Floating windows is way more flexible now.
You can now choose how “owned” they are by the main IDE — from fully docked to fully independent.

Perfect for multi‑monitor setups, FancyZones layouts, and cleaner workflows.
🔧 Tools > Options > Environment > Windows > Floating Windows
Blog → is.gd/T93XEY

spot art. text reads: What’s New in vcpkg (Feb 2026 – Mar 2026): Parallel file installation and more

vcpkg updates are in: parallel installs, smoother downloads, a Windows OpenSSL fix, and a mountain of port updates — all validated across the main triplets.

Details:
buff.ly/v46e3ah

Did you miss this?
Syncfusion Bold BI
Syncfusion BoldSign
Syncfusion Essential Studio Enterprise
Are now available in Visual Studio subscriptions.
Explore and activate: aka.ms/myvs

Spot art. Photo of presenter(s) text reads: Visual Studio Toolbox. Generate .NET Unit Tests with GitHub Copilot

In today's Visual Studio Toolbox episode, we see how GitHub Copilot testing for .NET makes it dramatically faster and more convenient to generate high-quality unit tests. Tune in... 🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_7G...

spot art. Visual Studio Logo Text reads: Bookmark Studio Evolving bookmarks in Visual Studio.

Bookmark chaos? Not anymore.
Bookmark Studio brings slot jumps, a clean manager, and shareable bookmark sets so your navigation finally keeps up with your brain.

Read the blog: is.gd/pJVSZa

A promotional graphic for a “GitHub Copilot CLI for Beginners” course. At the top, a pixel‑style “COPILOT” logo appears next to a small robot‑like character. Below it, text invites users to “supercharge your development workflow with AI‑powered command‑line assistance.” The lower half shows eight chapters arranged in a grid, each with an icon and label: Install, Modes, Context, Workflows, Agents, Skills, MCP, and Complete. The design uses bright colors and simple illustrations to present a step‑by‑step learning path for using GitHub Copilot from the command line.

New course alert 📣
GitHub Copilot CLI for Beginners is live—and it’s free.
8 chapters, a hands-on project, and everything you need to bring AI into your command line. Check it out: github.com/github/copil...

A purple gradient graphic titled “Visual Studio 2026 — March 2026 update.” Four white feature cards are arranged in a grid. The cards read: “Use agent skills — take the custom agent story a step further with agent skills,” “Use find_symbol tool in agent mode — Copilot’s agent mode now has language‑aware symbol navigation,” “Profile Tests with Copilot — profile with Copilot from the Test Explorer context menu,” and “Enterprise MCP governance — MCP server usage now respects GitHub allowlist policies.” A small arrow points to “More at aka.ms/vs/relnotes.”

VS March Update drops a killer feature: build your own Copilot agents with .agent.md, workspace awareness, tool‑calling + MCP, and auto‑loaded skills. New find_symbol tool, test profiling, live perf tips, and quick NuGet vuln fixes.
is.gd/0XwWBh

Illustration of a book. text reads: Master cloud skills, your way.

Looking to build new cloud or AI skills?
Select Visual Studio subscribers get 12 months of access to Cloud Academy, with courses and learning paths across cloud and development topics.
Explore learning paths like Introduction to Codex.
Explore your benefits: aka.ms/myvs

spot art. visual studio logo text reads: Unlock More Power in Your Development Workflow: Syncfusion for Visual Studio Subscribers

New perk for Visual Studio subscribers: Syncfusion’s 1,600+ UI components, document SDKs, analytics dashboards, and BoldSign APIs are now included.
A huge win if you’re tired of rebuilding the same controls and want to ship polished apps faster.
Details + activation: buff.ly/sYvLBof

spot art simulated downloading bar text reads: Explore 3000+ available downloads

3000+ downloads 🔥 available through Visual Studio Subscriptions.
Select subscribers get access across the Microsoft catalog:
- Developer tools
- Windows
- Office
- Servers
Built to support the full development and testing lifecycle.
Explore and activate your benefits:
aka.ms/myvs

spot art. text reads: essential studio ui edition now included for Visual Studio Dev Essential Subscribers. aka.ms/vss/devessentials syncfusion

Your dev toolkit just expanded.
A new benefit from Syncfusion is now available to Visual Studio Dev Essentials members.
Essentials Studio UI Edition provides UI components designed to help developers build modern, responsive applications faster.

Activate your Dev Essentials benefits: aka.ms/myvs

Spot art. Photo of presenter(s) text reads: Visual Studio Toolbox 10 New Visual Studio Extensions from Mads with Leslie Richardson and Mads Kristensen

10 new Visual Studio extensions just dropped from Mads:
• Modes (Presenter/Focus/Perf)
• Comment Studio (Markdown + TODO/HACK)
• Scratch Files (Ctrl+N temp w/ detection)
• Whitespace Viz (CRLF/LF)
• CSV Editor (huge‑file sorting)
• Azure Explorer
• VS Pets (yes, Clippy)
Watch: 🎥 buff.ly/gSAG9Gw

Still on an older version of Visual Studio?

Visual Studio 2026 has been available for a few months, and subscribers already have access.

Run it side by side with your current version and explore what’s new at your own pace.

Download:
aka.ms/myvs

VSCode, Copilot, and Visual Studio Logos. text reads: Github Copilot Modernice .NET Anywhere.

Modernizing .NET doesn’t have to hijack your workflow.
The modernize‑dotnet agent runs in VS, VS Code, GitHub, and the Copilot CLI — generating assessments, upgrade plans, and tasks right in your repo. Traceable. Reviewable. Repeatable.

👉 Blog: ift.tt/RBL8ong

GPT‑5.4 mini is now live in GitHub Copilot — and it’s ridiculously quick.
Faster first tokens, smarter repo exploration, and great grep‑style reasoning. Works across VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Eclipse, GitHub.com, Mobile, and the CLI.

Let your workflow breathe. Blog: buff.ly/2ltfNBL

spot art. text reads: Get the inside scoop - straight to your inbox

Visual Studio subscriptions include way more than the IDE — Azure credits, training, discounts, partner perks, and subscriber‑only resources.

The new monthly VSS newsletter bundles the best bits into one clean email, so you actually use the benefits you’re already paying for. Opt in → is.gd/HOXNBa

Your Visual Studio Subscription toolkit just expanded with new benefits from Syncfusion in select Visual Studio Subscriptions:
Essential Studio Enterprise Edition
BoldSign
Bold BI
From building UI to creating dashboards and managing digital signatures.
Explore and activate your benefits:
aka.ms/myvs

Curious what Visual Studio Dev Essentials offers developers?
We recently shared a closer look at the tools, resources, and benefits available through the program. Take a look: aka.ms/DevEssential...

Spot art. Photo of presenter(s) text reads: Visual Studio Toolbox Tighten your dev loop with hot reload.

Hot Reload in VS 2026 is smoother, faster, and way less dramatic.
Fewer purple squiggles. Smarter restarts. Even custom metadata handlers so your app resets itself like a pro.

👉 Dive into the demo: buff.ly/naaAset

Microsoft Foundry Path is now live on Pluralsight. ✨
Available to Visual Studio subscribers with Pluralsight access.
Learn to build generative AI applications on Azure using Microsoft Foundry.
Activate at aka.ms/myvs and start learning today.

VSLive! Las Vegas has wrapped. ✨
Missed the expert sessions and hands on labs? The next stop is VSLive! Redmond at Microsoft HQ, July 27-31, 2026. 🔥
Visual Studio subscribers can register at aka.ms/myvs to receive the exclusive discount.
Not a subscriber? aka.ms/VSLiveHQ

🎉 Visual Studio turns 29 today!

Here’s to 29 years of:
• IntelliSense magic
• Build‑break heartbreak
• Refactors that save the day
• Extensions we can’t live without
• An IDE that keeps evolving with us

Happy birthday, Visual Studio — still the place where great code begins. 💜

Spot art. Photo of presenter(s) text reads: Make your programs run faster with one click in Visual Studio 2026 with Mads Kristensen

Optimize performance of your .NET application using your existing unit tests, the built-in profiler, and Copilot to tie it all together into a single click of a button. This is now available in Visual Studio 2026 Insiders.

Watch as Mads lays out the case: buff.ly/2ne4AYm
#dotNET #VisualStudio

spot art. text reads: C++ Tips and Tricks Learning to read C++ compiler errors. Ambiguous overloaded operator. Read Raymond Chen's Blog

Are you a C++ Dev?
C++/WinRT didn’t break the build — an ancient operator<<(__int64&) did.
Compiler upgrade revived it → ambiguous <<.
Solution: remove the fossil.
Here's a tiny but perfect lesson in overload resolution + brittle macros: buff.ly/AnWxHE3

Visual Studio subscribers 👀
Something new is almost here.
Additional tools are about to join Visual Studio subscriptions to help you build and deliver.
More soon.
Explore your benefits: aka.ms/myvs

GitHub Copilot logo Text reads: Copilot GitHub Copilot Dev Days. Join or host an event near you

GitHub Copilot Dev Days is here.
Hands‑on workshops. Real workflows. Live demos.
Training across Copilot CLI, Cloud Agent, VS Code, Visual Studio, and more — led by GitHub Stars, MVPs, and community experts.

Find an event or host one → buff.ly/H2clvCN

Hot Reload in VS 2026 is faster, smarter, and works even without the debugger.
Custom handlers = tighter dev loop.

Watch → buff.ly/naaAset

Are you at VSLive! in Las Vegas?
Pick up the exclusive event pin at the Visual Studio Subscriptions booth.
Wear it during the event for a chance at swag. Make it part of your attire and you might be one of the lucky ones.

Your database called — it wants to be an API.
In today's VS Toolbox, we learn how DAB spins up REST + GraphQL endpoints from your schema with almost no code.

🔧 Point → configure → run
🔐 Built‑in auth
⚡ GraphQL out of the box
🧩 VS tooling that does the heavy lifting

Give it a look: buff.ly/qJyfumf

VSLive! in Las Vegas kicks off this week.
If you are attending, add the Visual Studio Subscriptions booth to your expo hall plan.

Stop by to explore your subscription benefits and connect with the team. Swag included.