Visual Studio Preview gives developers early look at upcoming features

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
last updated

Microsoft is giving developers a way to check out new features coming to Visual Studio a little early with the new Visual Studio Preview (opens in new tab). Initially spotted by WalkingCat on Twitter, Visual Studio Preview looks to offer developers a way to work with and provide feedback on changes to the IDE before they go live.

According to Microsoft's outline, Visual Studio Preview will frequently see new build releases with plenty of bug fixes in tow. The frequency of updates, however, could lead to "the occasional broken build." Thankfully, you can install the Preview side-by-side with the production version of Visual Studio.

It's important to note that this version of Visual Studio is "not supported in production environments." In other words, it's not licensed to build shipping apps, Microsoft says. For that, you'll need to use the release version. For more, you can read about Visual Studio Preview and give it a shot at its dedicated website.

Download Visual Studio Preview (opens in new tab)

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

4 Comments
  • Wait, didn't we already have that? Beta and RC builds of 2017 for the last year? I mean, I don't mind the love for Insiders who get the time to test all Microsoft products.  Just not sure how this is changing things.
  • It will probably go out even before the beta stage. They are going to add new features and test them with the insiders. Until now they were doing it internally and releasing a beta that already has most of the new features.
  • Oops!
  • They should probably have called it 'Visual Studio Insider Preview'