Why Is Visual Studio Auto‑Installing Recommended Components Controversial?

Microsoft helps developers automatically install components – is this a mistake?

Visual Studio installer’s new feature automatically installs “recommended” components even if developers don’t explicitly select them, provoking strong opposition in the developer community.

Microsoft’s principal program manager Mark Downie explained in an article that, with new technologies, they integrated new components to enhance the software development experience, and some components will be suggested for addition to the existing work environment. To simplify the update experience, starting with Visual Studio 17.10 preview 1, Visual Studio will automatically install these new recommended components when updating.

The setting can currently be turned off manually, but it is enabled by default. Confusingly, this setting is part of the new Visual Studio installer update and appears in earlier product versions, even though Downie claims it only applies to version 17.10.

Visual Studio IDE for Windows is a massive product, and few developers try to install every possible component. The Visual Studio installer is a separate application that lets users choose the components they need. Its components are grouped into “workloads” such as ASP.NET and Web development or mobile, each providing required and optional components. Individual components outside workloads can also be selected.

Thus, Downie’s wording is not very precise; he did not clearly explain under what circumstances a component is “recommended,” and the setting to disable the feature is hard to find. Users must click the “More” button next to the Visual Studio version they want to update, then select “Update settings” to locate it.

So far, the developer community has condemned the feature. One comment called it “a wrong approach, seeming like a marketing tactic to install new things,” another said, “I’m happy to see a list of recommended items, but they should not be installed automatically,” and others urged Microsoft to reconsider.

Edited by: Universal Da Xiong