Originally published: July 18, 2016
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Microsoft Visual Studio
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Visual Studio?
Visual Studio 2026 and later follow the established Microsoft Modern Policy. Note, however, the following:
- Each major version of Visual Studio will provide 1 year of feature updates, quality fixes, and security updates from the date of general availability.
- Each major version will provide a further 1 year of security updates only via the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) for that version, for a total of 2 years of support.
- Only the latest release on the Stable Channel or supported LTSC is supported.
- Details about lifecycle and servicing for Visual Studio can be found on the Visual Studio Product Lifecycle and Servicing page.
Visual Studio 2022 and earlier follow the established Microsoft Fixed Policy of five years Mainstream Support and five years Extended Support. Note, however, the following:
- Minor version releases are supported only until the subsequent minor version is released.
- Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) releases are supported for an additional period.
- The final minor version release for a Visual Studio major version will be supported through the Extended Support period.
- Details about lifecycle and servicing for Visual Studio can be found on the Visual Studio 2022 Product Lifecycle and Servicing page.
For all versions of Visual Studio:
- Online services that are offered as part of the Visual Studio suite of products follow the established Modern Policy.
- Some runtimes and components included with Visual Studio, including third-party components, follow separate lifecycle policies.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Visual Studio Community and Visual Studio Team Explorer?
Visual Studio Community 2026 and Visual Studio Team Explorer 2026 and later follow the established Microsoft Modern Policy. Note, however, the following:
- Visual Studio Community is supported and serviced only in the latest release, regardless of major version.
- LSTC is not offered for Visual Studio Community and Visual Studio Team Explorer.
What lifecycle policy do external components follow that are offered within the Visual Studio suite?
Visual Studio includes a collection of compilers, languages, runtimes, environments, and other resources that enable development for many Microsoft platforms. As a convenience to our Visual Studio customers, Visual Studio may install certain Microsoft SDKs and other Microsoft components that target and support those Microsoft platforms. These components may be licensed and supported under their own terms and policies. See the list of components that are considered to be external to Visual Studio and their related lifecycle policies on the Visual Studio Product Lifecycle and Servicing page.
What is the service pack policy for Visual Studio?
Visual Studio no longer provides service packs. Instead, we offer cumulative monthly updates that include bug fixes and new features, as well as cumulative servicing releases that include bug fixes.
What is the lifecycle policy for Visual Studio monthly releases on the Stable Channel?
Visual Studio monthly releases on the Stable Channel are supported only until the subsequent monthly version is released. When the monthly release is serviced, the cumulative update applies to the latest release only.
What is the lifecycle policy for Visual Studio Insiders Channel?
Visual Studio Insiders is offered "as is". It receives new features and servicing fixes through cumulative updates.
What is the lifecycle policy for Visual Studio Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) releases?
Visual Studio Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) releases are supported for one year after initial availability. You must be using the LTSC channel to receive this extended support. When Microsoft designates a release as a Long-Term Servicing Channel, the Lifecycle Policy Database will reflect the appropriate support end dates.
Is it supported to use Visual Studio on newer version of Windows which are not listed in system requirement?
Yes, Visual Studio is supported for use on newer versions of the Windows OS than those listed in the system requirements, under the compatibility of Windows OS.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Visual Studio Code?
Visual Studio Code is offered "as is,"" and follows the Modern Policy. For more information, see also the Visual Studio Code FAQ.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Azure DevOps and Azure DevOps Server?
Azure DevOps follows the Modern Policy according to the Azure support policy and Microsoft Online Services SLA. See also the Azure FAQ.
Azure DevOps Server follows the established Microsoft Fixed Policy of five years Mainstream Support and five years Extended Support.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for C# DevKit?
The C# Dev Kit for Visual Studio Code follows the Modern Policy.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Microsoft Dev Box?
Microsoft Dev Box follows the Modern Policy according to the Azure support policy and Microsoft Online Services SLA. See also the Azure FAQ.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for extensions for Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code?
Extensions for Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code are generally offered "as-is". Some extensions may follow the Modern Policy. See the Marketplace page for each extension for details.
Languages, Runtimes, and SDKs
What is the Lifecycle Policy for the .NET platform, including .NET, .NET Framework, .NET MAUI, ASP.NET, and WCF?
The .NET platform family is composed of a number of technologies, including .NET/.NET Core, .NET Framework, .NET MAUI, ASP.NET, WCF Client, and CoreWCF. Each of these has a separate support policy.
- .NET and .NET Core follow the Modern Policy. For more information See the .NET and .NET Core Support Policy and the .NET and .NET Core FAQ.
- .NET Framework support follows the lifecycle policy of the underlying Windows OS on which it is installed. For more information, see .NET Framework Support Policy, the .NET Framework FAQ, and the Windows FAQ.
- ASP.NET and ASP.NET external packages support policy.
- Entity Framework support policy.
- Windows Communication Framework (WCF) Client and CoreWCF support policies.
For more information see the .NET Support Policy.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for .NET and .NET Framework when included in another Microsoft product?
When included in another Microsoft product, .NET and .NET Framework components (including SDKs, runtimes, frameworks, and targeting packs) follow the .NET platform support lifecycle. Certain design-time components (like MSBuild) that ship as private copies in developer tools (such as Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code extensions) follow the host product's support lifecycle. Open source implementations are supported according to their respective GitHub project policies.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Microsoft C++ Build Tools, runtime, and redistributable?
The Microsoft C++ Build Tools (MSVC) (versions V140-14.00 through V140-14.44), Runtime, and Redistributable that released in Visual Studio 2022 and earlier follow the product lifecycle for the version of Visual Studio in which they first ship even if they ship in a subsequent version of Visual Studio or an extension for Visual Studio Code. For more details see Lifecycle FAQ - Visual C++
Beginning with Visual Studio 2026, MSVC 14.50 and later and the Visual C++ Redistributable and Runtime v14 and later follow the Modern Policy with lifecycles separate from Visual Studio. For more information, see Lifecycle FAQ - Visual C++. For reference, here is a list of the latest supported versions of the Visual C downloads.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for TypeScript?
TypeScript servicing is limited to the latest release. When included in another Microsoft product, TypeScript follows the Modern Policy. For more information, see the TypeScript support policy.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Azure SDK?
Azure SDKs follow the Modern Policy. For more information, see the Azure SDK lifecycle and support policy and the Azure FAQ.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Windows SDK?
Windows SDK is supported according the lifecycle of the corresponding version of Windows.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Java?
The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK follows the Modern Policy. For more information, see Support roadmap for the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK. The support policy, if any, for Microsoft extensions for Java development can be found in the GitHub project for that extension.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Python?
Python support in Visual Studio follows the Modern Policy and is limited to the versions shipped in that version of Visual Studio and that remain supported by the Python Software Foundation. See also the Python Developer's Guide for details.
The support policy for the Python extension for Visual Studio Code can be found in the Python GitHub project.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for the Unity tools and extensions?
The Visual Studio Tools for Unity follows the lifecycle of the version of Visual Studio in which it ships. However, it is supported and serviced only through the lifecycle of Unity versions that it depends upon.
The Unity extension for Visual Studio Code follows the Modern Policy.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Visual Studio Tools for Unreal?
The Visual Studio Tools for Unreal follows the lifecycle of the version of Visual Studio in which it ships. However, it is supported and serviced only through the lifecycle of Unreal versions that it depends upon.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime?
The Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime (VSTO Runtime) ships with various versions of Visual Studio and Microsoft Office and follows the support lifecycle of the parent product. For more information on the VSTO Runtime Support Lifecycle, see Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime Lifecycle Policy.
Legacy Tools and Technologies
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Visual Studio for Mac?
Support for Visual Studio for Mac ended on August 31, 2024.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Xamarin?
Xamarin support ended May 1, 2024. We recommend migrating Xamarin projects to .NET MAUI. For more information about upgrading Xamarin projects to .NET, see the Upgrade from Xamarin to .NET & .NET MAUI documentation.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Microsoft Silverlight?
Microsoft Silverlight support for all browsers and operating systems ended October 12, 2021. Go here to learn more.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Microsoft LightSwitch?
Visual Studio 2015 is the last release of Visual Studio that includes the LightSwitch tooling. We recommend users not begin new application development with LightSwitch. We will continue to support users with existing LightSwitch applications as per the Microsoft Support Lifecycle. Mainstream support for Visual Studio 2015 ended 13 October 2020. Extended support ends 14 October 2025.
What is the Lifecycle Policy for Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0?
The Visual Basic 6.0 IDE [integrated development environment] and Visual Basic development are no longer supported as of April 8, 2008. However, Microsoft is committed to support existing Visual Basic 6.0 applications that run on versions of Windows and Windows Server currently under support. According to the Visual Basic 6.0 support announcement, the core Visual Basic 6.0 runtime will be supported for the full lifetime of Windows operating system with which it shipped for serious regressions and critical security issues.