Where the heck did the Xamarin Forms Previewer go?

The Xamarin Forms previewer is a great tool that helps you see in real time how your Xamarin apps' interface is going to look like in a real device. But it seems that Microsoft decided in Visual Studio 2017 15.8 to get rid of it, it isn't anywhere to be found! Is it?

It used to be inside of the Tools menu, inside Other Windows, but now it's not there anymore.

Well dang it Microsoft, why would you do this to us?!

Well, don't worry, this doesn't mean that the tool is gone, and that Microsoft hates you and you will now have to run the app over and over to confirm that what you are creating is coming up as you think, it is simply now the default way in which XAML files are opened, with the Preview right there by the side of the code. Now it is true that initially, it may not appear, so you now think I must be crazy because the Previewer is nowhere to be seen, but take a closer look, do you see these tiny buttons at the bottom right of the code Window?

Now what happens if you click the bottom button?

There it is! The old Xamarin Forms Previewer, hiding in plain sight.

If you ever developed Windows Phone or Windows apps this looks more familiar than ever. You can use the other two buttons that I showed you to switch between a horizontal and a vertical view, and at the top of this 'divisor' there is yet another button to help you switch the order between the source code and the design:

I don't see this, what can I do?

If for some reason you don't see these buttons, maybe your XAML files are boing opened with a different program. You can simply right click on the XAML file you want to open, select "Open with..." and in the next window, select Xamarin Forms Previewer.+

Thanks for still loving us Microsoft! I still won't make my Android and iOS apps available for Windows!

LOL, JK.

Maybe.