Microsoft will end support for Visual Studio on macOS next year

Microsoft will end support for Visual Studio for macOS next year. The company will provide version 17.6 with security support for another twelve months, but there will be no more feature updates. Microsoft gives no reason for the stop.

Microsoft writes that Visual Studio for Mac IDE, as the tool is officially called, will no longer be updated. Version 17.6, the most recent version, will receive security updates and bug fixes until August 31, 2024. Microsoft will also release updates for future operating system versions, as well as runtime updates for .NET 6, .NET 7 and Mono. There has also recently been support for .NET 8 in the macOS version. Subscribers will continue to receive technical support until discontinuation.

Visual Studio will be made available as a download to subscribers from next year, but Microsoft warns that the tool may no longer be secure.

Microsoft gives no reason for discontinuing the idea. The company says the decision was made “based on user feedback and usage patterns.” The company therefore points to Dev Box and C# Dev Kit for Visual Studio Code as alternatives. These are available on all operating systems, including macOS. Programmers could also run Visual Studio in a virtual machine with Windows, for example via Dev Box.