# Can we get Visual Studio for Mac alpha and beta stacks for Xamarin apps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Question & Answer\ **Tags:** stack-updates, xamarin\ **Created:** [August 11, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474 "2017-08-11T15:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![leeflannery](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/leeflannery/32/491_2.png) [@leeflannery](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/leeflannery)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/1 "2017-08-11T15:28:27Z")
Can we get alpha and beta Visual Studio for Mac stacks for Xamarin apps? We’re experiencing a Xamarin bug ([https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show\_bug.cgi?id=56962](https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=56962)) that is fixed in the beta build stack. But the only beta build stacks are Xamarin Studio stacks, which are deprecated per [Stack Deprecation: please switch from Xamarin Studio to Visual Studio for Mac](http://discuss.bitrise.io/t/stack-deprecation-please-switch-from-xamarin-studio-to-visual-studio-for-mac/2473). The only reason I’m still on VS for Mac stack is because it’s the only beta stack available. (locally I’m building with VS for Mac beta). Thanks! - Lee ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/2 "2017-08-11T15:42:46Z")
> [@leeflannery](#): > > Can we get alpha and beta Visual Studio for Mac stacks for Xamarin apps? Sure, definitely! Our plan right now is to keep the Xamarin Studio Stable and LTS stacks a bit longer, and first replace the Alpha and Beta ones completely with the Visual Studio for Mac equivalents. We’re still evaluating whether we want to keep the Alpha stacks, or only Stable + Beta (+ LTS), due to the non popularity of the Alpha stack (there’s only a handful of projects using it), but we’ll probably keep Alpha too. ---
**Author:** ![Didstopia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/didstopia/32/530_2.png) [@Didstopia](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/Didstopia)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 9:51am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/3 "2017-08-15T09:51:54Z")
Any chance of getting VS4Mac beta channel stack earlier/in addition to having Xamarin Studio stacks? Since .NET Standard 2.0 is now final and VS4Mac stable doesn’t support it, having a beta stack is kinda crucial at this point. EDIT: In my case I can’t use `dotnet build`, since my .NET Standard 2.0 library references Xamarin.Forms (latest prerelease), which in turn uses/depends on PCL, which dotnet doesn’t work with. ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/4 "2017-08-15T10:20:44Z")
@Dids can you install the .Net version you need? We’ll definitely provide the VS4Mac Beta, but will most likely take some time. We might have some time for it this week and release it on the weekend, but might require more time (and so won’t be released this week). If you install the .Net Core version you need then you don’t depend on the stack update. ---
**Author:** ![Didstopia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/didstopia/32/530_2.png) [@Didstopia](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/Didstopia)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 10:36am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/5 "2017-08-15T10:36:28Z")
I’m already using .NET Core, but as I mentioned Xamarin.Forms isn’t compatible with it and needs to be build with msbuild instead: [https://github.com/dotnet/cli/issues/5457](https://github.com/dotnet/cli/issues/5457) [https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show\_bug.cgi?id=53694](https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=53694) ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/6 "2017-08-15T10:37:48Z")
> [@Dids](#): > > Xamarin.Forms isn’t compatible with it and needs to be build with msbuild instead Got it. I can’t promise anything but will try to push out the VS4Mac Beta stack as soon as possible. ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/7 "2017-08-17T18:17:12Z")
@Dids the Visual Studio for Mac **Beta** stack will be introduced this weekend, as well as the Stable one will be upgraded: > [@Weekly Virtual Machine / Stack updates - 2017.08.19 - Visual Studio for Mac, Beta channel stack](http://discuss.bitrise.io/t/weekly-virtual-machine-stack-updates-2017-08-19-visual-studio-for-mac-beta-channel-stack/2506): > > Highlights Android/Linux stacks clang preinstalled - thanks @koral for the [PR](https://github.com/bitrise-docker/bitrise-base/pull/130)! [a couple of older preinstalled packages removed (no longer preintalled)](https://github.com/bitrise-docker/android/pull/108): platforms;android-20 build-tools;20.0.0 system-images;android-17;default;armeabi-v7a system-images;android-15;default;armeabi-v7a [a couple of patch releases removed (no longer preinstalled) where newer patch versions are available](https://github.com/bitrise-docker/android/pull/109): build-tools;26.0.0 build-tools;25.0.2 Xcode stacks No significant change. Xamarin stacks New Stack will b… ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/8 "2017-08-17T18:22:51Z")
@leeflannery how important would be the Alpha stack for you? The Beta will be available this weekend in addition to the Stable channel stack, but we’re discussing the removal of the Alpha channel stack as it’s only used by a handful of projects which would most likely work on Beta too. ---
**Author:** ![leeflannery](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/leeflannery/32/491_2.png) [@leeflannery](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/leeflannery)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/9 "2017-08-17T19:26:43Z")
The Alpha channel isn’t important for the project I’m on. Beta is useful when we stumble upon a bug and find that the Xamarin team has it fixed in “the next release.” Then we can try out the fix a little early on Beta. We haven’t had to go deep enough to need the Alpha. So, speaking only for my interests - I wouldn’t miss Alpha if it went away. ---
**Author:** ![Didstopia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/didstopia/32/530_2.png) [@Didstopia](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/Didstopia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/10 "2017-08-18T06:28:12Z")
Just a heads up that the most recent stable channel version of VS4Mac fixed my issues, so I can use msbuild in combination with dotnet to build my projects. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 8:16am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/11 "2017-08-18T08:16:12Z")
Thanks @leeflannery for the info! I think we’ll remove the Alpha option with the removal of the Xamarin Studio stacks, but of course if there would be a use case for it any time in the future we’re always open to add it back again. ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 8:16am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/12 "2017-08-18T08:16:32Z")
@Dids coming tomorrow! 😉 [Weekly Virtual Machine / Stack updates - 2017.08.19 - Visual Studio for Mac, Beta channel stack](http://discuss.bitrise.io/t/weekly-virtual-machine-stack-updates-2017-08-19-visual-studio-for-mac-beta-channel-stack/2506) ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 8:45am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/13 "2017-08-19T08:45:54Z")
@Dids VS4Mac Beta stack is now available 🎉 ---
**Author:** ![Didstopia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/didstopia/32/530_2.png) [@Didstopia](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/Didstopia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 7:04am UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/14 "2017-09-20T07:04:24Z")
Any word on when the VS4Mac stable stack will be updated to the latest, to support iOS 11? Confusingly enough, currently both beta and alpha versions of VS4Mac only support up to iOS 10, but they do contain newer versions of Mono, which fixes a bunch of iOS specific LLVM issues. I have no idea why Microsoft/Xamarin decided to only update the stable branch to support iOS 11 and not all branches at the same time, makes it hard to choose between bug fixes/iOS 11 support. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/15 "2017-09-20T15:40:14Z")
Yeah, they frequently do strange updates like that 😜 Xamarin stacks will be upgraded to Xcode 9 this weekend, following our usual update schedule. ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/16 "2017-09-22T12:09:55Z")
Related update - will go live tomorrow: > [@Weekly Virtual Machine / Stack updates - 2017.09.23 - Xcode 9 final](http://discuss.bitrise.io/t/weekly-virtual-machine-stack-updates-2017-09-23-xcode-9-final/2780): > > Highlights [Xcode 9 final version was released.](https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/DeveloperTools/Conceptual/WhatsNewXcode/xcode_9/xcode_9.html)Android/Linux stacks No significant change. Xcode stacks Xcode 9.0.x stack: rebuilt with Xcode 9 final Xcode Edge stack was rebuilt on top of the Xcode 9 final stack Xcode 8.1.x, 8.0.x, 6.4 stacks: applications using these stacks will be auto-migrated to newer stacks during the following weeks Visual Studio for Mac stacks Xamarin Stable stack is now deprecated: [http://discuss.bitrise.io/t/xamarin-studio-stack-deprecations-only-available-if-yo…](http://discuss.bitrise.io/t/xamarin-studio-stack-deprecations-only-available-if-you-request-it/2722) ---
**Author:** ![Didstopia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/didstopia/32/530_2.png) [@Didstopia](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/Didstopia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/17 "2017-09-27T15:03:54Z")
Just a headsup that the beta channel now has both 15.4 and iOS 11 support. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![viktorbenei](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.bitrise.io/viktorbenei/32/18_2.png) [@viktorbenei](https://discuss.bitrise.io/u/viktorbenei)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://discuss.bitrise.io/t/can-we-get-visual-studio-for-mac-alpha-and-beta-stacks-for-xamarin-apps/2474/18 "2017-09-27T17:17:18Z")
Thanks @Dids, we’ll roll out the update this weekend! 😊