Windows Server 2025 with Visual Studio 2026 is now available as a public beta

[shamil-mubarakshin]

Breaking changes

Windows Server 2025 with Visual Studio 2026 is now available for GitHub Actions.
You can use the windows-2025-vs2026 image label in your YAML to select this image.

jobs:
  jobName:
    runs-on: windows-2025-vs2026

The image is marked as "beta" for now. It means some software can be unstable on the new platform. Also, there could be queueing issues as the capacity will be balanced only throughout the next weeks.
Please report any problems with the new image to this repository.

Target date

Thursday, February 5, 2026

The motivation for the changes

The purpose of a Beta is to collect feedback on an image before it is released to GA. The goal of a Beta is to identify and fix any potential issues that exist on that image.

Possible impact

N/a

Software difference between Windows Server 2025 and Windows Server 2025 with Visual Studio 2026

Tool name	Windows Server 2025	Windows Server 2025 with VS 2026	Notes
Visual Studio	Visual Studio 2022 (version 17.14.*)	Visual Studio 2026 (version 18.2.*)	Updated to the recent version
Visual Studio components	*	Removed Component.Dotfuscator Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Azure.ServiceFabric.Tools Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.TestTools.CodedUITest Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.TestTools.WebLoadTest Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.ARM Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Modules.x86.x64 Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Runtimes.ARM.Spectre Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.MFC.ARM Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.MFC.ARM.Spectre Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATL.ARM Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATL.ARM.Spectre Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.Azure.CloudServices Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentGroup.Azure.ResourceManager.Tools Added Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.14.44.17.14.x86.x64	Unavalable in VS 2026. MSVC v143 is added for compatibility
CMake	3.31.6	latest available (4.2.3)	Adds Visual Studio 18 2026 generator
Android Command Line Tools	16.0	19.0	cmdline tools version isntalled by VS2026 was bumped

Known issues:

• Included Software: and Image Release: links in Set up job step will be fixed on next image rollout

Platforms affected

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions

Runner images affected

• Ubuntu 22.04
• Ubuntu 24.04
• Ubuntu Slim
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• macOS 15
• macOS 15 Arm64
• macOS 26
• macOS 26 Arm64
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2025
• Windows Server 2025 with Visual Studio 2026

Mitigation ways

Please report any problems with the new image to this repository.

[xavier2k6]

Will there be a windows-latest-vs2026 label created too?

[erik-bershel]

Will there be a windows-latest-vs2026 label created too?

We'll share our plans on the mater later.

[erik-bershel]

At the moment:
Source: https://github.blog/changelog/2026-02-05-github-actions-early-february-2026-updates/#windows-server-2025-with-visual-studio-2026-image-now-available-for-github-hosted-runners

A new Windows runner image with Visual Studio 2026 is now available in public preview. This dedicated image runs alongside the current windows-2025 image, providing a safe validation path ahead of the default Windows image migration. Visual Studio 2026 will be integrated into the windows-2025 image when it reaches general availability on May 4, 2026.

[catmanjan]

When will windows-latest become VS 2026?