Microsoft announced it's prioritizing reliability for AI features in Visual Studio, a notable pivot just two weeks after releasing Visual Studio 2026 as an "AI-native" development environment with GitHub Copilot baked in.
The core change: IntelliSense completions will now take precedence over Copilot suggestions when both trigger simultaneously. Microsoft's justification is revealing: IntelliSense is "more predictable and a loved feature." That's diplomatic language for acknowledging that developers trust 30-year-old autocomplete more than recent AI suggestions.
The timing matters. Microsoft fixed over 5,000 bugs in the 12 months leading to Visual Studio 2026's release—23 bugs per workday. The company eliminated more than half of previous UI freezes and performance bottlenecks. This suggests the reliability issues weren't theoretical.
Microsoft is also shifting to monthly feature updates with annual major releases, replacing the previous quarterly cycle. The stated goal is faster AI capability delivery, but the practical effect is more frequent deployment decisions for enterprise teams.
Developer response highlights a broader tension. Multiple commenters noted that Microsoft concentrates exclusively on AI features while core SDKs like MAUI and WinUI3 remain "buggy and incomplete." One developer put it directly: "Hundreds of genuine problems remain outstanding for Visual Studio and all Microsoft is looking at is damned Copilot."
The reliability emphasis tracks with emerging research suggesting AI coding tools can slow experienced developers rather than accelerate them. When IntelliSense—which simply completes what you're typing—is positioned as more reliable than generative AI, that's data worth noting.
For enterprise teams, this creates a tactical question: adopt the monthly updates for AI improvements, or wait for the annual stability releases? The answer likely depends on whether your developers are asking for more AI features or asking how to disable the ones they have.
Microsoft's stated roadmap includes better Copilot performance as context grows, integration with Copilot CLI, and agents for debugging and profiling. The real test comes when these ship and enterprises decide whether to enable them.