Microsoft launches Visual Studio Code 1.86 with new features and enhancements

Microsoft has recently launched version 1.86 of its widely used code editor, Visual Studio Code, for January 2024. This new release introduces several new features and enhancements.

Key highlights of this update include per-window zoom levels, allowing users to adjust the zoom level for each window independently. The new 'Hey Code' voice command initiates a chat session with a simple voice command. The multi-file diff editor feature enables users to swiftly review diffs across multiple files in the diff editor.

The update also includes triggered breakpoints for efficient debugging with breakpoint dependencies and expanded Sticky Scroll support in tree views and notebooks. The Markdown paste options now support rich paste for links, video, and audio elements.

Flexible Auto Save options are now available, which can skip Auto Save on errors or save only for specific file types. Source Control input allows users to customize commit input and per-language editor settings. Extension notifications offer fine-grained control for disabling notifications per extension.

This version also brings updates to GitHub Copilot, including improved default context, the ability to add a file as context, and AI fixes.

Starting from this release, VS Code desktop is only compatible with Linux distributions based on glibc 2.28 or later, and glibcxx 3.4.25 or later, such as Debian 10, RHEL 8, or Ubuntu 20.04. This makes the release incompatible with Ubuntu 18.04 and other older Linux distributions.

Visual Studio Code 1.86 also incorporates accessibility improvements, various other enhancements, and big fixes.