Visual Studio Blog
The official source of product insight from the Visual Studio Engineering Team
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Announcing Visual Studio 2026 LTSC 18.11
Today, we are announcing Visual Studio 2026 Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) 18.11 alongside Visual Studio 2026 18.12 on the Stable channel. LTSC 18.11 will receive two years of support, through November 14, 2028, rather than the one year of LTSC support we previously announced. If you are using Visual Studio 2022 for its LTSC benefits this is a great time to consider migrating to the new Visual Studio 2026 LTSC 18.11 to get the latest Visual Studio has to offer. Visual Studio 2026 LTSC 18.11 is not a new product - it is a new support and servicing channel for Visual Studio 2026 so it includes the full fea...
Copilot in Visual Studio Just Got a Major Upgrade
Copilot Chat in Visual Studio just got a new engine. Starting with Visual Studio 2026 version 18.12, it runs on the Microsoft Copilot SDK developed by GitHub, the same technology powering GitHub Copilot CLI, the GitHub Copilot app, and VS Code. It’s on by default, and it’s a major upgrade: same models, more tasks solved, new ways to work. We put the previous and new Copilot experiences through over one hundred coding tasks. The new experience came out ahead with every model we tested, across capability levels and providers, resolving up to 21 more tasks. The chat itself is better too: you get shorter, more ...
Keep learning, keep building! Make the most of VSLive! with your Visual Studio Subscription
Keeping up with new technology is one thing. Finding worthwhile opportunities to explore what matters most to your work is another. That's where VSLive! can help. It brings technical learning, hands-on experience, expert guidance, and a community of developers together in one place, giving you focused time to explore evolving technologies and decide what’s worth bringing back to your team. And if you're an eligible Dev Essentials member, Visual Studio Professional subscriber, or Visual Studio Enterprise subscriber, you have benefits that can provide a significant discount for these in-person events. D...
Preparing for your next certification could start with your Visual Studio Subscription
Are you thinking about earning a Microsoft certification to help advance your career, build on your existing skills, or meet new requirements at work? If so, you may already be wondering where to start. Which courses, labs, and hands-on exercises will help you prepare? How much time will it take to find the right resources, and how much will that training cost? Here's something you may not be aware of: Eligible Visual Studio Subscriptions already include many of the learning resources you need to prepare for your next certification. Visual Studio subscribers can access training from Cloud Academy ...
Visual Studio October Update – Compare Commits to Your Code, Resolve Conflicts in Bulk, Keep Coding
Compare commits with your working tree, resolve merge conflicts in bulk, and keep coding with refreshed Copilot chat, Hot Exit, keyboard tab controls, and Fonts and Colors.
Keep your investigation between sessions
Start a standalone Markdown note and use the opt-in Hot Exit preview to resume unsaved work next session.
Are you getting everything you can from Your Visual Studio Subscription?
What if you could experiment with a new Azure service without requesting additional budget, prepare for your next technical certification using learning resources you already have, or build a dashboard without creating every UI component from scratch? If you're a Visual Studio subscriber, you may already have benefits that can help you do all three. Here’s a few possibilities you may not have considered: 1. What could you build with your Azure credits? Have you been curious about an Azure service but haven't had the opportunity, or the budget, to try it? Maybe you want to experiment with an AI-powered a...
Compare today’s code with an earlier commit
Compare a historical commit with your working tree without checking out the commit or leaving your branch.
Organize and revisit tabs with the keyboard
Reorder your document tabs and return to them by visual position with new keyboard shortcuts.