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[[{“value”:”Trying to decide between Visual Studio and VS Code in 2026? You don’t have to. In this @VisualStudioLive session from Visual Studio Live! Las Vegas 2026, Brian Randell shows how VS Code and Visual Studio work better together (especially with GitHub Copilot) to maximize developer productivity across platforms.
Learn when to use each tool, how Copilot transforms your workflow, and why combining both environments can give you the best of speed, flexibility, and power.
🔑 What You’ll Learn
• When to use Visual Studio vs. VS Code (and why you often need both)
• Key differences in performance, debugging, and developer experience
• How GitHub Copilot works across both IDEs and what’s included
• Copilot pricing tiers, models, and “premium requests” explained
• Using AI agents, chat, and code generation in real workflows
• How Visual Studio’s debugger and profiler stand out
• Working with SQL projects (SSDT) in Visual Studio vs VS Code
• Dev containers, Codespaces, and cross-platform development
• Using local AI models (Ollama) and bring-your-own-key setups
• Security considerations with VS Code extensions and supply chain risks
⏱️ Chapters
01:01 The “VS Code vs Visual Studio” dilemma
04:18 What makes VS Code unique (open source, extensions, cross-platform)
07:12 Visual Studio 2026 strengths (performance, debugger, enterprise features)
12:59 GitHub Copilot overview, pricing, and model usage
19:02 Copilot settings, models, and enterprise controls
29:15 Demo: Copilot in Visual Studio (debugger, profiler, AI workflows)
44:41 SQL development: Visual Studio vs VS Code (SSDT vs extensions)
52:32 Dev containers and cross-platform workflows in VS Code
1:00:26 Using custom AI models, APIs, and local models (Ollama)
1:06:36 VS Code extension security and risks
1:08:48 Final recommendations
👤 Speaker
Brian Randell (@brianrandell)
Partner, MCW Technologies
🔗 Links
• Download Visual Studio 2026: http://visualstudio.com/download
• Explore more VS Live! Las Vegas sessions: https://aka.ms/VSLiveLV26
• Join upcoming VS Live! events: https://aka.ms/VSLiveEvents
#vscode #visualstudio2026 #visualstudio2026 #githubcopilot #copilot #vslive”}]] Read More Microsoft Visual Studio