Can I use Visual Studio 2017 Release Candidate with Xamarin?

Yes. You are able to leverage Xamarin through Visual Studio 2017 Release Candidate. However, please note that currently, installing Xamarin to Visual Studio 2017 RC will uninstall any earlier versions of Xamarin installed into Visual Studio 2015/2013/2012. Xamarin for Visual Studio 2017 can not be installed at the same time as Xamarin for Visual Studio 2015/2013/2012 as a result of Visual Studio 2017 moving away from MSI packaging toward utilization of the Visual Studio Installer system.

While the team is currently looking into ways to bypass this expected behaviour, we do advise users to choose their development environment based on their needs. Visual Studio 2015/2013/2012 with Xamarin are recommended for production work as Visual Studio 2017 is still a Release Candidate.

How do I install Xamarin to Visual Studio 2017 Release Candidate?

Installing during the Visual Studio 2017 RC Installer

• Select the Xamarin component as part of the new Visual Studio Installer

  

This will install the Visual Studio extension for Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android development.

Installing or Reinstalling Xamarin in an existing installation of Visual Studio 2017 RC

Using the Visual Studio Installer:

1. Search for the Visual Studio Installer application

   

2. Select:
   a. Mobile development with .NET (Preview) in the Workloads tab, or

   
   b. Xamarin in the Individual components tab

   

Using the Visual Studio Installer within Visual Studio:

1. Navigate to the Visual Studio 2017 Start Page
2. Click on More project templates under the New Project section

3. Click on Open Visual Studio Installer in the left pane

4. Select:
a. Mobile development with .NET (Preview) in the Workloads tab, or

b. Xamarin in the Individual components tab