Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) made by Microsoft that can be used to develop different types of software, including desktop and mobile applications. It provides tools like the toolbox, solution explorer, and properties window to help developers build and manage their projects. When starting a new project in Visual Studio, the user selects the type of project, names it, and can then add forms and controls by dragging them from the toolbox onto the main window. Properties of the controls can be viewed and modified in the properties window.