Microsoft has released Visual Studio 2026 (Insiders). I work daily with ASP.NET and ABP.io, so I wanted to look at what’s officially new, what I expect, and how it compares to Rider and VS Code.

What’s official from Microsoft

• AI built into the IDE
  AI is now part of the workflow. It understands your solution, helps with paste-and-fix, suggests tests and documentation, and shows performance or security insights before you commit.
  Read the announcement

• Insiders Channel
  The new Insiders Channel replaces Preview, giving early access to features with frequent updates.

• Performance improvements
  Faster solution load, quicker builds and debugging, and better first launch. Optimized for both x64 and Arm64.

• UI refresh
  Fluent UI design, updated icons, cleaner spacing, and a modernized settings experience.

• Latest .NET and C# support
  Built-in support for .NET 10 and C# 14.

• Side-by-side install
  Install VS 2026 alongside VS 2022 and migrate your extensions and settings.
  Download Visual Studio 2026 Insiders

• Editor and productivity updates
  A more informative bottom margin (line/column numbers, character count, encoding), Copilot context actions, a BenchmarkDotNet template, and Hot Reload improvements for Razor.
  See the release notes
  
  

What I hope to see next

These aren’t confirmed by Microsoft, but they’re on my wishlist as an ABP.io developer:

• AI that understands modular ABP solutions and can suggest best practices.
• Easier setup for multi-tenant projects with less boilerplate.
• Built-in helpers for Azure CI/CD pipelines.
• Lower memory usage on very large solutions.

Visual Studio 2026 vs Rider vs VS Code

• VS Code — great for smaller projects and quick edits, but still just an editor with extensions.
• JetBrains Rider — often praised for responsiveness and strong refactoring/navigation tools, especially on large codebases.
• Visual Studio 2026 — strongest integration with Microsoft’s ecosystem, support for new .NET/C# releases immediately, and deeper AI and performance improvements.

Why this matters for ABP.io projects

• ABP.io is all about modular monoliths and multi-tenancy. Faster solution load and better Hot Reload directly help in these setups.
• ABP.io provides identity, auditing, background jobs, and modules out of the box. If Visual Studio’s AI continues to improve, it could save a lot of time on scaffolding and boilerplate.

Conclusion

Visual Studio 2026 Insiders already brings:

• AI integrated into the IDE
• Performance gains for large solutions
• A modern UI refresh
• Support for .NET 10 and C# 14
• Productivity updates like Hot Reload and Benchmarking

For me, the big question is how well it will handle large ABP.io solutions and whether the AI tools actually reduce development time. If it delivers, it could easily become my main IDE.

Download Visual Studio 2026 Insiders