Skip to main content

Microsoft takes wraps off Visual Studio for MacOS, now available to everyone

Today at Build 2017, Microsoft announced the general availability release of its popular Visual Studio development environment for MacOS. It’s particularly appropriate, given Microsoft’s theme for this year’s Build is a commitment to open platforms, and providing developers the tools they need to succeed.

“Visual Studio for Mac brings the integrated development environment (IDE) loved by millions to the Mac. Developers get a great IDE and a single environment to not only work on end-to-end solutions – from mobile and web apps to games – but also to integrate with and deploy to Azure,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise group.

Recommended Videos

Previously, a preview version of Visual Studio for Mac was available from Microsoft, allowing users to get a feel for the development environment and how it would work on Mac OS. Today, however, users can download and utilize a full version of the Microsoft Visual Studio customized for use on MacOS.

This comes as part of Microsoft’s commitment to openness, and providing developers with tools that allow them to move easily from one operating system environment to another.

“I talked about a core design principle for Azure – helping guide your success. Providing powerful tech and lots of new features is necessary, but not sufficient – it is how you achieve success with the cloud that matters most,” Guthrie continued. “For you to be successful, the cloud and the development tools also must work seamlessly together, which is why we ensure great experiences across Azure and the Visual Studio family.”

By rolling out Visual Studio for Mac, Microsoft hopes to create a seamless development environment for the creation of everything from mobile apps to games. Visual Studio for Mac isn’t a pared down version either, despite running on MacOS, it includes full support for Visual Studio standbys like C#, F#, .Net Core, Asp.Net Core, Xamarin, and Unity. Plus, all licensed Visual Studio users will have access to both the Windows and Mac version.

Jaina Grey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jaina Grey is a Seattle-based journalist with over a decade of experience covering technology, coffee, gaming, and AI. Her…
Surface Laptop Studio to get this killer MacBook Pro feature
microsoft surface laptop studio review 600

Apple has been leading the way with adaptive refresh rates in its devices in recent years but has only recently brought it to the MacBook Pro line-up. Now, Microsoft is following suit and delivering dynamic refresh rates to the Surface Laptop Studio in its latest Windows 11 update.

That’s great news for anyone who is concerned about the battery life on their Surface Laptop Studio and should result in a much smoother experience whether you’re watching videos or writing emails.

Read more
How much space does MacOS Monterey take up?
Quick Note in Apple's MacOS Monterey public beta

MacOS Monterey is the latest version of Apple’s MacOS operating system for its Mac and MacBook systems, and it comes with plenty of great features and reasons to upgrade. If you haven't upgraded to Monterey yet, it's important you know how much space MacOS Monterey takes up so that you can be sure you have enough storage to fit the big update.

The MacOS Monterey installer is 12.16GB. However, this isn't the whole picture, as it'll work out to a much larger install once unpacked. It’s imperative you have much more space than 12GB available on your Mac when upgrading, which is especially important for those running much earlier MacOS versions.

Read more
This MacOS Trojan stealthily lifts your data, says Microsoft
The screen of the 2021 MacBook Pro.

You might think that your Mac is invulnerable to viruses and other security threats, but you might want to think again. As part of its commitment to intelligence sharing and collaboration, Microsoft recently exposed the evolution of a MacOS Trojan that can stealthily lift your personal data.

First spotted in September 2020, Microsoft says this piece of malware, known as UpdateAgent,  has increasingly progressed to "sophisticated capabilities." Though it also indicated that the latest two versions are still more "refined," Microsoft does warn that the malware is again being developed, and more updates could come soon.

Read more