There is a workflow to assist with the copy. We are looking at adding a "duplicate" to make this a single step process. For now you can do something like this...

• Right click the project in the solution explorer and click "explore file location" (or right click the tab of a code file). In the explorer, make a copy of the project FOLDER. Such as "Project1_BAK".
• Right click the Project_Name.ino in the solution explorer and click "Rename". That will rename the folder and the project_Name.ino ++, then it reloads the project.
• Rename "Project1_BAK" folder back to "Project1"

Sorry I made mistake. I have altered the 2nd point. You have to right click the project_name.ino for the rename to work.

The "vMicro>Compiler>Export as Zip" option gives you a copy of the current project. If you grab a zip then rename the .ino to a new name, the zip will contain the old project.

For a simple arduino ide compatible project it is often just a matter of copying the project folder and renaming the folder and the "projectname".ino. Then use "File>Open>Arduino Project" to open the .ino file. That will automatically create a new visual studio project.

Advanced use tips ...

There isn't actually that much to copying a project unless you have a lot of complex share code or library links and want to move to a different relative path folder structure. 

After renaming or moving projects, the Viual Studio "Recent file lists" can become confused showing old file names and paths. You can remove the invalid entries but don't let them cause confusion. 

If you need to make major location changes and want to keep some complex compiler properties (or shortcuts to shared code/libraries) then edit the .sln, .vcxproj or .vcxitems. They are simple text files.

What is an Arduno compatible project?

Keep in mind that an arduino compatible project does not need the visual studio "extra" files that you see in the project. 

If a folder name and an .ino file name match, then that is considered to be an arduino project. 

In Visual Studio, we also have a project system. The project system (.vcxproj) helps with intellisense and is a place to store any custom properties such as selected board. Visual Micro expects the project name to match the folder and .ino file name.

Thanks for the workaround though - I'll give it a try.