📢 Microsoft releases latest version of Visual Studio 2019 (version 16.5), and here's how to download it

Microsoft releases Visual Studio 2019, version 16.5, marking it the most current version of Visual Studio. In this release, the software giant added very few improvements to the IDE but includes a set of new features for XAML, .NET, C++, JavaScript/TypeScript, Xamarin, Debugging, Testing.

To know more about the latest version, the new features, and to download the latest version of Visual Studio 2019, keep reading further.

How to download latest version of Visual Studio 2019?

You may visit this page to get the direct link to download the latest version of Visual Studio 2019 Enterprise, Visual Studio 2019 Professional and/or Visual Studio 2019 Community edition, directly from the Microsoft servers.

If you already have installed Visual Studio 2019 (any edition), and would like to upgrade to version 16.5, you can click the notification icon within Visual Studio 2019 to check for latest updates. Alternatively, you can run the Visual Studio 2019 Installer and update your existing installation of Visual Studio 2019.

How to download Visual Studio 2019 Offline Installer (ISO/DVD image)?

If you are looking for an ISO or an offline installer of Visual Studio 2019, do note that, Microsoft doesn't provide it. But, you may use the installer to create a layout of the installer by providing proper command line arguments. You may visit this link to learn how to download Visual Studio 2019 Offline Installer (ISO/DVD image) in detail.

What's new in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.5?

.NET Mobile Development

Using the XAML Hot Reload for Xamarin.Forms, you can speed up your development and makes it easier to build, experiment and iterate over your mobile app’s user interface.

.NET Productivity

You can convert if statements to switch statements or switch expressions, by selecting the Convert to 'switch' statement or Convert to 'switch' expression menu items from the Quick Actions and Refactorings menu.

IntelliSense

IntelliSense now supports completion for unimported extension methods.

Refactorings

You can now simplify string interpolation from the Quick Actions and Refactorings menu. The Extract local function refactoring allows you to turn a fragment of code from an existing method into a local function. You can also make a member static through the Quick Actions and Refactorings menu.

JavaScript/TypeScript

Visual Studio Search now supports the ability to search for types and members in TypeScript and JavaScript files. It now also supports ESLint for Typescript files.

Xamarin

With XAML Hot Reload, you can now see your changes updated on multiple Xamarin.Forms targets at once. You can now see a hierarchy of your Xamarin.Forms controls in the Document Outline pane. You can now opt-into a new option which will automatically reload all opened designer surfaces when any modification is done to your codebase. You can now also apply Android resource changes at runtime using Android Apply Changes.

Testing

You can now profile a .NET Core test. To do so your .NET Core projects must be configured to generate full PDB's.

Debugging

Pinnable Properties has been a popular tool for managed code debugging. This feature is now available in C++ for DataTips and the Autos, Locals, and Watch windows. Apart from this, Microsoft also added a new capability to assist you in debugging multithreaded applications. For developers building applications on top of the Open Enclave SDK, Microsoft added debugging support in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.5.