var userBabelConfigFile = fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(userBabelConfig));
+    var userBabelConfig = {};
+
+    try {
+      userBabelConfig = JSON.parse(userBabelConfigFile);
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.error('==>     ERROR: Error parsing your project-level Babel configuration.');
+      console.error(err);
+    }
+
+    babelConfig = Object.assign(babelConfig, userBabelConfig);
+  }
+
+  if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
+
+    var hmrConfig = [
+        "react-transform", {
+          "transforms": [
+            {
+              "transform": "react-transform-hmr",
+              "imports": ["react"],
+              "locals": ["module"]
+            },
+            {
+              "transform": "react-transform-catch-errors",
+              "imports": ["react", "redbox-react"]
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      ]
+
+    babelConfig.env.development.plugins.unshift(hmrConfig);
+
+    jsLoaders = ['babel-loader?' + JSON.stringify(babelConfig)];
+  } else {
+    jsLoaders = [strip.loader('debug'), 'babel-loader?' + JSON.stringify(babelConfig)];
+  }
+
+  // output configuration files if user wants verbosity
+  if(verbose) {
+    var utilOptions = {
+      depth: 10,
+      colors: true
+    };
+
+    console.log('Babel config:');
+    console.log(util.inspect(babelConfig, utilOptions));
+  }
+
+  return jsLoaders;
+}
diff --git a/bin/merge-configs.js b/bin/merge-configs.js
index 438c8f1..215bbfc 100644
--- a/bin/merge-configs.js
+++ b/bin/merge-configs.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ var path = require('path');
 var util = require('util');
 var webpack = require('webpack');
 var mergeWebpack = require('webpack-config-merger');
+var mergeBabel = require('./merge-babel-config');
 var baseWebpackConfig = require('../config/webpack.config.js');
 var baseDevConfig = mergeWebpack(baseWebpackConfig.common, baseWebpackConfig.development);
 var baseProdConfig = mergeWebpack(baseWebpackConfig.common, baseWebpackConfig.production);
@@ -24,6 +25,10 @@ if(userConfig.webpack.merge) {
   combinedWebpackConfig = userConfig.webpack.config;
 }
 
+// add babel for js transpiling
+var babelConfig = mergeBabel(userConfig.babelConfig, userConfig.verbose);
+combinedWebpackConfig.module.loaders.unshift({ test: /\.jsx?$/, exclude: /node_modules/, loaders: babelConfig });
+
 // gather tools config
 var combinedToolsConfig = baseToolsConfig;
 if(userConfig.toolsConfigPath) {
diff --git a/bin/server.js b/bin/server.js
index 0b048dd..b2dcf23 100755
--- a/bin/server.js
+++ b/bin/server.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
-require('../server.babel'); // babel registration (runtime transpilation for node)
+// require('../server.babel'); // babel registration (runtime transpilation for node)
 
 var path = require('path');
 var renderer = require('../lib/server');
diff --git a/bin/webpack-dev-server.js b/bin/webpack-dev-server.js
index 07e945a..48d5f9e 100755
--- a/bin/webpack-dev-server.js
+++ b/bin/webpack-dev-server.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
-require('../server.babel'); // babel registration (runtime transpilation for node)
+// require('../server.babel'); // babel registration (runtime transpilation for node)
 
 var path = require('path');
 var Express = require('express');
diff --git a/config/universal-redux.config.js b/config/universal-redux.config.js
index a8b2a96..ce5ff65 100644
--- a/config/universal-redux.config.js
+++ b/config/universal-redux.config.js
@@ -62,9 +62,11 @@ module.exports = {
   */  
   lint: {
     enabled: true
-    // config: projectRoot + '.eslintrc'
+    // config: projectRoot + '/.eslintrc'
   },
 
+  babelConfig: projectRoot + '/.babelrc',
+
   /*
   // Enable native desktop notifications for Webpack build events.
   // Will not be run on production.
diff --git a/config/webpack.config.js b/config/webpack.config.js
index f75c6e6..7765ff8 100644
--- a/config/webpack.config.js
+++ b/config/webpack.config.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require('babel/polyfill');
+// require('babel/polyfill');
 
 // begin shared setup
 var path = require('path');
@@ -7,52 +7,12 @@ var relativeAssetsPath = '../static/dist';
 var assetsPath = path.join(__dirname, relativeAssetsPath);
 
 // begin dev setup
-var fs = require('fs');
 var host = (process.env.HOST || 'localhost');
 var port = parseInt(process.env.PORT) + 1 || 3001;
-var babelrc = fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(__dirname, '..', './.babelrc'));
-var babelrcObject = {};
 
 // begin prod setup
 var CleanPlugin = require('clean-webpack-plugin');
 var ExtractTextPlugin = require('extract-text-webpack-plugin');
-var strip = require('strip-loader');
-
-if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
-
-  try {
-    babelrcObject = JSON.parse(babelrc);
-  } catch (err) {
-    console.error('==>     ERROR: Error parsing your .babelrc.');
-    console.error(err);
-  }
-
-  var babelrcObjectDevelopment = babelrcObject.env && babelrcObject.env.development || {};
-  var babelLoaderQuery = Object.assign({}, babelrcObject, babelrcObjectDevelopment);
-  delete babelLoaderQuery.env;
-
-  babelLoaderQuery.plugins = babelLoaderQuery.plugins || [];
-  if (babelLoaderQuery.plugins.indexOf('react-transform') < 0) {
-    babelLoaderQuery.plugins.push('react-transform');
-  }
-
-  babelLoaderQuery.extra = babelLoaderQuery.extra || {};
-  if (!babelLoaderQuery.extra['react-transform']) {
-    babelLoaderQuery.extra['react-transform'] = {};
-  }
-  if (!babelLoaderQuery.extra['react-transform'].transforms) {
-    babelLoaderQuery.extra['react-transform'].transforms = [];
-  }
-  babelLoaderQuery.extra['react-transform'].transforms.push({
-    transform: 'react-transform-hmr',
-    imports: ['react'],
-    locals: ['module']
-  });
-
-  var jsLoaders = ['babel?' + JSON.stringify(babelLoaderQuery)];
-} else {
-  var jsLoaders = [strip.loader('debug'), 'babel'];
-}
 
 module.exports = {
   common: {
@@ -67,7 +27,7 @@ module.exports = {
     },
     module: {
       loaders: [
-        { test: /\.jsx?$/, exclude: /node_modules/, loaders: jsLoaders},
+        // { test: /\.jsx?$/, exclude: /node_modules/, loaders: jsLoaders }, // now prepended in merge-configs and merge-babel-config
         { test: /\.json$/, loader: 'json-loader' },
         { test: /\.woff(\?v=\d+\.\d+\.\d+)?$/, loader: "url?limit=10000&mimetype=application/font-woff" },
         { test: /\.woff2(\?v=\d+\.\d+\.\d+)?$/, loader: "url?limit=10000&mimetype=application/font-woff" },
diff --git a/examples/jwt/.babelrc b/examples/jwt/.babelrc
deleted file mode 100644
index 41d0cf6..0000000
--- a/examples/jwt/.babelrc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "stage": 0,
-  "optional": "runtime",
-  "loose": "all",
-  "plugins": [
-    "typecheck"
-  ],
-  "env": {
-    "development": {
-      "plugins": [
-        "react-transform"
-      ],
-      "extra": {
-        "react-transform": {
-          "transforms": [{
-            "transform": "react-transform-catch-errors",
-            "imports": [
-              "react",
-              "redbox-react"
-            ]
-          }]
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
diff --git a/examples/jwt/bin/transpile.js b/examples/jwt/bin/transpile.js
index 1f409f4..1246ebb 100644
--- a/examples/jwt/bin/transpile.js
+++ b/examples/jwt/bin/transpile.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 var fs = require('fs');
 var path = require('path');
 
-var babelrc = fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(__dirname, '../.babelrc'));
+var babelrc = fs.readFileSync(path.resolve(__dirname, '../node_modules/universal-redux/.babelrc'));
 var config;
 
 try {
diff --git a/examples/jwt/config/universal-redux.config.js b/examples/jwt/config/universal-redux.config.js
index de5add5..8430310 100644
--- a/examples/jwt/config/universal-redux.config.js
+++ b/examples/jwt/config/universal-redux.config.js
@@ -55,10 +55,12 @@ module.exports = {
    // Expects: Boolean
    */
   lint: {
-    enabled: true,
+    enabled: false,
     config: projectRoot + '/.eslintrc'
   },
 
+  // babelConfig: projectRoot + '/.babelrc',
+
   /*
    // Enable native desktop notifications for Webpack build events.
    // Will not be run on production.
diff --git a/examples/jwt/package.json b/examples/jwt/package.json
index c4f36bd..fa1ade3 100644
--- a/examples/jwt/package.json
+++ b/examples/jwt/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "version": "0.0.1",
   "description": "JWT example with Universal Redux",
   "main": "index.js",
-  "scripts": {    
+  "scripts": {
     "start": "concurrent --kill-others \"better-npm-run api\" \"better-npm-run auth\" \"better-npm-run server\"",
     "build": "better-npm-run build",
     "postinstall": "./bin/build_for_heroku.sh",
@@ -86,14 +86,9 @@
     "concurrently": "1.0.0",
     "jsonwebtoken": "^5.4.1",
     "superagent": "^1.6.1",
-    "universal-redux": "^1.0.0-beta4"
+    "universal-redux": "^2.0.0-beta3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "babel-core": "~5.8.33",
-    "babel-eslint": "^4.1.3",
-    "babel-plugin-react-transform": "~1.1.1",
-    "babel-plugin-typecheck": "^2.0.0",
-    "babel-runtime": "~5.8.29",
     "better-npm-run": "0.0.5",
     "classnames": "^2.2.0",
     "deep-equal": "^1.0.1",
@@ -109,11 +104,12 @@
     "react-addons-css-transition-group": "^0.14.3",
     "react-dom": "^0.14.3",
     "react-redux": "4.0.0",
+    "react-router": "1.0.2",
     "react-toolbox": "^0.13.4",
     "react-tools": "^0.10.0",
     "react-transform-catch-errors": "^1.0.0",
     "redbox-react": "^1.1.1",
-    "redux-simple-router": "0.0.10",
+    "redux-simple-router": "1.0.1",
     "url-loader": "^0.5.7",
     "warning": "^2.1.0"
   }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 75b89c2..5272ecf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "description": "A universal redux renderer (ES6, Webpack, Express)",
   "author": "Buck DeFore <bdefore@gmail.com> (http://github.com/bdefore)",
   "license": "MIT",
-  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "version": "2.0.0-beta3",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "git+https://github.com/bdefore/universal-redux.git"
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
   ],
   "main": "lib/index.js",
   "scripts": {
-    "compile": "babel src/ -d lib/",
+    "compile": "babel --presets es2015,stage-0,react --plugins transform-runtime src/ --out-dir lib/",
     "dev": "./bin/local-dev.sh",
     "prepublish": "npm run compile",
     "lint": "eslint -c .eslintrc src",
@@ -33,13 +33,19 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "autoprefixer-loader": "^3.1.0",
-    "babel": "~5.8.29",
-    "babel-core": "~5.8.33",
-    "babel-eslint": "^4.1.3",
-    "babel-loader": "~5.3.3",
-    "babel-plugin-react-transform": "~1.1.1",
-    "babel-plugin-typecheck": "^2.0.0",
-    "babel-runtime": "~5.8.29",
+    "babel": "~6.3.13",
+    "babel-cli": "6.3.17",
+    "babel-core": "~6.3.21",
+    "babel-eslint": "^5.0.0-beta3",
+    "babel-loader": "~6.2.0",
+    "babel-plugin-react-transform": "~2.0.0-beta1",
+    "babel-plugin-transform-decorators-legacy": "^1.3.4",
+    "babel-plugin-transform-runtime": "^6.3.13",
+    "babel-plugin-typecheck": "^3.5.1",
+    "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.3.13",
+    "babel-preset-react": "^6.3.13",
+    "babel-preset-stage-0": "^6.3.13",
+    "babel-runtime": "~6.3.19",
     "bootstrap-sass": "^3.3.5",
     "bootstrap-sass-loader": "^1.0.9",
     "clean-webpack-plugin": "^0.1.4",
diff --git a/src/client.js b/src/client.js
index c9c3291..c3c4116 100755
--- a/src/client.js
+++ b/src/client.js
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
  * THIS IS THE ENTRY POINT FOR THE CLIENT, JUST LIKE server.js IS THE ENTRY POINT FOR THE SERVER.
  */
 // node modules dependencies
-import 'babel/polyfill';
 import React from 'react';
 import { each } from 'lodash';
 import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
 }
 
 if (__DEVTOOLS__ && !window.devToolsExtension) {
-  const DevTools = require('./containers/DevTools/DevTools');
+  const DevTools = require('./containers/DevTools/DevTools').default;
   ReactDOM.render(
     <Provider store={store} key="provider">
       <div>
diff --git a/src/redux/create.js b/src/redux/create.js
index 7111534..27fdbb1 100644
--- a/src/redux/create.js
+++ b/src/redux/create.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export default function createStore(customMiddleware, reducers, data) {
   let finalCreateStore;
   if (__DEVELOPMENT__ && __CLIENT__ && __DEVTOOLS__) {
     const { persistState } = require('redux-devtools');
-    const DevTools = require('../containers/DevTools/DevTools');
+    const DevTools = require('../containers/DevTools/DevTools').default;
     finalCreateStore = compose(
       applyMiddleware(...middleware),
       window.devToolsExtension ? window.devToolsExtension() : DevTools.instrument(),
diff --git a/src/server.js b/src/server.js
index e4017d7..65e4a38 100755
--- a/src/server.js
+++ b/src/server.js
@@ -47,13 +47,13 @@ function setupAssets(rootDir) {
 
 function setupRenderer() {
 
-  const getRoutes = require(path.resolve(config.routes));
-  const reducers = require(path.resolve(config.redux.reducers));
+  const getRoutes = require(path.resolve(config.routes)).default;
+  const reducers = require(path.resolve(config.redux.reducers)).default;
   const pretty = new PrettyError();
 
   let CustomHtml;
   if (config.htmlShell) {
-    CustomHtml = require(path.resolve(config.htmlShell));
+    CustomHtml = require(path.resolve(config.htmlShell)).default;
   } else {
     CustomHtml = Html;
   }
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ function setupRenderer() {
     // assemble custom middleware, pass req, res
     const middleware = [];
     if (config.redux.middleware) {
-      const customMiddleware = require(path.resolve(config.redux.middleware));
+      const customMiddleware = require(path.resolve(config.redux.middleware)).default;
       each(customMiddleware, (customMiddlewareToAdd) => {
         if (typeof customMiddlewareToAdd === 'function') {
           middleware.push(customMiddlewareToAdd(req, res));