backwards-compatibility

It depends on the type of project. For most (standard) types, for example web projects (Full .NET Framework), Windows projects VS 2017 is forward and backward compatible with VS 2015, solutions and projects formats are the same. But not compatible for .NET Core projects, because project.json was changed back to .csproj.

VS2012 projects are mostly* backwards compatible with VS2010 SP1. The projects will undergo a conversion/migration process like in all previous VS versions, but this one is friendly towards VS2010. You should be able to make changes to your projects/references/code files and open them again in VS2010 without issues. I say mostly because there are some … Read more