Microsoft Visual Studio Reviews

My main use case for Microsoft Visual Studio is prototyping different products, different features, and functionality. For example, I have used Microsoft Visual Studio for prototyping by creating a database layer to some app builder. I do not work on other types of projects or features with it.

The best features Microsoft Visual Studio offers are its relatively easy usability and pretty good debugging features.

When I mention the debugging features, a particular function within Microsoft Visual Studio's debugger that stands out to me is how you can attach to running processes, stop the code, and see what's happening, including the status of variables and other information.

Microsoft Visual Studio has positively impacted my organization by providing a standardized interface, making it easy to collaborate across teams. It's easy to help other people out or get help because everybody knows it. Having that standardization has indeed led to measurable improvements; it makes onboarding fast because it's somewhat of a standard that everybody knows. So it's easy for everybody to get into it and start working.

I think Microsoft Visual Studio can be improved because sometimes the setup can be a little bit complicated and it seems sometimes a little bit bloated, with a large download for what it is. There is nothing about performance, usability, or updates that needs to be discussed.

I have been using Microsoft Visual Studio for over ten plus years.

Microsoft Visual Studio is stable.

From my perspective, I cannot really answer about Microsoft Visual Studio's scalability because I only run one instance, but it seems to be scaling fine if the entire company is using it.

I have never used customer support for Microsoft Visual Studio; I always just go online and search if I have any questions.

I did not previously use a different solution before Microsoft Visual Studio; we kind of always used that.

From my side, Microsoft Visual Studio certainly saves time because I know it, so it's easier for me to use; from a company perspective, I cannot really know the metrics.

I do not really handle pricing, setup cost, and licensing because that is managed through the corporate; I'm not dealing with this. For private use, the free version worked pretty well when I used it, although it was missing some vital features.

Before choosing Microsoft Visual Studio, we did not evaluate other options; we always use Microsoft Visual Studio.

My advice to others looking into using Microsoft Visual Studio is to know that there's a lot of information about it out on the internet, so if you run into any issues, you can easily look it up. I gave this review a rating of eight out of ten.

On-premises

We use Visual Studio for website development and related tasks. It's been quite helpful for us.

From a professional perspective, I've been using Visual Studio since childhood, so I find it very useful. The code analysis tool is particularly valuable as it eliminates the need for manual code reviews. 

Many essential features are built-in, making it a great tool. Additionally, it allows for easy integration with other tools like MS Teams, which enhances its usefulness.

Sometimes, the deprecation of packages can be a challenge. Although Visual Studio provides suggestions when we compile and encounter deprecated packages, it can still be confusing. Even after multiple attempts, we may struggle to fix these deprecated packages and related issues. So, it is one of the areas of improvement in Visual Studio. 

I have been working on a website that I inherited from a client, and when I tried to run it on my system, I discovered that some of the packages were either depreciated or no longer in use. It would be helpful if Visual Studio could suggest and handle such unused packages in a more user-friendly manner.

I am suggesting this as an area of improvement because recently I was working on a bigger client project. The project was functioning correctly on my system but not on another system. Later, I found that some packages were depreciated, which might have caused the issue. However, we couldn't determine the exact reason for the difference in behavior because we used the same ZIP file and the same Visual Studio version. Then, when the person tried to run the same code on her system, it didn't work. It seemed to be related to the deprecated packages. Ultimately, the solution we eventually found was to set up a new system for her, reinstalling Microsoft Visual Studio and related components. 

Another area that could greatly benefit from Microsoft within Visual Studio is unit testing. It's a pain point for every software developer. If Microsoft can provide better tools or features related to unit testing, it would be really helpful. Especially when working on complex projects, writing comprehensive test cases can be time-consuming. However, clients often cannot afford to pay for that additional time in the competitive market. 

So in future releases, having some automation capabilities or built-in support for generating test cases would be great. Although we can integrate third-party automation testing tools, they are often paid solutions. For example, I've noticed the presence of plugins like ChatGPT in Visual Studio Code, but I'm not fully aware of their capabilities. Therefore, if Visual Studio could offer some level of automation for test cases, it would be a valuable addition. 

I have been using Microsoft Visual Studio for over 15 years. 

I would rate the stability of Visual Studio a ten out of ten.

Microsoft has gained a lot of confidence in the market, so I would rate the scalability of Visual Studio around eight out of ten.

Based on my recent experience, sometimes, we faced difficulties with the same set of codes. Therefore, considering the recent incident, I leaned toward an eight and not a ten for scalability. 

In my company, around 20 people are using this solution.

The initial setup is very simple. Microsoft has made it very easy to set up.

Price-wise, it is good. We are using the paid versions, and the price is reasonable. For our company, it's a genuine price.

I have only worked with Visual Studio. 

Overall, I rate it a ten. It's very user-friendly and feature-rich.

However, there's always room for improvement in the product. Features like automation test cases to meet market requirements would be beneficial.

Private Cloud

Microsoft Azure

The platform's use cases depend on the entire system diagram. For instance, if we have login software, it determines the users' access level. It helps admin users in uploading and managing user accounts. Other users can register, validate passwords, save, download, and upload tasks.

The system can efficiently manage the databases.

They could add new modules to the platform for enhanced functioning. If we have a new system, we can add new features and improve the product to make it better than the previous system.

I have been using Microsoft Visual Studio's latest version, 6.0, for two years.

Visual Studio is stable.

It is a scalable platform.

Previously, we used Sublime for backend connectivity. We switched because Sublime is a basic and not a standard tool for companies. We can create only small projects using it. However, Microsoft Visual Studio is an open-source tool that offers a lot of technologies. With its help, we can develop applications in various languages, create Windows or iOS software, and even build console applications.

The setup process is easy if we are already working on a project. It is complex if we want to create a new project from start to end. The time taken for deployment depends on what kind of project we are working with. In case of any queries, we refer to YouTube videos, ChatGPT, and Google to find the solutions.

I'm using the platform's open-source version.

If you're working on a simple project, Microsoft Visual Studio might be more than you need. You can go for it if you plan to create bigger software. It offers a wide range of built-in features. I rate it a nine out of ten.

I am using Microsoft Visual Studio for software development.

Microsoft Visual Studio has improved the way our organization functions by allowing us to develop applications rapidly.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Visual Studio is the user interface.

I have been using Microsoft Visual Studio for approximately 15 years.

I have found Microsoft Visual Studio to be stable.

Microsoft Visual Studio is scalable.

We have an assistant director and software development using Microsoft Visual Studio in my department. In the whole company, there could be hundreds using Microsoft Visual Studio.

In my department, they do not like Microsoft Visual Studio, but across the departments, we will increase the usage of Microsoft Visual Studio.

I rate the support from Microsoft Visual Studio a four out of five.

Positive

I have used a couple of different packages prior to Microsoft Visual Studio.

The initial setup of Microsoft Visual Studio was straightforward and take approximately 20 minutes.

We have two people for the deployment and maintenance of Microsoft Visual Studio.

The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $1,700 per user.

I rate the price of Microsoft Visual Studio a four out of five.

I evaluated other solutions before choosing Microsoft Visual Studio, such as DELFI. I chose Microsoft Visual Studio because it was easier to use and more flexible.

The best advice I can give to others is to take training because it's so easy to use out of the box. However, you might tend to install it and maybe configure it improperly. You need to have some training.

I rate Microsoft Visual Studio a nine out of ten.

On-premises

We use the solution for Windows applications and different .NET features. We also use the BI tools.

I like the design tools. Nowadays, it is very advanced. We can use different .NET features.

We have different platforms available for web development. The solution must provide user-friendly features. We get updates frequently. Multiple versions are released within a short period. We need to keep updating the solution.

I have been using the solution for more than ten years.

I rate the tool’s stability an eight out of ten. We need to consider a lot of things while creating projects on Visual Studio. There are a lot of dependencies to add and maintain.

The tool is scalable. There are more than 1000 users in our organization.

We have used Microsoft’s support for SQL Server Reporting Services. Sometimes, we do not receive prompt responses. We have to work with different teams and need to wait for resolutions.

The setup is straightforward. We update the product when we get information from our teams.

The deployment can be done in-house.

The solution has benefited us. The users are really happy to use the product for reporting purposes. It has many features.

I recommend the solution to others. Overall, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

Hybrid Cloud

I write all of my web applications and perform debugs with the solution. Our company is a Microsoft partner and has 1,000 developers and technical team members that are dispersed across the UK, US, and Asia Pacific.

The breakout point, interface design, and coding areas are WYSIWYG and easy to use. 

The solution includes a debug function that I can breakpoint to easily detect what is wrong with my applications. It is really good for debugging C# code. It identifies which lines or sections have problems and if your naming is incorrect.

The solution is not really good at debugging JavaScript, jQuery, or SQL. 

For SQL, sometimes I get alerts that there are non-values or mismatches but the line or section is not identified. I get very generic information with SQL. I have to install ELMAH open source code into our SQL so Visual Studio can track it. 

For jQuery, I have to add the debugger command manually. 

Sometimes, when upgrading the product, certain features are removed even though they are very good like EDMS. There was a VISA for connecting databases and creating an entity framework that would generate connections and pulses. It was removed from the latest release so now it needs to be added manually. I like enhancements but would prefer they not remove features as it makes things more difficult. 

When they release things like .NET Core, the solution becomes unstable. There needs to be a long-term plan because so many versions have been released that some are duplicates. Let's say I'm using .NET Core version 5 and they change it to .NET 5 or 6.0, the releases are too quick and completely duplicated. 

Every new release includes duplicates of features. Some are very useful but when they are duplicated, I have to rewrite or upgrade my code. This makes it difficult for a developer and is not a long-term solution. In one year, I've already spent money to develop my apps, and then I have to upgrade the code again. 

I have been using the solution for 20 years. 

The solution is not very stable and sometimes hangs. 

The solution is scalable and adding users is no problem. 

I rely on internal staff for technical support. I believe Microsoft requires you to register as a customer before you can utilize their support. There's an online forum where you can post questions and get quick replies from other users. 

Setup and use are easy. 

Deployment varies based on the size of your project. 

Small, web-deployed projects take less than five minutes and we are ready to publish the web app to Azure. 

For on-premises, we build the DLL and web package in advance. It takes 20-30 minutes to import because you have to upload to the file server, download the package, and import the application.  

Our company is a Microsoft partner so we only use their solutions. 

If you want to use .NET or C#, then Visual Studio is the best solution. 

I rate the solution a seven out of ten. 

On-premises

I'm using Microsoft Visual Studio for developing mobile applications using Xamarin. It's similar to a software development kit (SDK).

The most valuable features of Microsoft Visual Studio are the UI functionality where you can do software development. Everything is available there that you need. You can create the UI, and code, develop and compile it.

Microsoft Visual Studio can improve by adding more features to the Mac version. There are a lot of features lacking in the Mac version, there are limitations. I can install Microsoft Visual Studio on the Mac operating system, but it is not the same as if I installed it on a Microsoft Windows system. The Microsoft Windows version has a lot of features available in Microsoft Visual Studio.

I have been using Microsoft Visual Studio for approximately nine years.

The stability of Microsoft Visual Studio is good.

Microsoft Visual Studio is scalable. I can write a lot of code and there is not any problem with performance.

We have approximately 200 IT department people using this solution in my organization.

When we have an issue we generally put it in the online forum or email to receive a reply. They provide a response within 24 hours, which is good.

The price of Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $400 annually.

My advice to others is Microsoft Visual Studio is a good tool for development. It is easy to handle and use, and it has a clean UI design. Overall it is not complicated. Anyone can use it to develop any web application or mobile application. It's cross-platform, it can run on Microsoft Windows and macOS. The cross-platform features are good.

I rate Microsoft Visual Studio a nine out of ten.

Public Cloud

I use Microsoft Visual Studio to deploy and migrate different solutions from monolithic to 100% cloud-native solutions in Azure. When I have a client-server solution that is very monolithic, I can perfectly migrate it to Azure to create backends in different Kubernetes environments and utilize modern frontend technologies like React for a more efficient solution in cloud platforms.

Microsoft Visual Studio is a very robust application. I can read and analyze logs in C#. It's friendly with JavaScript, TypeScript, and Java, making many deployments guided for different solutions possible. The .NET library, although very old, is a very robust application for deployment in cloud settings, being friendly for working with functions and logic apps, which are best used for deploying .NET services. Visual Studio offers a great debugging tool where I can debug quickly and resolve issues efficiently with specific solutions designed for strong debugging.

The patching aspect can continue to be improved. Although Visual Studio has very expressive refactor solutions and efficient, reliable patching for code, there is always room for enhancement in these areas.

I have been using Microsoft Visual Studio for more than twenty years.

The deployment depends on the project as I use methodologies like Agile or Kanban, allowing the creation of very structured steps in projects. A big deployment can start for three to six months. Locally, when working with Azure, I deploy with Visual Studio on my local machine, integrating with the cloud when I publish.

Microsoft Visual Studio is a very robust and stable application, especially when I have integration with Azure DevOps.

Microsoft Visual Studio is scalable in integrating with various cloud platforms and solutions for effective deployment.

Microsoft's support is very strong, with good resources available when creating support tickets. They respond quickly and have professional resources for resolving different software or deployment issues. A very big library is available at dev.microsoft.com with many solutions for investigation.

Neutral

The initial setup of Microsoft Visual Studio is not complex. I have been using it for maybe 10 to 15 years and it is the most robust application software for deployment.

The ROI depends on the contract I have with Microsoft. For example, in an Enterprise Agreement (ELA), Microsoft might provide free licenses for deployment. The ROI varies based on the company's agreements, and different subscription licenses are available like basic, standard, and business premium.

The pricing for Microsoft Visual Studio is favorable. While many open-source solutions are available, none offer the robustness of Visual Studio, which includes a Marketplace for creating different add-ons and integration solutions for quality assurance.

I have knowledge of NetBeans, an open-source solution, but it does not have the robustness of Microsoft Visual Studio which offers a Marketplace to create different add-ons.

I recommend Microsoft Visual Studio for different clouds as it can integrate with AWS, GCP, Huawei, and Red Hat OpenShift due to its add-ons. I rate Microsoft Visual Studio a nine out of ten. Despite rating it a nine, all features align well with my personal experience, reflecting no dissatisfaction on my part.

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure

We use it for project development, including tasks such as web API, hosted services, mini-tests, and more.

The valuable feature is that it provides a basic template for everything and built-in debugging tools. They definitely save me time.

Compared to 2019, the 2022 version runs much smoother. The older version used to freeze if I had too many consoles open. The 2022 version is lighter and performs significantly better. Also, the ID itself is quite lightweight.

The UI is fine; they've kept it consistent for a while now, so it's familiar.

The hot reload feature is good, but sometimes it doesn't work. It could be improved. 

Also, the solution is heavy. If it could become lighter, it would attract a larger user base.

I have used the solution since 2008, so for the past 15 years. I’m currently using the latest version from 2022.

The solution is highly stable. I rate it a nine out of ten, with ten being the highest.

If you have multiple windows open, up to three is fine. However, when you exceed three windows, especially on individual laptops, it tends to slow down the system. It is heavy; it is not a light solution. 

We have around ten users for the solution.

The setup process is straightforward, the only thing is the downloadable file is a bit large in size. The deployment process is quite simple. 

You just need to download the file, double-check it, have an administrator, and you're good to go. It takes approximately 20 minutes to complete the setup.

It can be implemented in-house. We have to keep the updates running; that is it. There is no other maintenance required. 

I would rate the solution a seven on a scale from one to ten, with one being the most affordable and ten being the most expensive.

I recommend the solution to all. It enhances productivity. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

On-premises

We use it for comprehensive support in software development, encompassing tasks such as code writing, unit testing, and deployment to both cloud and on-premises services.

It proved versatile for diverse purposes, serving as a valuable tool for developing solutions across web, desktop, and mobile platforms. It facilitated not only coding activities but also aided in managing repositories and deploying applications to various environments, whether they be cloud-based or on-premises infrastructure.

Within Visual Support, there are three versions available, each housed in distinct containers. I'm focusing on the Enterprise version due to its customizable nature. This version boasts additional features, such as a pricing application for enhanced functionality and comprehensive unit testing coverage. The testing capabilities extend to diverse features, providing a thorough examination of different aspects. Notably, the Enterprise version facilitates seamless integration with Microsoft products, leveraging the ease of connectivity within the Microsoft ecosystem. Moreover, it supports integration with open-source products, including Python, allowing for a flexible and inclusive approach to development.

When using Visual Support for web development, challenges arise when specific components require hardware configurations beyond the application's scope. Efforts are directed at enhancing the IDE and introducing features for seamless collaboration, extending to Azure with the Explore version. This version incorporates "live share," enabling real-time code collaboration among team members. Despite its advantages, challenges in diverse cloud environments may prompt the uninstallation of the application or entire development environment for resolution.

I have been working with it for approximately thirteen years.

The stability is noteworthy because Visual Studio offers both a release and a preview version. The release version is reliable, free of issues, and suitable for general use. However, for those seeking additional features and improvements, the preview version is available. This version allows users to test new features directly and report any issues to the community for resolution. While encountering some issues in the preview version, they are typically addressed promptly through community feedback, resulting in a stable and refined release version shortly thereafter. I would rate it eight out of ten.

High scalability makes it a strong recommendation, especially for enterprise-level development, given its robust capabilities as an integrated development environment. I would rate it ten out of ten.

I've interacted with Microsoft support, but the community support for Visual Studio testing has been particularly outstanding. Unlike conventional support, the community channels provide an open and collaborative environment, similar to open-source platforms. This allows users to easily report issues, open discussions, and communicate effectively, making it a gateway to a more responsive and interactive support experience.

Having used various products at different companies, I must highlight that Microsoft's development technology, particularly in the realm of databases, has proven to be more intuitive and superior. It demonstrated a higher level of user-friendliness and efficiency.

The initial setup is straightforward. Simply download the controller and proceed with the installation, selecting the desired options for a new environment and clicking through the prompts. I would rate it nine out of ten.

Setting it up in the initial stages used to be a time-consuming process, often taking more than an hour. This was primarily due to the need to download setup data, often distributed on CDs or DVDs, and then proceed with the installation. Additionally, a decade ago, machines were not as swift, further extending the setup time. However, in recent years, there's been a more efficient option. Users now have two options: an online installation and an offline installation. For the online version, users simply download it and direct it to the storage directory on their machines.

The pricing varies depending on the version, and with three options available (Community, Professional, and Enterprise), you can choose based on your needs. While the enterprise version can be relatively expensive due to its comprehensive features, I find the license I currently possess to be reasonable, considering it includes the full suite without additional activations or charges.

Overall, I would rat it ten out of ten.

On-premises