Final branding for 18.7 release

[SimaTian]

Phase 4 of the 18.7 release checklist: final branding for the 18.7.0 release.

Changes (generated by scripts/Stabilize-Release.ps1)

• Add <DotNetFinalVersionKind>release</DotNetFinalVersionKind> on the VersionPrefix line (kept inline to create a conflict in forward-flow per release docs)
• Change PreReleaseVersionLabel from preview to servicing

Notes

• Phase 4.1 (PublicAPI promotion): no-op — there are no non-empty PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt entries on vs18.7.
• Same shape as 18.6 final branding PR Final branding for 18.6 release #13473.

⚠️ Time-sensitive: VS snaps main → rel/insiders on 2026-05-01. Final-branded bits need to be in VS main before the snap.

Tracks #13639.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR performs the final branding step for the vs18.7 release branch, aligning eng/Versions.props with the repo’s documented release process for producing final-branded (non-preview) builds that insert into Visual Studio.

Changes:

• Adds DotNetFinalVersionKind=release inline with VersionPrefix (intentionally to force a forward-flow merge conflict per release guidance).
• Switches PreReleaseVersionLabel from preview to servicing.

[github-actions]

Release Branding Review — eng/Versions.props

Verdict: Looks correct. Standard final-branding change following the established pattern.

Review Summary

Dimension	Status	Notes
Correctness	✅	DotNetFinalVersionKind=release is the correct value for final branding
Convention	✅	Matches pattern from prior releases (18.6) and Stabilize-Release.ps1 automation
Forward-flow strategy	✅	Inline placement on VersionPrefix line is intentional — forces merge conflict on forward-flow
PreReleaseVersionLabel	✅	preview → servicing is the expected transition for release branches
Breaking change risk	✅ None	Pure versioning metadata; no behavioral change to the engine
Downstream impact	✅ Expected	Packages will ship as stable (no prerelease suffix). This is the intended effect.

No issues found.

Note

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