Visual Studio and Copilot Speed Up .NET Modernization at VS Live! Las Vegas 2026
copilot
| Source: Mastodon | Original article
Microsoft used its VS Live! Las Vegas 2026 stage to demonstrate a new, AI‑driven workflow that promises to cut the time needed to modernize legacy .NET applications. In a live session led by senior developer advocate Jon Galloway, the company showed how the latest Visual Studio release, tightly coupled with GitHub Copilot, can automatically refactor outdated C# code, replace obsolete APIs, and generate cloud‑ready scaffolding with a single command.
The demo walked through a typical migration scenario: a monolithic .NET Framework app is scanned, Copilot suggests modern .NET 8 equivalents, inserts async patterns, and produces unit tests that meet current coverage standards. Visual Studio’s new “Modernize” pane surfaces these recommendations, lets developers accept or tweak them, and then commits the changes directly to GitHub. Galloway also highlighted a one‑click option that packages the refactored code into a Docker container and suggests Azure services for deployment, turning a multi‑week effort into a matter of days.
The announcement matters because many enterprises still run critical workloads on .NET Framework or early .NET Core versions, and the cost of manual rewrites has stalled digital transformation. By embedding Copilot’s generative capabilities into the IDE, Microsoft aims to reduce the skill gap that has forced companies to retain legacy engineers or outsource expensive upgrades. Faster modernization also improves security posture, as older libraries are often vulnerable.
What to watch next is the rollout schedule. Microsoft said the “Modernize” preview will be available to Visual Studio 2026 insiders next month, with a broader GA slated for the fall release. Integration with GitHub Codespaces and the upcoming .NET 9 release will likely deepen the AI assistance, while developers will be keen to see real‑world performance metrics and pricing for the Copilot extensions. The move signals a broader push to make AI an integral part of the software development lifecycle, a trend that will shape tooling choices across the Nordic tech scene.
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