Microsoft announces the retirement of the Visual Studio for Mac version

Microsoft has revealed plans to discontinue Visual Studio for macOS, following a significant revamp. The company will support the latest software version until August 2024, although no new framework, runtime, or language support will be introduced.

For the following year, Microsoft will offer security updates and platform update compatibility for Visual Studio for Mac. Applications built on .NET 6, .NET 7, and Mono frameworks will receive runtime and workload updates. Basic support for .NET 8 will also be available for building and debugging applications. The introduction of Visual Studio 2022 for Mac, featuring a native user interface, Apple Silicon optimization, and full 64-bit support, signifies the software's end on macOS.

After discontinuation, Microsoft recommends accessing Visual Studio via a virtual machine (you can use Parallels Desktop) or the cloud on Windows 11. Alternatives include using VS Code with extensions such as C# Dev Kit, .NET MAUI, and Unity Extensions. Other suggested substitutes for Visual Studio for Mac could be JetBrains Rider, another .NET IDE, VSCodium or IntelliJ IDEA. Microsoft will continue to provide VS Code for Mac users and plans to concentrate on enhancing Visual Studio and VS Code for cross-platform development.