What is .xproj file and how to open this project type in Visual Studio 2012?

Question

I am working with with IBM Bluemix, so I created a basic ASP.net 5 web application, provided as a startup project in bluemix. There is a project file called dotnetstarter.xproj among different other files. I am able to open the solution file in Visual Studio 2012, but the solution does not understand the 'project' which has the extension .xproj. Can anyone help me understand this type of project and how do I open it in Visual Studio 2012?

I have already read the following link in SO, but it didn't help.

.xproj and .json is not recognized in Visual studio

Answer 1

.NET Core based projects like that can only be opened in Visual Studio 2015 and above.

And note that .NET Core bits must be installed or updated first from http://dot.net

Microsoft intends to replace .xproj with classic .csproj in the long term, so this answer will be invalid some day.

Updated 2018 .xproj is now long dead. Please only use Visual Studio 2017 and above to develop your .NET Core apps.