Microsoft has decided to discontinue Visual Studio for Mac. Support for the latest IDE version is guaranteed only through August 2024.
According to Microsoft, the decision to discontinue this Visual Studio version was prompted by its shifted focus to developing cross-platform solutions. The availability of versions that work on multiple platforms and operating systems makes dedicated versions obsolete.
Maintenance updates only
Specifically, no new frameworks, runtime or programming code support for the Mac version of Visual Studio will be released in the near future. However, the most recently released IDE, Visual Studio for Mac 17.6, will still be supported through August 2024. This includes important bug fixes, security issues and support for updates to Apple’s platforms.
In addition, runtime and workload updates will continue to be released so that existing end users can still build and publish applications in .NET 6, .NET 7 and the Mono frameworks.
Although not officially supported, Microsoft also still provides basic support for .NET 8 in Visual Studio for Mac for building and debugging applications.
Sufficient alternatives
Microsoft indicates that there are now plenty of alternatives for Mac users to use Visual Studio’s functionality. Consider the Rider tool, as well as dedicated Mac versions available in cloud. Furthermore, Mac users can simply continue to use VS Code, including through extensions.
2 days ago
