Microsoft ends support for older Visual Studio versions

Company has posted end of support timelines and suggested upgrade paths for users of Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2017, and Visual Studio 2019.

Microsoft has posted a timeline for ending support of older versions of its signature Visual Studio IDE. The company encourages users to move to newer versions, particularly newly released Visual Studio 2022.

Microsoft describes 64-bit Visual Studio 2022 as the most productive version of the platform, but presents other upgrade options as well. In a bulletin published February 10, Microsoft noted the end of support dates and upgrade paths for three Visual Studio versions:

• Visual Studio 2012 support ends January 9, 2023, for the IDE and associated products, runtimes, and components. Users are advised to move to a newer version of Visual Studio.
• Visual Studio 2017 mainstream support ends April 12, 2022, whereupon the product will move to extended support until April 2027. With extended support, fixes are provided for security issues. Microsoft advises users to move to the 15.9 supported baseline to maintain support.
• Visual Studio 2019 version 16.7 support ends April 12, 2022. Users are advised to move to the version 16.11 supported baseline or to Visual Studio 2022.
• Visual Studio 2019 Preview Channel will no longer receive updates after April 2022. Microsoft advises users to migrate either to Visual Studio 2022 Preview or Visual Studio 2019 Release Channel to stay secure and receive the latest feature updates.

Microsoft also cited some long range support deadlines that will impact products including Visual Studio 2022 and Visual Studio 2019 many years down the road. The current channel of Visual Studio 2022, for instance, will get mainstream support until January 2027. Overall support will end in January 2032, nearly 10 years from now. Visual Studio 2019 version 16.11 gets mainstream support until April 2024. Visual Studio 2010 and earlier versions are no longer supported.