diff --git a/data/resources/StringResources.pl.resources b/data/resources/StringResources.pl.resources
index 9a69dc622d..334fd183da 100644
Binary files a/data/resources/StringResources.pl.resources and b/data/resources/StringResources.pl.resources differ
diff --git a/src/Libraries/AvalonEdit/ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit/Highlighting/Resources/CPP-Mode.xshd b/src/Libraries/AvalonEdit/ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit/Highlighting/Resources/CPP-Mode.xshd
index 06ebd52f6d..3995b7fa89 100644
--- a/src/Libraries/AvalonEdit/ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit/Highlighting/Resources/CPP-Mode.xshd
+++ b/src/Libraries/AvalonEdit/ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit/Highlighting/Resources/CPP-Mode.xshd
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0"?>
-<!-- syntaxdefinition for C/C++ 2001 by Andrea Paatz and Mike Krueger -->
+<!-- syntaxdefinition for C/C++ 2001 by Andrea Paatz and Mike Krueger 
+	this should be rewritten to xshd v2.0 syntax to handle c++/cli keywords with whitespaces properly -->
 
 <SyntaxDefinition name = "C++.NET" extensions = ".c;.h;.cc;.cpp;.hpp">
 	
@@ -85,6 +86,35 @@
 				<Key word = "__unhook" />
 				
 				<Key word = "__interface" />
+			
+				<!-- c++/cli new syntax managed keywords //-->
+				<Key word = "ref class" />
+				<Key word = "ref struct" />
+				<Key word = "value class" />
+				<Key word = "value struct" />
+				<Key word = "interface class" />
+				<Key word = "interface struct" />
+				<Key word = "enum class" />
+				<Key word = "enum struct" />
+				
+				<Key word = "delegate" />
+				<Key word = "event" />
+				<Key word = "property" />
+				
+				<Key word = "abstract" />
+				<Key word = "override" />
+				<Key word = "sealed" />
+				
+				<Key word = "generic" />
+				<Key word = "where" />
+				
+				<Key word = "finally" />
+				<Key word = "for each" />
+				<Key word = "gcnew" />
+				<Key word = "in" />
+				<Key word = "initonly" />
+				<Key word = "literal" />
+				<Key word = "nullptr" />
 			</KeyWords>
 			
 			<KeyWords name = "AccessKeywords" bold="true" italic="false" color="Black">
diff --git a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectCreateInformation.cs b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectCreateInformation.cs
index 80b693c4b3..f3b4de9042 100644
--- a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectCreateInformation.cs
+++ b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectCreateInformation.cs
@@ -24,11 +24,16 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Internal.Templates
 	{
 		internal List<IProject> createdProjects = new List<IProject>();
 		
+		public ProjectCreateInformation() {
+			Platform = "AnyCPU";
+		}
+		
 		public ReadOnlyCollection<IProject> CreatedProjects {
 			get { return createdProjects.AsReadOnly(); }
 		}
 		
 		public string OutputProjectFileName { get; set; }
+		public string Platform { get; set; }
 		public string ProjectName { get; set; }
 		public string SolutionName { get; set; }
 		public string RootNamespace { get; set; }
diff --git a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectTemplate.cs b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectTemplate.cs
index 601b1c3234..54d2156ac9 100644
--- a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectTemplate.cs
+++ b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Internal/Templates/Project/ProjectTemplate.cs
@@ -376,6 +376,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Internal.Templates
 					string solutionLocation = projectCreateInformation.Solution.FileName;
 					if (createNewSolution) {
 						projectCreateInformation.Solution.AddFolder(project);
+						projectCreateInformation.Solution.FixSolutionConfiguration(new IProject[] {project});
 						projectCreateInformation.Solution.Save();
 						ProjectService.OnSolutionCreated(new SolutionEventArgs(projectCreateInformation.Solution));
 						projectCreateInformation.Solution.Dispose();
diff --git a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/CompilableProject.cs b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/CompilableProject.cs
index 833ddb0128..78fd5a588d 100644
--- a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/CompilableProject.cs
+++ b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/CompilableProject.cs
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 		public OutputType OutputType {
 			get {
 				try {
-					return (OutputType)Enum.Parse(typeof(OutputType), GetEvaluatedProperty("OutputType") ?? "Exe");
+					return (OutputType)Enum.Parse(typeof(OutputType), GetEvaluatedProperty("OutputType") ?? "Exe", true);
 				} catch (ArgumentException) {
 					return OutputType.Exe;
 				}
diff --git a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Items/ItemType.cs b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Items/ItemType.cs
index 6dd95726dc..d55a31f781 100644
--- a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Items/ItemType.cs
+++ b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Items/ItemType.cs
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 		public static readonly ItemType BootstrapperFile = new ItemType("BootstrapperFile");
 		public static readonly ItemType Header = new ItemType("Header");
 		
+		// vcxproj-only (c++ project) items
+		public static readonly ItemType ClCompile = new ItemType("ClCompile");
+		public static readonly ItemType ClInclude = new ItemType("ClInclude");
+		
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Gets a collection of item types that are used for files.
 		/// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/MSBuildBasedProject.cs b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/MSBuildBasedProject.cs
index a5fda64ca4..0db125989b 100644
--- a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/MSBuildBasedProject.cs
+++ b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/MSBuildBasedProject.cs
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 			this.projectCollection = information.Solution.MSBuildProjectCollection;
 			this.projectFile = ProjectRootElement.Create(projectCollection);
 			this.userProjectFile = ProjectRootElement.Create(projectCollection);
+			this.ActivePlatform = information.Platform;
 			
 			Name = information.ProjectName;
 			FileName = information.OutputProjectFileName;
@@ -190,10 +191,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 			base.IdGuid = "{" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString().ToUpperInvariant() + "}";
 			projectFile.AddProperty(ProjectGuidPropertyName, IdGuid);
 			AddGuardedProperty("Configuration", "Debug");
-			AddGuardedProperty("Platform", "AnyCPU");
+			AddGuardedProperty("Platform", information.Platform);
 			
 			this.ActiveConfiguration = "Debug";
-			this.ActivePlatform = "AnyCPU";
+			this.ActivePlatform = information.Platform;
 		}
 		
 		/// <summary>
@@ -394,7 +395,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 				Dictionary<string, string> globalProps = new Dictionary<string, string>();
 				InitializeMSBuildProjectProperties(globalProps);
 				globalProps["Configuration"] = configuration;
-				globalProps["Platform"] = platform;
+				
+				//HACK: the ActivePlatform property should be set properly before entering here, but sometimes it does not
+				if (platform != null)	
+					globalProps["Platform"] = platform;
 				MSBuild.Project project = MSBuildInternals.LoadProject(projectCollection, projectFile, globalProps);
 				if (openCurrentConfiguration)
 					currentlyOpenProject = project;
@@ -1101,6 +1105,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 		{
 			this.projectCollection = loadInformation.ParentSolution.MSBuildProjectCollection;
 			this.FileName = loadInformation.FileName;
+			this.ActivePlatform = loadInformation.Platform;
 			
 			//try {
 			projectFile = ProjectRootElement.Open(loadInformation.FileName, projectCollection);
diff --git a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/ProjectLoadInformation.cs b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/ProjectLoadInformation.cs
index 54dc2e1174..7e50a39c45 100644
--- a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/ProjectLoadInformation.cs
+++ b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/ProjectLoadInformation.cs
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 	{
 		public Solution ParentSolution { get; private set; }
 		public string FileName { get; private set; }
+		public string Platform { get; internal set; }
 		public string ProjectName { get; private set; }
 		public string TypeGuid { get; set; }
+		internal string Guid { get; set; }
 		public Gui.IProgressMonitor ProgressMonitor { get; set; }
 		
 		public ProjectLoadInformation(Solution parentSolution, string fileName, string projectName)
diff --git a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Solution/Solution.cs b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Solution/Solution.cs
index b85d35248d..0889596ec0 100644
--- a/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Solution/Solution.cs
+++ b/src/Main/Base/Project/Src/Project/Solution/Solution.cs
@@ -508,6 +508,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 			string solutionDirectory = Path.GetDirectoryName(newSolution.FileName);
 			
 			ProjectSection nestedProjectsSection = null;
+			IList<ProjectLoadInformation> projectsToLoad = new List<ProjectLoadInformation>();
+			IList<IList<ProjectSection>> readProjectSections = new List<IList<ProjectSection>>();
+			
+			// process the solution file contents
 			while (true) {
 				string line = sr.ReadLine();
 				
@@ -531,11 +535,16 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 					} else {
 						ProjectLoadInformation loadInfo = new ProjectLoadInformation(newSolution, location, title);
 						loadInfo.TypeGuid = projectGuid;
-						loadInfo.ProgressMonitor = progressMonitor;
-						IProject newProject = LanguageBindingService.LoadProject(loadInfo);
-						ReadProjectSections(sr, newProject.ProjectSections);
-						newProject.IdGuid = guid;
-						newSolution.AddFolder(newProject);
+						loadInfo.Guid = guid;
+//						loadInfo.ProgressMonitor = progressMonitor;
+//						IProject newProject = LanguageBindingService.LoadProject(loadInfo);
+//						newProject.IdGuid = guid;
+						projectsToLoad.Add(loadInfo);
+						IList<ProjectSection> currentProjectSections = new List<ProjectSection>();
+						ReadProjectSections(sr, currentProjectSections);
+						readProjectSections.Add(currentProjectSections);
+//						newSolution.AddFolder(newProject);
+
 					}
 					match = match.NextMatch();
 				} else {
@@ -553,6 +562,21 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 					}
 				}
 			}
+			// load projects
+			for(int i=0; i<projectsToLoad.Count; i++) {
+				ProjectLoadInformation loadInfo = projectsToLoad[i];
+				IList<ProjectSection> projectSections = readProjectSections[i];
+				
+				// set the target platform
+				SolutionItem projectConfig = newSolution.GetProjectConfiguration(loadInfo.Guid);
+				loadInfo.Platform = AbstractProject.GetPlatformNameFromKey(projectConfig.Location);
+				
+				loadInfo.ProgressMonitor = progressMonitor;
+				IProject newProject = LanguageBindingService.LoadProject(loadInfo);
+				newProject.IdGuid = loadInfo.Guid;
+				newProject.ProjectSections.AddRange(projectSections);
+				newSolution.AddFolder(newProject);
+			}
 			return nestedProjectsSection;
 		}
 		#endregion
@@ -636,39 +660,50 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.SharpDevelop.Project
 			return newSec;
 		}
 		
+		public SolutionItem GetProjectConfiguration(string guid) {
+			ProjectSection projectConfigSection = GetProjectConfigurationsSection();
+			SolutionItem foundItem = projectConfigSection.Items.Find(item => item.Name.StartsWith(guid));
+			if (foundItem != null)
+				return foundItem;
+			LoggingService.Warn("No configuration for project "+guid + "using default.");
+			return new SolutionItem("Debug|Any CPU", "Debug|Any CPU");
+		}
+		
 		public bool FixSolutionConfiguration(IEnumerable<IProject> projects)
 		{
 			ProjectSection solSec = GetSolutionConfigurationsSection();
 			ProjectSection prjSec = GetProjectConfigurationsSection();
 			bool changed = false;
-			if (solSec.Items.Count == 0) {
-				solSec.Items.Add(new SolutionItem("Debug|Any CPU", "Debug|Any CPU"));
-				solSec.Items.Add(new SolutionItem("Release|Any CPU", "Release|Any CPU"));
-				LoggingService.Warn("!! Inserted default SolutionConfigurationPlatforms !!");
-				changed = true;
-			}
+			Set<string> configurations = new Set<string>();
+
 			foreach (IProject project in projects) {
 				string guid = project.IdGuid.ToUpperInvariant();
-				foreach (SolutionItem configuration in solSec.Items) {
-					string searchKey = guid + "." + configuration.Name + ".Build.0";
-					if (!prjSec.Items.Exists(delegate (SolutionItem item) {
-					                         	return item.Name == searchKey;
-					                         }))
-					{
-						prjSec.Items.Add(new SolutionItem(searchKey, configuration.Location));
+				string platform = FixPlatformNameForSolution(project.ActivePlatform);
+				foreach (string configuration in new string[]{"Debug", "Release"}) {
+					string key = configuration + "|" + platform;
+					configurations.Add(key);
+					
+					string searchKey = guid + "." + key + ".Build.0";
+					if (!prjSec.Items.Exists(item => item.Name == searchKey)) {
+						prjSec.Items.Add(new SolutionItem(searchKey, key));
 						changed = true;
 					}
-					searchKey = guid + "." + configuration.Name + ".ActiveCfg";
-					if (!prjSec.Items.Exists(delegate (SolutionItem item) {
-					                         	return item.Name == searchKey;
-					                         }))
-					{
-						prjSec.Items.Add(new SolutionItem(searchKey, configuration.Location));
+					
+					searchKey = guid + "." + key + ".ActiveCfg";
+					if (!prjSec.Items.Exists(item => item.Name == searchKey)) {
+						prjSec.Items.Add(new SolutionItem(searchKey, key));
 						changed = true;
 					}
 				}
 			}
 			
+			foreach (string key in configurations) {
+				if (!solSec.Items.Exists(item => item.Location == key && item.Name == key)) {
+					solSec.Items.Add(new SolutionItem(key, key));
+					changed = true;
+				}
+			}
+					
 			// remove all configuration entries belonging to removed projects
 			prjSec.Items.RemoveAll(
 				item => {
diff --git a/src/Main/StartUp/Project/Resources/StringResources.resources b/src/Main/StartUp/Project/Resources/StringResources.resources
index 72c112acc1..f2e9448b39 100644
Binary files a/src/Main/StartUp/Project/Resources/StringResources.resources and b/src/Main/StartUp/Project/Resources/StringResources.resources differ