Microsoft to bring Visual Studio to Mac later this week

Microsoft is bringing its Visual Studio development tool to the Mac, launching it during this week's Connect() conference starting on Wednesday, according to a quickly deleted announcement.

The software is a "mobile-first, cloud-first" suite focusing on C# and .NET, Microsoft said. It described the Mac version as a "counterpart" to the one on Windows, with an interface modified to better suit the macOS environment.

TechCrunch noted that while Microsoft has traditionally tried to steer developers towards using Windows, the global shift towards cloud computing means that developers are less tied to a single OS or piece of hardware. It can still make money off, however, off of software and its own cloud platform, Azure.

Indeed under current CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has become increasingly Mac- and iOS-friendly, content to have people on non-Windows platforms so long as they're using Microsoft services.

At the same time it has also been diving more deeply into hardware, expanding its Surface line with products like the Surface Book and the Surface Studio, and experimenting with its own augmented reality technology, HoloLens.

26 Comments

Rayz2016 6957 comments · 8 Years

About 8 years ago

I did not see that coming :-o

blastdoor 3568 comments · 15 Years

Well that sure is a shocker!

I wonder if this is a sign that Microsoft is a little unnerved by the success of Apple's partnership with IBM and the use of Swift on both client and server sides.

Mrpineapple1325 1 comment · 8 Years

Now we just need an Xbox app for Mac OS please I beg you Microsoft add it to the Mac

macxpress 5910 comments · 16 Years

I'm actually glad they're being open with this stuff. It may or may not get people to use PC's, but it could at least get people to buy their software. Revenue is revenue, it doesn't matter whether it comes from a PC user or a Mac user. I never really understood this under Ballmer's direction. Microsoft is a software company and it should be developing software for any platform it sees it can succeed in whether its macOS, iOS, Android, Windows, etc.

blastdoor said:

Well that sure is a shocker!

I wonder if this is a sign that Microsoft is a little unnerved by the success of Apple's partnership with IBM and the use of Swift on both client and server sides.

I think it's about the lack of developer support on their mobile platform. Most developers will write for iOS and/or Android. With Windows Mobile market share skidding along the bottom of the graph then they are not going to pick up any developers. And without developers, consumers will not buy into Windows Mobile.

If they can offer a cross-platform toolkit to iOS/Android developers then they believe that these folk will also deliver a Windows version since there is no effort in doing so.

The only problem with that plan is that cross-platform toolkits rarely offer a good experience without some native coding thrown in. And developing the app is only part of the story; you still need to be familiar with the Windows platform to support it.