Why is there no 64bit version of Visual Studio 2010?

Question

I only see x86 version in msdn downloads.

Answer 1

I bet most of the work would be testing both editions and managing the code for both editions from a single codebase. This isn't how the IDE team has worked (multi-CPU-architecture) the entire time it has existed. They took the big bet on managed code in VS10, so I can see how they might not want to take on additional risk in that cycle.

If I was managing such a task I'd wait for a longer release cycle.

Update: I was wrong in thinking .NET 5 would be released with Win 8, but no. Instead we got .NET 4.5, then .NET 4.5.1 with Win 8.1. Many small, incremental releases with the shortened Windows release cycles.

Answer 2

Rico Mariani basically says:

1. The size of the pointers expands so all things being equal, the performance of a 64-bit Visual Studio would be less.
2. All the current add-ins would break.

Answer 3

Because there isn't much need for the IDE to take advantage of the 64 bit benefits.

The Framework itself comes in 32 and 64 bit editions.

Which x64 benefits do you want the IDE to take advantage of?