Microsoft announced the first public preview of Visual Studio 2022 this week. Microsoft will release the first public preview of the updated developer tool this summer, though it didn’t specify an exact date. Visual Studio 2022 includes several improvements, the biggest being a bump up to being a 64-bit app. Microsoft announced the changes in a recent blog post.
Microsoft says that Visual Studio 2022 will be “faster, more approachable, and more lightweight” than its predecessor. With it being a 64-bit app, it will be able to open, edit, run, and debug larger solutions without dealing with limitations on memory. The move to being a 64-bit app removes the 4GB memory limit. Importantly, while Visual Studio 2022 itself is a 64-bit app, it can still be used to create 32-bit apps if you’d like.
On top of being faster and less limited, Visual Studio 2022 features a refreshed design. It has new icons, supports the Cascadia Code font, and has refreshed product themes. The tool also has new personalization options that make it easier to fit into your workflow. It also integrates with Accessibility Insights to help you spot any accessibility issues early on.
Visual Studio 2022 works with Azure resources, .NET 6, and C++ 20, which allows developers to program for a vast range of devices. For example, Visual Studio 2022 supports the .NET Multi-platform App UI for cross-platform client apps on Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS.
Like many modern tools from Microsoft, Visual Studio 2022 will support real-time collaboration. You’ll be able to use integrated text chat to discuss code. It will also support scheduling recurring sessions that reuse links, making it easy to work together with the same people throughout a project.
Visual Studio 2022 also includes performance improvements for the core debugger and code search.
The macOS version of Visual Studio 2022 will move to native macOS UI, which brings better performance and reliability. It also allows the tool to fully utilize the accessibility features of macOS.
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