Microsoft has released the first preview of Visual Studio 2022, the next major update to its developer IDE. Microsoft first announced Visual Studio 2022 back in April, and the big news is that it's now a 64-bit app. It won't be limited to using 4GB of RAM on the main process, so it will be able to handle more complex workloads more reliably.

In fact, 64-bit support pretty much the focal point of this first preview release, though Microsoft says it plans to add more features in future previews. Right now, it's just looking for help with identifying any issues in the new 64-bit version. The transition to 64-bit is significant, so there's a lot of things that may need fine-tuning.

According to the release notes, though, there are a few more things that are new in this release. Visual Studio 2022 ships with the .NET 6 SDK, which is also in preview. It also includes basic support for .NET MAUI (multi-platform app UI) projects. Other changes include making the new Git experience introduced in Visual Studio 2019 the only option for version control.

One thing that's worth noting in this release is the Visual Studio 2022 won't work with extensions for Visual Studio 2019, thanks to some breaking changes in the SDK. However, you can install this alongside Visual Studio 2019 and use both side-by-side. Microsoft also warns that some Visual Studio tools aren't available yet in this release since they still need to be moved to 64-bit. These include Web Live Preview, DotFuscator, and IntelliCode find and replace by example.

As to what else is expected to arrive with Visual Studio 2022, there's quite a bit. Microsoft has promised new, more accessible icons across the interface, as well as improved themes and new personalization features. It will also include the Cascadia Code font that's optimized for readability. On the more technical side, we can expect better debugging performance, improved IntelliCode predictions, and new tools for real-time and synchronous collaboration. These include integrated text chat in Live Share and improved GitHub and Git support. Microsoft has also said it wants to refresh Visual Studio for macOS to make it fit with the native UI and make language consistent with the Windows version.

Visual Studio 2022 should be generally available later this year. If you're more interested in what Microsoft has in store for consumers, Windows 11 is also coming this year. We've already had a look at a leaked build, but an official announcement is coming on June 24.