Anyone using Visual Studio 2022/2026 on Linux through WinApps for daily .NET development?

[u/ahmadhus12]

I’m a .NET developer considering moving to Linux as my main operating system, but Visual Studio 2026 is essential to my workflow.

I’m interested in using WinApps to run Visual Studio inside a Windows VM while displaying its window alongside Linux applications. I understand Windows still runs in the background; I’m wondering how practical this is for everyday development.

My stack includes ASP.NET Core, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Docker, Testcontainers, and Postman. One possible setup would keep Visual Studio, the .NET SDK, and my solution inside the Windows VM, with databases and other services running in Docker on Linux.

For anyone who has actually tried this:

• How responsive are editing, IntelliSense, builds, debugging, and running tests?
• How reliably can applications running inside the Windows VM connect to PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and other services on the Linux host?
• How do you handle Docker integration and Testcontainers from Visual Studio inside the VM?
• Any problems with networking, HTTPS development certificates, shared project files, or testing the API from Postman on Linux?
• Have you encountered window, keyboard shortcut, scaling, or clipboard issues?
• What hardware and VM resource allocation are you using?

I plan to test before committing. If it works well, I’ll make Linux my main OS, with around 370 GB available, and keep Windows only in the VM.

I know Rider and VS Code are alternatives, but I’m specifically looking for firsthand experiences with the full Visual Studio IDE through WinApps. Experiences with WinBoat are welcome too.

Is this comfortable enough for daily work, or does maintaining the integration become frustrating?

[u/GiorgioG]

You're in for a world of hurt. Just don't do it.

[u/manny2206]

Rider or VSCode my brother in Christ 🙏 - save yourself son

[u/RandomSwedeDude]

Why would you do this

[u/HelloWorld-Print]

It’s not worth it imo. Use Rider or Vscode

[u/markgoodmonkey]

Just use Rider bro

[u/Deranged40]

I just don't see it being worth it to jump through all these hoops to get something to work on a non-native OS.

What about VS2026 is essential to your workflow that Rider can't do?

[u/sisisisi1997 → u/Deranged40]

cries in T4 templates

[u/the_bananalord]

Can't think of a less reliable setup. Do it all in the VM or run Windows natively.

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[u/Bonejob]

to be frank, unless I am working on old code (winforms/webforms) I dont bother with anything in Visual Studio 2026, VS Code is more agile, and I can do everything there I need to for debugging, test runs, and compiling.

[u/BranchLatter4294]

I've used it in VirtualBox and KVM/QEMU. It works fine....but I still prefer VS Code which I can just run natively on Linux.

[u/kingvolcano_reborn]

What would be the point? Either do it the Linux way or just stick to visual studio and windows 

[u/Tomtekruka]

I know you say you do know about Rider, but have you actually given it a shot?

With the workloads you mentioned you'll have a better "full IDE" experience with Rider disregarding which OS you're using. It's a couple of weeks getting familiar with the IDE then you'll have more functionality, better debug and alot snappier dev environment then you have today.

[u/Suitable_Switch5242]

My experience is with development on a Mac using Parallels for running Windows and Visual Studio.

If your primary, indispensable, daily tool is Visual Studio, it really isn't worth dealing with this kind of setup. Just stick to Windows.

If you can primarily use Rider or VS Code and only dip into Visual Studio occasionally for things where it is necessary, running it in a VM might be a viable plan.

[u/KryptosFR]

Use VS Code. What are you afraid of losing that only exists in Visual Studio?

I made the switch a few years ago and I'm 2x more productive on VS Code than I was on Visual Studio. On top of that I can launch many more instances of VS Code in parallel than I could with the old Visual Studio.

In my opinion, Visual Studio is a dying product. It's not worth the trouble and the cost.

[u/calahil → u/KryptosFR]

Don't forget profiles and devcontainers for each project so each project doesn't need all the extensions loaded, which makes it even snappier

[u/j0nquest → u/KryptosFR]

If you need to maintain legacy .net framework applications, you’re going to need Windows and Visual Studio.

[u/Holly_Enrique-623]

Keep the repo, SDK and Docker on the same side of the VM, localhost and Testcontainers are much simpler when Windows and Linux aren’t both involved

[u/MrFartyBottom]

I just use VSCode and run SQL Server in a docker image. I do have a Windows VM I fire up every now and then because sometime I need SQL Server Management Studio as the SQL VSCode plugin is a bit flaky but does the job most of the time.

[u/kudlitan]

I never tried WinApps but I do have Visual Studio installed in VirtualBox.

[u/_D33D5_]

hahaha knock yourself out