Factsheet
/ March 10, 2026
/ March 10, 2026
List of all C#, .Net framework and Visual studio versions (Damn you Microsoft with all your version numbers)
I wonder who is in charge of naming and versioning over there!
Naming is a marketing thing. Versioning is a technical thing. Don't confuse the two.
More on reddit.comc# - How can I know which version of Visual Studio a Visual Studio solution is created by? - Stack Overflow
Which version of Microsoft Visual Studio is best for following an online C course?
Visual Studio 2019 or 2022 for learning?
Videos
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C# 1.0 released with .NET 1.0 and VS2002 (January 2002)
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C# 1.1 & 1.2 released with .NET 1.1 and VS2003 (April 2003).
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C# 2.0 released with .NET 2.0 and VS2005 (November 2005).
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C# 3.0 released with .NET 3.5 and VS2008 & 2010 (November 2007).
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C# 4.0 released with .NET 4 and VS2010 (April 2010).
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C# 5.0 released with .NET 4.5 and VS2012 & 2013 (August 2012).
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C# 6.0 released with .NET 4.6 and VS2015 (July 2015).
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C# 7.0 Not yet released. (4.6.3? and 2017? )
Now Visual Studio versions:
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Visual Studio 97 Version 5.0
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Visual Studio 6.0 Version 6.0
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Visual Studio .NET 2002 Version 7.0
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Visual Studio .NET 2003 Version 7.1
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Visual Studio 2005 Version 8.0
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Visual Studio 2008 Version 9.0
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Visual Studio 2010 Version 10.0
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Visual Studio 2012 Version 11.0
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Visual Studio 2013 Version 12.0
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Visual Studio 2015 Version 14.0
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Visual Studio 2017 Version 15.0
I wonder who is in charge of naming and versioning over there! JK ;)
Edit: Now with CodeNames:
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Visual Studio 97 CodeName Boston
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Visual Studio 6.0 CodeName Aspen
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Visual Studio .NET 2002 CodeName Rainier
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Visual Studio .NET 2003 CodeName Everett
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Visual Studio 2005 CodeName Whidbey
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Visual Studio 2008 CodeName Orcas
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Visual Studio 2010 CodeName Dev10/Rosario
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Visual Studio 2012 CodeName Dev11
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Visual Studio 2013 CodeName Dev12
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Visual Studio 2015 CodeName Dev14
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Visual Studio 2017 CodeName Dev15
A few online courses that were recommended in other reddit threads here have suggested downloading Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express but that is not supported anymore. The MS website warns that there may by security risks. MS suggests to use 'Visual Studio Community Edition' instead, an IDE which has support for C++ along with other languages.
Has anyone downloaded 'Visual Studio Community Edition' to help in an online course and found it useful?