Visual Studio 2026, codenamed Dev18, is the next-gen AI-powered IDE. It empowers millions of developers around the world. They create applications for Web, Desktop, Mobile, Gaming, and more.
The VS team shares the public preview version of the IDE with early adopters. This happens before releasing it to the Stable channel.
To match Windows, the Preview channel is now called Insiders. Insiders can try new features before everyone else.
Now, the first VS2026 Insiders release is available for download. Further details in this article.
Visual Studio’s extensibility model adds to its robustness. Several extensions are hosted in the VS Marketplace. They cater to the specific needs of developers in different stages of software development.