Internal Microsoft memo details plans for major update to its flagship coding service, as AI-powered rivals gain ground
Microsoft has a free, open-source code editor called VS Code that rivals such as Amazon and Windsurf have used to build competing developer tools.
Visual Studio, meanwhile, is a paid Integrated Development Environment, or IDE, that offers more features to help developers write, debug, edit, and deploy code — and manage entire projects.
Jay Parikh is the relatively new executive who leads Microsoft's CoreAI organization, which oversees developer tools including Visual Studio. Parikh emailed his team in April, describing plans for the "next major release" of the product, which he called "Visual Studio 18." Business Insider viewed a copy of the memo.
The last major upgrade to Visual Studio was released in 2021. Microsoft has been working on this new version for a while already. The company started "early dogfooding," where tech employees test their own products, to prepare for a general release, according to the memo.
Parikh didn't disclose a timeline for the release, but a Microsoft blog earlier this year dropped a hint. "Stay tuned for more details later this summer about what's coming next for Visual Studio," the post stated.
The new Visual Studio will be packed with AI features, partly in response to rival services that are more AI-focused, according to a person familiar with the plans.
Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you.
Continue
By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy .
Microsoft's AI coding assistant, GitHub Copilot, recently lost share in a key part of the developer market to Cursor, according to data cited in recent note from Barclays.
Amazon just launched its own IDE called Kiro. Business Insider reported earlier this year that Amazon designed Kiro to tap into AI agents to analyze user prompts and existing data, generating code in "near real-time."
Microsoft said it provides regular updates to the current version of Visual Studio, which is version 17 (not version 18 that Parikh described in his memo).
For example, in July, the company rolled out a revamp, 17.14.9, that added new AI features, such as support for Anthropic's latest models and updates to Model Context Protocol, or MCP, an industry standard that helps models connect with external data sources.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft joins exclusive $4T market cap club after AI surge, joining only one other company
Microsoft touched $4 trillion in market cap Thursday, joining Nvidia as the only two companies to reach this level. The upward move came after the tech giant posted stronger-than-expected results. Revenues jumped 18% to $76 billion, and net income rose over 23% to $34.3 billion. The bulk of the growth came from the company's cloud computing arm and demand for artificial intelligence. "We're innovating across the tech stack to help customers adapt and grow in this new era, and, this year, Azure surpassed $75 billion in revenue, up 34%, driven by growth across all workloads" said CEO Satya Nadella. Meta Ceo Delivers Update On 'Superintelligence' Exchange-traded funds that count Microsoft as a large holding are benefiting from the stock's 26% gain this year, which is outperforming the Nasdaq Composite's 9.5% rise. T-Rex 2X long Microsoft is up over 44% annually, and it seeks results that are "200% of the daily performance of MSFT," according to the fund. Read On The Fox Business App The Direxion Daily MSFT Bull 2X and Bear 1X ETF were also active. MSFU, the bull bets, has advanced over 43% this year, while the MSFD bear play had its most active trading day ever. More traditional stock ETFs, including iShares Global Tech ETF, which owns 17.5% of the stock, is up 13% this year. Vanguard's Information Technology ETF owns 14.8%, and Fidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETF owns 15%. Both have gained 11% this year. All three list Microsoft as the second-largest holding behind Nvidia. Bill Gates Giving Away Billions Of His Fortune Microsoft was founded in April 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, who was CEO. Gates is the 13th richest person in the world with a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is No. 8 with a net worth of $148 article source: Microsoft joins exclusive $4T market cap club after AI surge, joining only one other company
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Is Visa (V) a Smart Buy and Hold Stock in the Tech-Driven Market?
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is included among the 10 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever. siam sompunya The company is embracing AI to stay ahead, launching its Intelligent Commerce platform that uses AI agents for shopping, digital credentials, and personalized payment insights. It's working with top tech firms like OpenAI and Microsoft, and has upgraded its platform with AI features. Visa also acquired AI-based fraud detection firm Featurespace to boost security. On the financial side, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a strong dividend stock with 17 years of consecutive increases and a low 18.5% payout ratio. As a payment processor, it profits from card usage without lending risk, making it a reliable stock in any economy. Over the past decade, the company has delivered an impressive annualized dividend growth rate of 17%. While recent increases have been slightly more modest, the one-, three-, and five-year growth rates all remain above 10%, making Visa a strong pick for dividend growth investors. On July 29, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, which fell in line with its previous dividend. As of July 31, the stock has a dividend yield of 0.68%. While we acknowledge the potential of V as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Amazon: Capex Weighs on Profit Forecast
Key Points Amazon beat top- and bottom-line expectations, posting 13% revenue growth and 33% growth in earnings per share. Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue grew by 17%, but that falls short of the momentum rivals reported just a day ago. Amazon remains a powerful competitor with a lot of ways to win, but investors were closely scrutinizing profitability forecasts in light of continued spending on capital assets. 10 stocks we like better than Amazon › Here's our initial take on Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) financial report. Key Metrics Metric Q2 2024 Q2 2025 Change vs. Expectations Revenue $148.0 billion $167.7 billion 13% Beat Earnings per share $1.26 $1.68 33% Beat AWS revenue $26.3 billion $30.9 billion 17% Met Advertising revenue $12.8 billion $15.7 billion 23% n/a Amazon's Focus on AI Implementation and Payoff Investors had big expectations for Amazon, and in particular the company's AWS cloud unit, following strong results from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Amazon revenue and earnings were up 13% and 33%, respectively, beating expectations, and AWS sales grew by 17% to $30.9 billion. Amazon's release boasted about its largest Prime Day to date and new partnerships including a Nike (NYSE: NKE) storefront. But the focus was clearly on AI. CEO Andy Jassy in a statement said that "our conviction that AI will change every customer experience is starting to play out," noting the company's moves not just at AWS but across Alexa, robotics, and other areas. Amazon sees more growth ahead, predicting net sales to come in between $174 billion and $179.5 billion in the current quarter. That would be up 10% to 13% from a year ago, and even at the low end is above the $173 billion consensus. But all of that growth is coming at a price. Operating expenses in the quarter were up 11% to $148.5 billion, and free cash flow decreased to $18.2 billion for the trailing 12 months, from $53 billion a year ago. AWS's operating margin for the quarter fell to 32.9%, from 35.5% a year ago. Operating income in the current quarter is expected to come in between $15.5 billion and $20.5 billion. At the midpoint that suggests little growth over last year's $17.4 billion, and is slightly below analyst expectations. Immediate Market Reaction Investors were underwhelmed by the results. Amazon shares fell 3% in aftermarket trading following the release of the report but ahead of the company's call with investors. What to Watch The AWS growth, while impressive, on a percentage basis fell short of Microsoft's reported 34% growth at Azure. Microsoft surged post-earnings because the company successfully articulated the benefit of all of the AI spending. Investors will be eager to hear Jassy and other Amazon execs make the same case on the earnings call. Amazon is a lot more than AWS, posting 11% growth in product sales to $68 billion, while its advertising business was up 23% year over year. The company remains well positioned on many fronts, and is set up well to be a long-term winner. But in an environment where all eyes are on the investment -- and payoff -- of AI, investors have set a high bar on results and outlook. Helpful Resources Full earnings report Investor relations page Additional coverage Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now? Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Amazon wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $638,629!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,098,838!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Lou Whiteman has positions in Nike. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Microsoft, and Nike. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Amazon: Capex Weighs on Profit Forecast was originally published by The Motley Fool 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤
