New Visual Studio Code update includes Copilot as default

Microsoft has released version 1.143 of Visual Studio Code, an integrated development environment, introducing several new features. One major update is making the Copilot harness the default option for new sessions. This update also includes a tool for comparing and combining solutions from multiple AI models.

Visual Studio Code features and capabilities

Visual Studio Code, developed by Microsoft, is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and web browsers. It offers features such as debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, and integrated version control via Git. Users can customize themes, keyboard shortcuts, and install extensions to expand its capabilities for different programming languages.

New features for comparing AI models

Version 1.143 allows users to compare how different AI models and frameworks approach the same coding task. Users can run multiple trials in parallel, examine results, and combine ideas to reach a single solution. This feature requires enabling a specific option in the "Agents" window and selecting multiple models to tackle the task independently.

Managing worktree storage for efficiency

Visual Studio Code 1.143 introduces an experimental tool to free up disk space by analyzing and deleting inactive worktree structures from agent sessions. Users can launch a command to see how much space is occupied by inactive worktrees, filter sessions by inactivity duration, and delete those no longer needed. Active or protected sessions are not affected by this cleanup process.

On-device model support for high-performance coding

Laptops like the new Surface Laptop Ultra, equipped with NVIDIA RTX Spark technology and up to 128 GB of unified memory, can locally run high-performance coding models. Users can download MAI Code 1.1 Flash from the "On This Device" tab in the model selector and interact with it via Copilot harness sessions. This feature allows model processing directly on the device without using AI credits.

Enhanced file browsing and comparison tools

Visual Studio Code adds an experimental feature that allows browsing changes from commits, stashes, and agent sessions through a file list displayed next to the multi-file comparison view. Users can enable this feature and view the status of each file with a letter indicating its status: A (added), M (modified), D (deleted), or R (renamed). This tool helps users navigate and compare changes more efficiently.