Not mentioned so far, but the vMicro appears to re--- compile only the new code. Consequently the compiles are really fast afterwards. That includes changing from debug to release and vice-versa.
The vMicro properties seems to indicate that the Gcc compiler is being used. The default properties appear to support backwards compatibility to Arduino.
One issue that I still want to confirm is whose compiler is...
Installing the Visual Micro extension is easy. After installing the Visual Studio IDE, use the extension system to install Arduino extension and the Serial extension. Do not install except by using the extension support...