5 ms·

So as for now it is the rebranded and polished Xamarin Studio - hopefully, they have improved it's usability as in the past it was pretty lacking compared to VS

by maykr 10y ago

So as for now it is the rebranded and polished Xamarin Studio - hopefully, they have improved it's usability as in the past it was pretty lacking compared to VS 2013/2015

alex4Zero 10y ago
I think Microsoft will end-of-life Xamarin Studio and will convert it to Visual Studio brand with just support of OSX and Linux
- Kipters 10y ago
  I wouldn't bet my money on a Linux release
  - Arcaire 10y ago
    Really? They seem to be opening up quite a bit more with regards to Linux (.NET Core, WSL, etc).
    - Kipters 10y ago
      To me it looks like they are giving people running linux the minimum tools to run that stuff, but at the same time not giving enough to encourage devs to stay on Linux (WSL goes in the opposite direction, its purpose is to help devs move to Windows). But this is all IMHO, take it with a grain of salt. By the way, since it's based off MonoDevelop, you can just use it con Linux.
      - codeka 10y ago
        I've been using Visual Studio Code on Linux to do some TypeScript development. It's actually pretty nice, and works really well in a general JavaScript environment (npm, etc).
    - yulaow 10y ago
      We are waiting since years for a simple xamarin studio for linux, even just supporting only ubuntu and letting the other distro to manage the packages for them... The reality is it seems they don't want at all to bring Xamarin on Linux, sadly Miguel was very clear about it in the years.
      - Kipters 10y ago
        IIRC he said they discontinued Xamarin for Linux because of a lack of demand
  - int_19h 10y ago
    .NET Core is for running apps on Linux. For a large chunk of the server market, that is plainly a requirement these days. But most people writing the apps which then run on Linux, develop them on Macs (and the point of WSL is to give them a reason to consider Windows for this).
  - B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
    You should, Microsoft will probably release an MS Linux distro soon. (Besides the Debian or whatever they now have for Azure users, I mean.) MS is going all Oracle-y on us, withdrawing from the consumer market as fast as they can, and heading for the green pastures of the corporate market, where fat happy companies are there to be milked. They are sick and tired of fighting for consumer money one penny at a time. (XBox is probably not long for this world either.)
    - UK-AL 10y ago
      The massive investment in the surface line disagrees with you.
  - douche 10y ago
    You'd probably be better off going with JetBrains' Project Rider on Linux, if you were just doing general .NET work than waiting.
    - caleblloyd 10y ago
      +1 for Project Rider. The EAP is pretty good at this point, it supports debugging for .NET Core and decompiles dependencies when using Go To Definition. It still has a few bugs and hangs up on me once or twice a day. I think they should have those ironed out soon though.
- ickler8 10y ago
  Thats what this move is. VS for Mac is a rebranded Xamarin Studio.
jsingleton 10y ago
As I understand it, Visual Studio for Mac is simply a re-branded Xamarin Studio and will continue to be. It includes the improvements they had planned for the next release but I doubt they will do a rewrite. I actually prefer Xamarin Studio over Visual Studio (on Windows) in some respects. For example, the Xamarin.Forms XAML previewer is much better. Looking forward to a full designer. P.S. I've got a four part blog post series this week on Xamarin.Forms. Starting with this today: https://unop.uk/cross-platform-native-mobile-app-development-options https://unop.uk/cross-platform-native-mobile-app-development...
- supergreg 10y ago
  I just started looking into Xamarin Forms and couldn't figure if it was just blindly typing xaml or there was a way to preview it. Thanks for the posts.
  - jsingleton 10y ago
    Yeah, for now you have to type the XAML but a designer is coming. There is a preview of a previewer but I couldn't get the one in VS to do anything. The XS previewer did work for me though. Make sure Android Studio / ADK is updated if only iOS is working.
    - my_ghola 10y ago
      I've only tried in VS so far. I'll check XS. Thanks.
- ickler8 10y ago
  Visual Studio for Mac is a re-brand of Xamarin Studio. However, perhaps more importantly than the software itself, opening the Visual Studio brand to the mac environment signals Microsoft's commitment, yet again, to meeting developers in their chosen environment. Xamarin Studio is also based on MonoDevelop, so maybe this could accelerate a VS linux port, if they're so inclined.

by maykr 10y ago

So as for now it is the rebranded and polished Xamarin Studio - hopefully, they have improved it's usability as in the past it was pretty lacking compared to VS 2013/2015

alex4Zero 10y ago

I think Microsoft will end-of-life Xamarin Studio and will convert it to Visual Studio brand with just support of OSX and Linux

Kipters 10y ago
I wouldn't bet my money on a Linux release
- Arcaire 10y ago
  Really? They seem to be opening up quite a bit more with regards to Linux (.NET Core, WSL, etc).
  - Kipters 10y ago
    To me it looks like they are giving people running linux the minimum tools to run that stuff, but at the same time not giving enough to encourage devs to stay on Linux (WSL goes in the opposite direction, its purpose is to help devs move to Windows). But this is all IMHO, take it with a grain of salt. By the way, since it's based off MonoDevelop, you can just use it con Linux.
    - codeka 10y ago
      I've been using Visual Studio Code on Linux to do some TypeScript development. It's actually pretty nice, and works really well in a general JavaScript environment (npm, etc).
  - yulaow 10y ago
    We are waiting since years for a simple xamarin studio for linux, even just supporting only ubuntu and letting the other distro to manage the packages for them... The reality is it seems they don't want at all to bring Xamarin on Linux, sadly Miguel was very clear about it in the years.
    - Kipters 10y ago
      IIRC he said they discontinued Xamarin for Linux because of a lack of demand
- int_19h 10y ago
  .NET Core is for running apps on Linux. For a large chunk of the server market, that is plainly a requirement these days. But most people writing the apps which then run on Linux, develop them on Macs (and the point of WSL is to give them a reason to consider Windows for this).
- B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
  You should, Microsoft will probably release an MS Linux distro soon. (Besides the Debian or whatever they now have for Azure users, I mean.) MS is going all Oracle-y on us, withdrawing from the consumer market as fast as they can, and heading for the green pastures of the corporate market, where fat happy companies are there to be milked. They are sick and tired of fighting for consumer money one penny at a time. (XBox is probably not long for this world either.)
  - UK-AL 10y ago
    The massive investment in the surface line disagrees with you.
- douche 10y ago
  You'd probably be better off going with JetBrains' Project Rider on Linux, if you were just doing general .NET work than waiting.
  - caleblloyd 10y ago
    +1 for Project Rider. The EAP is pretty good at this point, it supports debugging for .NET Core and decompiles dependencies when using Go To Definition. It still has a few bugs and hangs up on me once or twice a day. I think they should have those ironed out soon though.
ickler8 10y ago
Thats what this move is. VS for Mac is a rebranded Xamarin Studio.

jsingleton 10y ago

As I understand it, Visual Studio for Mac is simply a re-branded Xamarin Studio and will continue to be. It includes the improvements they had planned for the next release but I doubt they will do a rewrite. I actually prefer Xamarin Studio over Visual Studio (on Windows) in some respects. For example, the Xamarin.Forms XAML previewer is much better. Looking forward to a full designer. P.S. I've got a four part blog post series this week on Xamarin.Forms. Starting with this today: https://unop.uk/cross-platform-native-mobile-app-development-options https://unop.uk/cross-platform-native-mobile-app-development...

supergreg 10y ago
I just started looking into Xamarin Forms and couldn't figure if it was just blindly typing xaml or there was a way to preview it. Thanks for the posts.
- jsingleton 10y ago
  Yeah, for now you have to type the XAML but a designer is coming. There is a preview of a previewer but I couldn't get the one in VS to do anything. The XS previewer did work for me though. Make sure Android Studio / ADK is updated if only iOS is working.
  - my_ghola 10y ago
    I've only tried in VS so far. I'll check XS. Thanks.
ickler8 10y ago
Visual Studio for Mac is a re-brand of Xamarin Studio. However, perhaps more importantly than the software itself, opening the Visual Studio brand to the mac environment signals Microsoft's commitment, yet again, to meeting developers in their chosen environment. Xamarin Studio is also based on MonoDevelop, so maybe this could accelerate a VS linux port, if they're so inclined.