<h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What is included in Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Professional?</h2>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><strong>Full IDE</strong> – Editor, debugger, profiler and Git in one workspace.<br /> <strong>MSVC v141</strong> – C++ toolset with roughly 75% C++17 feature support.<br /> <strong>CodeLens</strong> – Shows references, authors and changes above your code.<br /> <strong>Xamarin Tooling</strong> – Builds native Android and iOS apps in C#.<br /> <strong>Core Capacity</strong> – Targets .NET Framework 3.5 to 4.7 and .NET Core 2.x.<br /> <strong>Important</strong> – Advanced debugging (IntelliTrace), Live Unit Testing, and architecture validation are not included in this edition.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What are the main benefits of Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Professional?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Visual Studio 2017 Professional is the mid-tier edition of Microsoft's Windows IDE, with version 15.9 as its final servicing baseline. It fits teams that still maintain .NET Framework, C++ or Xamarin code built on the 2017 toolchain.<br /> <br /> <strong>Side-by-side Install</strong> – Runs alongside Visual Studio 2015, 2013 and 2012.<br /> <strong>Modular Installer</strong> – Workload-based setup installs only the components you need.<br /> <strong>Team Explorer</strong> – Connects to Team Foundation Server 2010 through 2017.<br /> <strong>Linux C++</strong> – Builds and remote-debugs C++ on Linux distributions.<br /> <strong>Security Updates</strong> – Version 15.9 receives security fixes until April 2027.<br /> <strong>Wide Language Range</strong> – C#, VB.NET, C++, F#, Python, JavaScript and TypeScript.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What does Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Professional do?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">It is a Windows development environment for writing, debugging and shipping desktop, web, cloud, mobile and game applications in C#, Visual Basic, C++, F#, Python, JavaScript and TypeScript. The 2017 generation introduced the workload-based installer, so a C++-only or .NET-only setup pulls in far less than the single monolithic installation used by Visual Studio 2015. Its C++ compiler is the MSVC v141 toolset, which implements about 75 percent of the new C++17 language and library features behind the /std:c++17 switch. A normal working day means opening a solution, hitting breakpoints in the debugger, running MSTest, NUnit or xUnit projects in Test Explorer, and committing to Git or Team Foundation Server without leaving the window.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Does Visual Studio 2017 Professional include Live Unit Testing and IntelliTrace?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">No. Both are Enterprise-only in the Visual Studio 2017 line, together with IntelliTest, Microsoft Fakes, code coverage, .NET memory dump analysis and Code Map debugger integration. Professional can open architecture diagrams and code maps created in older editions, but in read mode only, and live dependency validation is absent. If your workflow depends on measuring code coverage inside the IDE, that alone rules out this edition, because coverage first reached Professional in Visual Studio 2026. Ordinary unit testing is unaffected: MSTest, NUnit and xUnit projects all run in Test Explorer.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What is the difference between Visual Studio 2017 Professional and Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Both editions share the same editor, compilers, debugger, IntelliSense and CodeLens; Enterprise adds diagnostic, testing and architecture tooling on top. The practical dividing lines are IntelliTrace for stepping back through recorded execution, Live Unit Testing for running affected tests as you type, Microsoft Fakes for isolating legacy code without interfaces, and editable code maps with live dependency validation. Enterprise also carries the older load testing and Coded UI test tooling, which never existed in Professional. For a solo developer or a small team maintaining a .NET Framework or C++ product, Professional covers the daily work; the Enterprise tools mainly pay off on large solutions where reproducing a bug or untangling dependencies costs more time than the edition difference.</p>
<table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #efefef; margin-top: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.35;">
<tbody>
<tr><th style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 9px 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; background-color: #dedede;">Feature</th><th style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 9px 8px; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; background-color: #dedede;">2017 Professional</th><th style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 9px 8px; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; background-color: #dedede;">2017 Enterprise</th></tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Core IDE and debugger</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">CodeLens</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">IntelliTrace</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Live Unit Testing</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Code coverage</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Microsoft Fakes</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">Code maps</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Read only</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;">.NET memory dump analysis</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #d9534f; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✕</span></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #ffffff; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="color: #32a852; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1; display: inline-block; transform: translateY(1px);">✓</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The same edition split applies to the current generation, explained in detail here: <a href="https://keys.express/EN/blog/post/visual-studio-2026-professional-or-enterprise-advantages-differences-and-suitability">Visual Studio 2026 Professional or Enterprise: Advantages, Differences, and Suitability</a></p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Which platforms and frameworks can Visual Studio 2017 Professional target?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">It targets .NET Framework 3.5 through 4.7, .NET Core, Mono and .NET Native for UWP, and builds Android and iOS apps through Xamarin or Apache Cordova 6.3.1. C++ development for Linux is supported with remote debugging against distributions including Ubuntu 16.04, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2 and Debian 8. macOS is a partial case: console and ASP.NET applications can be built for macOS, but debugging them from this IDE is not supported. The hard ceiling is .NET Core — version 3.0 and everything after it needs Visual Studio 2019 16.3 or newer, so a 2017 installation cannot open or build a .NET 8 or .NET 10 project no matter which SDK is installed.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Which Windows versions does Visual Studio 2017 Professional run on?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Microsoft's current system requirements list Windows 11 and Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025 as supported host systems. The older hosts the 2017 installer originally covered, such as Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, have reached end of support themselves, and Visual Studio stops treating an operating system as supported once its own lifecycle ends. Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC and Windows 10 S were never supported for development, although applications built with Visual Studio 2017 run on them normally. Two further constraints catch people out in managed environments: the IDE is not supported under App-V or MSIX virtualization, and the Server Core installation option of Windows Server is not supported.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">What should users check before choosing Visual Studio 2017 Professional?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The first check is the support horizon: Visual Studio 2017 is in extended support with security fixes only, ending 13 April 2027, and only version 15.9 qualifies. The second is the framework target, since the 2017 IDE stops at .NET Core 2.x and cannot build .NET 5 or later. The third is process architecture — the 2017 IDE runs as a 32-bit process, and Visual Studio 2022 was Microsoft's first 64-bit release, which is what changes behaviour on very large solutions. This edition still makes sense when a build chain is pinned to the v141 C++ toolset or to Xamarin projects, whose support ended on 1 May 2024 in newer Visual Studio versions.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Professional</h3>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Is GitHub Copilot available in Visual Studio 2017 Professional?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">No. The GitHub Copilot extension for Visual Studio requires Visual Studio 2022, and GitHub has stated it is not supported on Visual Studio 2019 or earlier. Teams working on a 2017 codebase usually run Visual Studio Code or a newer Visual Studio in parallel for AI assistance.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Can Visual Studio 2017 Professional maintain Silverlight or Windows Phone projects?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">No. Silverlight projects, Windows Store 8.1 and 8.0 projects, and Windows Phone 8.1 and 8.0 projects are not supported in Visual Studio 2017, and Microsoft's guidance is to keep Visual Studio 2015 installed for that work. Classic Windows desktop projects from earlier versions upgrade normally.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Can Visual Studio 2017 Professional be installed next to another Visual Studio version?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Yes. It installs and runs side by side with Visual Studio 2015, 2013 and 2012, and each version keeps its own toolsets and settings. This is the usual setup for teams maintaining a v141-based product while starting new work in a newer IDE.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px;">Which source control servers does Team Explorer 2017 connect to?</h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Team Explorer for Visual Studio 2017 connects to Team Foundation Server 2017, 2015, 2013, 2012 and 2010 SP1. Git repositories are supported directly in the IDE, with one documented exception: Visual Studio 2017 does not support Git for Windows on Windows 7 and Windows 8.</p>