This release includes major library updates for Boost 1.91, Qt 6.11, and OpenCASCADE 8.0, along with 27 new ports and over 500 port updates.
Visual Studio 2026 versions 18.1 through 18.6 deliver a wave of improvements for C++ developers. For MSVC Build Tools, the v14.51 release is now generally available with runtime performance gains and improved C++23 conformance. We also introduced Sample Profile Guided Optimization to help you improve the runtime performance of your C/C++ programs. ...
Profile Guided Optimization (PGO) has long been one of the most powerful tools in the MSVC compiler's arsenal for improving the runtime performance of C and C++ applications. By using execution profile data collected from representative workloads, PGO enables the compiler to make smarter decisions about inlining, code layout, and hot/cold code sepa...
Native C++ projects (.vcxproj) now support NuGet PackageReference, the same modern package management experience .NET developers have used for years. Available as an experimental feature in Visual Studio 2026 version 18.7.
Learn how Visual Studio enables Segment Heap by default for new C++ projects and how to adopt and verify it in existing builds.
Try the latest updates to MSVC Build Tools Preview
MSVC Build Tools v14.51 GA available in Visual Studio 2026 18.6
We are excited to announce that GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows now supports project-specific builds! Available in the latest Visual Studio Insiders, you can target a single MSBuild project or CMake target instead of analyzing your entire solution. For game developers and teams working with large codebases, this eliminates the need to ...
These updates include improved locking for parallel builds, cross-platform PE dependency analysis, manifest support for the depend-info command, and other improvements and bug fixes.
In February, we announced how GitHub Copilot can now use C++ symbol context and CMake build configuration awareness to deliver smarter suggestions in Visual Studio Code. Today, we're excited to share new ways to further enhance your C++ development experience with Copilot and get the most out of the language-aware agentic responses, by leveraging c...
