VS2026
Reddit take
AI summary of the Reddit excerpts below — not a quote
Visual Studio 2026 (VS2026) is a polarizing release that users describe as a mix of significant performance gains and severe stability regressions. While the migration of internal components to modern .NET has made the IDE feel 'snappier' and faster for many, a substantial number of users report critical bugs, including 100% CPU usage spikes, frequent freezes, and broken core editor features like auto-indenting and IntelliSense. The heavy integration of AI/Copilot and a redesigned UI that reduces information density are also major points of contention among the developer community.
Pros
- Migration to modern .NET has improved general responsiveness and speed for many users.
- Enhanced debugging features, including new inline values for loops, conditions, and method parameters.
- Improved built-in code coverage tools and better CMake integration.
- Modernized UI with updated icons and a 'cleaner' aesthetic.
Cons
- Severe stability issues for some, including 100% CPU utilization and frequent UI freezes.
- Regressions in basic editor functionality such as auto-indenting and IntelliSense reliability.
- UI redesign reduces information density, with wider toolbars and tabs taking up more vertical space.
- Heavy-handed AI integration that sometimes replaces traditional refactoring shortcuts with less reliable Copilot suggestions.
- Incomplete extension support and buggy theme behavior compared to VS2022.
Caveats
- Performance and stability appear to be highly hardware or project-dependent, with reports ranging from 'fast as fuck' to completely unresponsive.
- Large C++ projects may experience significantly longer 'deep analysis' times compared to previous versions.
- Installing certain extensions can lead to critical errors that may require a full IDE reinstallation.
Best for
- Developers looking for the performance benefits of a modern .NET-based IDE.
- Users who prefer a refreshed, modern UI and heavy AI-assisted coding workflows.
- Early adopters who can tolerate stability issues in exchange for new debugging features.
Avoid if
- You require a high-density UI to maximize visible code on screen.
- You are working on large-scale, mission-critical C++ solutions where stability is paramount.
- You rely on specific legacy components or extensions that are not yet fully supported.
This summary uses balanced time weighting with about a 6-month half-life. The evidence is older (median age ~292 days), and because software tools change rapidly, these early release impressions may not reflect the current state of the software.
Sentiment
30 positive (36%) · 5 mixed (6%) · 49 negative (58%)
Trust + time weighted score: -25% · raw score -23%
What redditors said (10 of 84)
Had it running for 15 minutes with a completely unresponsive machine due to the max CPU usage (16 core 3.8GHz) and then gave up. This is not ok.
Parent context: Had it running for 15 minutes with a completely unresponsive machine due to the max CPU usage (16 core 3.8GHz) and then gave up. This is not ok. Reply: It's constant 100% usage over any period of time until I close it. Seems confirmed to be a bug online.
Installed the release version of VS2026 yesterday along my 2022 install. I run it, open my C++ solution, it consumes 100% of all my cores. ... Then begins a marathon of freezes. Change theme, freeze. Leave the software untouched for several minutes, freeze. Lock and unlock computer, freeze. The amount of times I have restarted and/or killed VS2026 in task manager within that one day is unfathomable.
I have a tiny project (SFML) and very frequently Intellisense just stops working. No tooltips on hover, completions don't show anything, jump to definition does nothing.
Not sure what you are doing but i have had 0 issues and ots fast as fuck
Parent context: It hangs as often as 2022 on solution I work with (400) projects. UI is uglier, but it's preference, what bothers me more about UI is it takes more space for less information. Toolbar when put on side is wider despite icons have same size, tabs takes more vertical space, solution explorer can show less items in same area etc. UI elements should take minimal amount of space, so there is … Reply: To me too. I don’t know if it’s just “new shiny” effect or the fact that it’s a cleaner newer installation of VS.
I've had this bug since I started using VS 2026, and it's extremely annoying because it not only shows errors that don't exist, but sometimes it even affects the compilation.
I hate the file on the right side, that's for sure.
Not even remotely close. Project files view on left instead or right. And etc
I’ve used Visual Studio for many years, including Visual Studio 2026, but I also have to do a lot of development directly on Linux systems. VS Code seems like the best option there, so I’ve created not only a theme, but also several UX modifications that match the behavior of Visual Studio 2026.
Compare
VS2026 vs RunableVS2026 vs Claude CodeVS2026 vs Visual Studio Code
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