René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"doc: missing highest compatible Microsoft Visual Studio version","articleBody":"Refs: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/60869\n\n## Situation\n\nThe [Supported toolchains](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) section of the `BUILDING.md` document for each active branch specifies only a minimum version of [Microsoft Visual Studio](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/) using `\u003e=` as follows. This implicitly includes the current latest version: Visual Studio 2026.\n\n| Node.js branch                                                                      | Windows Supported toolchain                                    |\n| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| [v20.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v20.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio \u003e= 2019 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host |\n| [v22.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v22.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio \u003e= 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host |\n| [v24.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v24.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio \u003e= 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host |\n| [v25.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v24.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio \u003e= 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host |\n| [main](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains)   | Visual Studio \u003e= 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host |\n\nAs originally described in issue https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/60869, Visual Studio 2026 does not work for branches v24.x and lower. Edit: V24.x is now compatible with Visual Studio 2026.\n\nSpecifying only a lower bound for the compatible version(s) of Visual Studio with `\u003e=` notation makes the documentation also potentially inaccurate each time Microsoft releases a new version of Visual Studio. Version detection needs to be added specifically for each Visual Studio release - see for example https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/60727 for Visual Studio 2026.\n\nAccording to [Visual Studio Product Lifecycle and Servicing](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/releases/2026/servicing-vs)\n\n\u003e Visual Studio starting with version 2026 follows the [Microsoft Product Modern Lifecycle Policy](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/policies/modern) and offers 2 years of support for each new major version. We plan to ship a new major version every year.\n\nThe previous cadence of Visual Studio 2019, 2022 and 2026 provided a gap of several years between major versions. When Microsoft releases Visual Studio 2027, 2028, and so on, the \"Supported toolchains\" documentation will automatically become inaccurate if it continues not to state an upper bound for the version.\n\n## Suggestion / Status\n\nChange [Supported toolchains](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) to match actual support:\n\n| Node.js branch                                                                      | Windows Supported toolchain                                               | Comment /Status      |\n| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- |\n| [v20.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v20.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio 2019 or 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host       | Fixed in v20.20.1    |\n| [v22.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v22.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio 2022 with the Windows 10 SDK on a 64-bit host               | Fixed in v22.22.1    |\n| [v24.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v24.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio 2022 or 2026 with the Windows 10 or 11 SDK on a 64-bit host | Fixed in v24.15.0 |\n| [v25.x](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/v25.x/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains) | Visual Studio 2022 or 2026 with the Windows 10 or 11 SDK on a 64-bit host | Fixed in v25.8.0     |\n| [main](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#supported-toolchains)   | Visual Studio 2022 or 2026 with the Windows 11 SDK on a 64-bit host       | Fixed                |\n\n\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/MikeMcC399","@type":"Person","name":"MikeMcC399"},"datePublished":"2026-01-20T10:18:50.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":6},"url":"https://github.com/61449/node/issues/61449"}