2017 Editions ^hot^: Visual Studio

If you currently own Visual Studio 2015 or an older version, upgrading to VS 2017 is (e.g., Professional 2015 → Professional 2017). However, note:

VS 2017 uses a modular installer. You can selectively install "workloads" (e.g., .NET desktop, game dev with Unity, data science) to keep the footprint small—regardless of edition.

Visual Studio 2017 remains a robust, battle-tested IDE. Its edition hierarchy is designed to scale from a student’s laptop to a global bank’s data center. visual studio 2017 editions

Even with newer versions like Visual Studio 2019 and 2022 available, VS 2017 remains a staple in many organizations. Why? It was the first version to fully embrace the , allowing side-by-side installations without breaking previous versions. It also introduced Live Unit Testing (Enterprise) and IntelliCode (preview).

| Feature | Community | Professional | Enterprise | | :--- | :---: | :---: | :---: | | | Free | Paid (Subscription) | Paid (Subscription) | | Full IDE & Debugging | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Extensions Support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | CodeLens | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | Architecture Tools | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | | IntelliTrace (Historical Debug) | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Live Unit Testing | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Load & Performance Testing | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Production Debugging (Snapshots) | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | Commercial Use allowed | Limited* | ✅ | ✅ | If you currently own Visual Studio 2015 or

Complete access to the Visual Studio Marketplace to install third-party extensions and themes. Visual Studio 2017 Professional

Below is a breakdown of the main editions: , Professional , and Enterprise . Visual Studio 2017 remains a robust, battle-tested IDE

Visual Studio 2017 is available in three primary editions, each tailored to different user groups and development scales . As of April 2026, Visual Studio 2017 is in its extended support period, which is scheduled to end in April 2027 Visual Studio Core Editions of Visual Studio 2017 Key Features Individual developers, students, and open-source projects.