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Microsoft Drops New Visual Studio 2026 Insiders Build
Nearly a month after the debut of the AI-laden Visual Studio 2026 Insiders edition, Microsoft dropped a new build, citing performance improvements, especially for startup and hot reload.
However, you won't be able to see those improvements. All you can learn about the new build is a list of bugs that were fixed, not those cited performance improvements.
A user asked Microsoft's head guy for Visual Studio, Mads Kristensen, about that on a social media post announcing the new update yesterday. The developer asked if there was a way to see specific improvements beyond bug fixes in each release. Kristensen replied, "No, not since we moved to Insiders. You'll lose that fidelity until GA, but then it won't be an issue afterwards."
[Click on image for larger view.] Visual Studio 2026 (source: Ramel).
As far as those release notes for the new version 11104.47, the bug fixes listed include:
- NET Upgrade Assistant extension is no longer compatible with Visual Studio Enterprise 17.14.36518.9
- Search in file content can't be disabled
- Enabled NuGet MCP server by default in GitHub Copilot chat window
- Fixed a potential crash when evaluating C++ expressions during debugging.
- VS 2026 now applies the roamed theme from VS 2022. Because the Blue theme isn't available in VS 2026, Cool Breeze is applied instead in that case.
- Display vulnerability indicators in the NuGet Package Manager UI in Visual Studio for directly installed packages, based on data from a configured Audit Source.
There were also updates on Sept. 11, Sept. 16 and Sept. 23. Four bugs were fixed in those updates.
Yesterday's post included several complaints from devs using VS 2026, with one noting a Developer Community feedback item concerning an IDE freeze after using GitHub Copilot. "Oh snap," replied Kristensen." That's no good. I hope the team is able to find a solution soon. I see they are on it."
The problem was reported for version 11018.127, which was the Sept. 23 update. The feedback items said in part: "When I have a solution open in VS - have tried with different solutions - and using the Github Copilot chat. VS 2026 freezes and after some seconds VS is killed without any messages." The submitter yesterday added to the message chain (where Microsoft is asking for more information), saying he updated to the new build, "but VS is still failing and gets killed by using the Copilot chat."
Other concerns were voiced around Blazor, hot reload, stability/usability and other issues. On the flip side, one comment read: "You guys are simply amazing. I have been enjoying the new VS Insiders 2026. Thank youuuuuuu."
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.