Visual Studio 2026 is officially available and stable, having been released on November 11, 2025, as the first "Intelligent Developer Environment" with deep AI integration. It is now generally available for download and installation.
Key Features
AI-Native IDE: Deep integration of GitHub Copilot throughout workflows, including adaptive code paste, AI-assisted coding, and an AI-driven Profiler Agent that suggests performance fixes.
Performance Boosts: Up to 50% fewer UI freezes, 40% faster solution load times, and quicker startup compared to Visual Studio 2022.
Modern UI/UX: Refreshed interface using Fluent design, with new icons, themes, and intuitive navigation (e.g., Ctrl+P, Ctrl+W).
Latest Language Support: Built-in support for .NET 10, C# 14, and C++23/26 via MSVC v14.50.
New Update Model: The Insiders channel replaces the old Preview channel, enabling monthly updates and side-by-side installation with VS 2022.
Installation & Compatibility
Side-by-side installation with Visual Studio 2022 is fully supported.
No project migration required — VS 2022 solutions and over 4,000 extensions work out-of-the-box.
Installation size varies: ~1 GB (core IDE) to up to 50 GB (full workload).
Download & Licensing
Download: Available at visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads.
Licensing: The full version is available through commercial licenses (e.g., Visual Studio Professional, Enterprise). A free Community edition is also available for individual developers, open-source projects, and small teams.
For detailed release notes, visit: Visual Studio 2026 Release Notes | Microsoft Learn.
Videos
It's been a long time coming and now it's finally here