Microsoft has announced the start of the private preview stage for Visual Studio 2022 for Mac. To sign up, volunteers can register their interest using this form, if you are successful, Microsoft will contact you with a link to download the preview.

Microsoft said that this is the first release of its .NET IDE with a refreshed interface that fully integrates with the macOS UI and fixes crashes. While the UI integrates better with macOS, Microsoft also notes that it feels more familiar with the experience on Windows so users swapping between platforms will have a flatter learning curve.

The Redmond company said that it has high standards for quality with Visual Studio 2022 for Mac and therefore wants to squash more bugs during a private preview phase before opening it up to a larger public preview. While this update brings a footer status bar, a new tab model for the documents/tool window, and refreshed dark and light themes, future previews will bring a new preferences UI, tool window drag and drop, and a Git branch selector in the status bar.

Feedback is crucial for Microsoft especially at this early stage in the product cycle. To report your feedback, in Visual Studio for Mac, go to Help > Report a Problem or Help > Provide a Suggestion.