Microsoft released the new VS code to the stable channel, but a last-minute bug kept them from including developers on Apple Silicon.
Microsoft this week announced the January 2021 release (version 1.53) of Visual Studio Code. This update comes with a number of new features and improvements including wrap editor tabs, improved Javascript debugging, Emmet improvements and more.
The update was released to the stable channel, but not for those running Apple Silicon. Developers running Visual Studio on Apple hardware have access to three options: They can run on the x64 for Intel-powered Macs, or the arm64 for Apple Silicon or universal. The which should work natively on either. The universal option is a larger download since it includes code for both kinds of chip.
A last minute crash bug stopped the builds for Apple Silicon
Microsoft decided not to push builds aimed at the Apple Silicon to the Stable channel this around. This apparently was due to a V8 crash “when loading wasm in extension host”.
As for Visual Studio Code, other updates include the wrapping of tabs (rather than a scrollbar) in the workbench. You can also add editor tab status decorations. There is now a customize search mode which allows users to use the Search view or open a new Search editor.
JavaScript debugging now includes support for conditional exception breakpoints and Node.js worker_threads. There are also Notebook UX updates that include outline view for Notebook cells, and breadcrumbs for improved navigation.
Here are some of the new features in this update
Markdown preview image auto update lets developers preview automatically updates when images change. Microsoft also made emmet improvements to provide faster performance and support for the latest features.
Extension guidelines have been added. These document best practices for extension authors.
And, in a nod to the exigencies of the Coronavirus pandemic, Microsoft has added a “Remote Development” video series.
Source control has also been improved. A new Git command has been added to open all modified and untracked files and a warning comes up when an attempt is made to pull or resync a current branch that looks like it has been rebased.
The VS team noted that this milestone concluded the exploration to bundle Electron 11 into VS Code. “Thanks to everyone involved with testing and self-hosting on insiders,” they write. “This is a major Electron release and comes with Chromium 87.0.4280.141 and Node.js 12.18.3.”