Microsoft has announced that its Visual Studio IDE, which has been available for macOS customers since 2016, will soon no longer be available on Mac.
The Redmond giant confirmed in a blog post that it has decided to retire Visual Studio for Mac, giving users just 12 months of security updates on version 17.6 before it loses support altogether.
The news comes just one year after Visual Studio 2022 introduced a pretty significant update with support for Apple Silicon, which now powers all of the company's computers, including its range-topping Mac Pro.
Mac users have one year left of Visual Studio
Citing usage patterns, Microsoft's DevDiv Group Product Manager, Anthony Cangialosi, said: “we’re focusing our efforts on optimizing Visual Studio, accessible through Microsoft Dev Box on any operating system, and the C# Dev Kit for VS Code, which is accessible on any OS.”
Until updates relating to critical bugs, security issues, and updated platforms from Apple end on August 31, 2024, the company confirmed that, “no new framework, runtime, or language support will be added” to the macOS version of its IDE.
From September 2024, Microsoft’s IDE will remain available as a legacy installation for Macs via my.visualstudio.com, but will not be serviced or maintained and as such, developers are being urged to rethink their strategy.
Alternatives include using new extensions in VS Code (currently in preview) or using Visual Studio IDE for Windows on a virtual machine on a Mac or in the cloud. Workers can also choose to explore other .NET IDEs.
While the news of Microsoft axing product support for Apple systems may not be a total surprise given the fierce rivalry between the two tech giants, many customers are likely to feel confused and frustrated that the company released a major Mac-friendly overhaul just one year before deciding to sunset support altogether.
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