Microsoft started development on the .NET Framework in the late 1990s originally under the name of Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS). By late 2001 the first beta versions of .NET 1.0 were released. The first version of .NET Framework was released on 13 February 2002, bringing managed code to Windows NT 4.0, 98,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, ME and XP. Since the first version, Microsoft has released nine more upgrades for .NET Framework, seven of which have been released along with a new version of Visual Studio. Two of these upgrades, .NET Framework 2.0 and 4.0, have upgraded Common Language Runtime (CLR). New versions of .NET Framework replace older versions when the CLR version is the same. The .NET Framework family also includes two versions for

mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

or embedded device use. A reduced version of the framework, the .NET Compact Framework, is available on

Windows CE Windows Embedded Compact, formerly Windows Embedded CE, Windows Powered and Windows CE, is an operating system subfamily developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows Embedded family of products. Unlike Windows Embedded Standard, which is ba ...

platforms, including Windows Mobile devices such as smartphones. Additionally, the .NET Micro Framework is targeted at severely resource-constrained devices. .NET Framework 4.8 was the final version of .NET Framework, future work going into the rewritten and

cross-platform In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several Computing platform, computing platforms. Some cross ...

.NET Core platform (later, simply ''.NET''), which shipped as ''.NET 5'' in November 2020.

Overview

.NET Framework 1.0

The first version of the .NET Framework was released on 15 January 2002 for Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0,

, and XP. Mainstream support for this version ended on 10 July 2007, and extended support ended on 14 July 2009, with the exception of Windows XP Media Center and Tablet PC editions. On 19 June 2001, the tenth anniversary of the release of Visual Basic, .NET Framework 1.0 Beta 2 was released. .NET Framework 1.0 is supported on Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0 (with Service Pack 6a),

, XP, and Server 2003. Applications utilizing .NET Framework 1.0 will also run on computers with .NET Framework 1.1 installed, which supports additional operating systems.

Service Pack 1

The .NET Framework 1.0 Service Pack 1 was released on 19 March 2002.

Service Pack 2

.NET Framework 1.0 Service Pack 2 was released on 7 August 2002.

Service Pack 3

.NET Framework 1.0 Service Pack 3 was released on 30 August 2004.

.NET Framework 1.1

Version 1.1 is the first minor .NET Framework upgrade. It is available on its own as a redistributable package or in a software development kit, and was published on 3 April 2003. It is also part of the second release of Visual Studio .NET 2003. This is the first version of the .NET Framework to be included as part of the Windows operating system, shipping with Windows Server 2003. Mainstream support for .NET Framework 1.1 ended on 14 October 2008, and extended support ended on 8 October 2013. .NET Framework 1.1 provides full

backward compatibility Backward compatibility (sometimes known as backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with Input/output, input designed for such a system, ...

to version 1.0, except in rare instances where an application will not run because it checks the version number of a library. Changes in 1.1 include: * Built-in support for mobile ASP.NET controls, which was previously available as an add-on * Enables Windows Forms assemblies to execute in a semi-trusted manner from the Internet * Enables Code Access Security in ASP.NET applications * Built-in support for

ODBC In computing, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard application programming interface (API) for accessing database management systems (DBMS). The designers of ODBC aimed to make it independent of database systems and operating systems. An ...

and

Oracle Database Oracle Database (commonly referred to as Oracle DBMS, Oracle Autonomous Database, or simply as Oracle) is a multi-model database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation. It is a database commonly used for running online t ...

, which was previously available as an add-on * .NET Compact Framework, a version of the .NET Framework for small devices * Internet Protocol version 6 (

IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. I ...

) support .NET Framework 1.1 is supported on Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0 (with Service Pack 6a),

, XP, Server 2003,

Vista Vista usually refers to a distant view. Vista may also refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...

, and Server 2008.

Service Pack 1

The .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 was released on 30 August 2004. It requires Windows NT 4.0 SP6a plus Windows Installer 2.0. It is the last version to support Windows NT 4.0 SP6a, Windows 2000 RTM-SP2 and Windows XP RTM-SP1.

.NET Framework 2.0

Version 2.0 was released on 27 October 2005. It was also released along with

Visual Studio 2005 Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms such a ...

, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, and

BizTalk Microsoft BizTalk Server is an inter-organizational middleware system (IOMS) that automates business processes through the use of ''adapters'' which are tailored to communicate with different software systems used in an enterprise. Created by M ...

2006. A software development kit for this version was released on 29 November 2006. Support ended on 12 July 2011. It is the last version to support Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP3, Windows ME and Windows Server 2003 RTM. Not to be confused with .NET Standard 2.0, announced in August 14, 2017. Changes in 2.0 include: * Full

64-bit computing In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit CPUs and ALUs are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A comp ...

support for both the

x64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mo ...

and the

IA-64 IA-64 (Intel Itanium architecture) is the instruction set architecture (ISA) of the Itanium family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors. The basic ISA specification originated at Hewlett-Packard (HP), and was subsequently implemented by Intel in coll ...

hardware platforms *

Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which ...

integration: Instead of using

T-SQL Transact-SQL (T-SQL) is Microsoft's and Sybase's proprietary extension to the SQL (Structured Query Language) used to interact with relational databases. T-SQL expands on the SQL standard to include procedural programming, local variables, vario ...

, one can build stored procedures and triggers in any of the .NET-compatible languages * A new hosting API for native applications wishing to host an instance of the .NET runtime: The new API gives a fine grain control on the behavior of the runtime with regards to multithreading, memory allocation and assembly loading. It was initially developed to efficiently host the runtime in

, which implements its own scheduler and memory manager. * New personalization features for ASP.NET, such as support for themes, skins, master pages and webparts * .NET Micro Framework, a version of the .NET Framework related to the Smart Personal Objects Technology initiative * Membership provider * Partial classes *

Nullable type Nullable types are a feature of some programming languages which allow a value to be set to the special value NULL instead of the usual possible values of the data type. In statically typed languages, a nullable type is an option type, while in ...

s * Anonymous methods *

Iterator In computer programming, an iterator is an object that enables a programmer to traverse a container, particularly lists. Various types of iterators are often provided via a container's interface. Though the interface and semantics of a given iterat ...

s * Data tables * Common Language Runtime (CLR) 2.0 * Language support for generics built directly into the .NET CLR .NET Framework 2.0 is supported on Windows 98, ME,

(with Service Pack 3 or higher), XP (with Service Pack 2 or higher), Server 2003, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2. Applications utilizing .NET Framework 2.0 will also run on computers with .NET Framework 3.0 or 3.5 installed, which supports additional operating systems.

Service Pack 1

The .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 was released on 19 November 2007. It requires Windows 2000 with SP4.

Service Pack 2

The .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 was released on 11 August 2008. It requires Windows 2000 with SP4 plus KB835732 or KB891861 update, Windows XP with SP2 plus Windows Installer 3.1. It is the last version to support Windows 2000 SP4 although there have been some unofficial workarounds to use a subset of the functionality from Version 3.5 in Windows 2000.

.NET Framework 3.0

.NET Framework 3.0, formerly called WinFX, was released on 6 November 2006. It includes a new set of managed code APIs that are an integral part of Windows Vista and

Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 is the fourth release of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of the operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008, and generally to retail on ...

. It is also available for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 as a download. There are no major architectural changes included with this release; .NET Framework 3.0 uses the same CLR as .NET Framework 2.0. Unlike the previous major .NET releases there was no .NET Compact Framework release made as a counterpart of this version. Version 3.0 of the .NET Framework shipped with Windows Vista. It also shipped with Windows Server 2008 as an optional component (disabled by default). .NET Framework 3.0 consists of four major new components: * Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), formerly code-named Avalon: A new user interface subsystem and

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

based on

XAML Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML ) is a declarative XML-based language that Microsoft developed for initializing structured values and objects. It is available under Microsoft's Open Specification Promise. XAML is used extensivel ...

markup language, which uses

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for t ...

hardware and

Direct3D Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware a ...

technologies *

Windows Communication Foundation The Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), previously known as Indigo, is a free and open-source runtime and a set of APIs in the .NET Framework for building connected, service-oriented applications. .NET Core 1.0, released 2016, did not su ...

(WCF), formerly code-named Indigo: A service-oriented messaging system which allows programs to interoperate locally or remotely similar to web services *

Windows Workflow Foundation Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is a Microsoft technology that provides an API, an in-process workflow engine, and a rehostable designer to implement long-running processes as workflows within .NET applications. The latest version of WF was r ...

(WF): Allows building task automation and integrated transactions using

workflow A workflow consists of an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. It can be depicted as a sequence o ...

s * Windows CardSpace, formerly code-named InfoCard: A software component which securely stores a person's digital identities and provides a unified

interface Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * '' Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Int ...

for choosing the identity for a particular transaction, such as logging into a website .NET Framework 3.0 is supported on Windows XP, Server 2003,

, Server 2008, and Server 2008 R2. Applications utilizing .NET Framework 3.0 will also run on computers with .NET Framework 3.5 installed, which supports additional operating systems.

Service Pack 1

.NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1 was released on 19 November 2007.

Service Pack 2

.NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 was released on 11 August 2008.

.NET Framework 3.5

Version 3.5 of the .NET Framework was released on 19 November 2007. As with .NET Framework 3.0, version 3.5 uses Common Language Runtime (CLR) 2.0, that is, the same version as .NET Framework version 2.0. In addition, .NET Framework 3.5 also installs .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and 3.0 SP1 (with the later 3.5 SP1 instead installing 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2), which adds some methods and properties to the BCL classes in version 2.0 which are required for version 3.5 features such as Language Integrated Query (LINQ). These changes do not affect applications written for version 2.0, however. As with previous versions, a new .NET Compact Framework 3.5 was released in tandem with this update in order to provide support for additional features on Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded CE devices. The source code of the Framework Class Library in this version has been partially released (for debugging reference only) under the Microsoft Reference Source License. .NET Framework 3.5 is supported on Windows XP (with Service Pack 2 or higher), Server 2003 (with Service Pack 1 or higher),

, Server 2008, 7, Server 2008 R2, 8, Server 2012,

8.1 Windows 8.1 is a release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 27, 2013, and broadly released for retail sale on October 17, 2013, about a year after the retail release of its pre ...

, Server 2012 R2, 10, and Server 2016. Starting from Windows 8, .NET Framework 3.5 is an optional feature that can be turned on or off in control panel. Although .NET Framework 3.5 is over 10 years old, it is also shipped as Windows Container image, allowing old applications that based on .NET Framework 2.0–3.5 to run in container environment.

Service Pack 1

The .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 was released on 11 August 2008. This release adds new functionality and provides performance improvements under certain conditions, especially with WPF where 20–45% improvements are expected. Two new data service components have been added, the ADO.NET Entity Framework and ADO.NET Data Services. Two new assemblies for web development, System.WebAbstraction and System.WebRouting, have been added; these are used in the ASP.NET MVC framework and, reportedly, will be used in the future release of ASP.NET Forms applications. Service Pack 1 is included with SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1. It also featured a new set of controls called "Visual Basic Power Packs" which brought back Visual Basic controls such as "Line" and "Shape." Version 3.5 SP1 of the .NET Framework shipped with Windows 7. It also shipped with Windows Server 2008 R2 as an optional component (disabled by default). It is the last version to support Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows Vista RTM.

.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Client Profile

For the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 there is also a new variant of the .NET Framework, called the ".NET Framework Client Profile", which at 28 MB is significantly smaller than the full framework and only installs components that are the most relevant to

desktop A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

applications. However, the Client Profile amounts to this size only if using the online installer on Windows XP SP2 when no other .NET Frameworks are installed or using Windows Update. When using the off-line installer or any other OS, the download size is still 250 MB.

.NET Framework 4.0

Key focuses for this release are: *

Parallel Extensions Parallel Extensions was the development name for a managed concurrency library developed by a collaboration between Microsoft Research and the CLR team at Microsoft. The library was released in version 4.0 of the .NET Framework. It is compose ...

to improve support for

parallel computing Parallel computing is a type of computation in which many calculations or processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. There are several different fo ...

, which target

multi-core A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such ...

distributed Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

systems. To this end, technologies like PLINQ (Parallel

LINQ Language Integrated Query (LINQ, pronounced "link") is a Microsoft .NET Framework component that adds native data querying capabilities to .NET languages, originally released as a major part of .NET Framework 3.5 in 2007. LINQ extends the lan ...

), a parallel implementation of the LINQ engine, and

Task Parallel Library Parallel Extensions was the development name for a managed concurrency library developed by a collaboration between Microsoft Research and the CLR team at Microsoft. The library was released in version 4.0 of the .NET Framework. It is compose ...

, which exposes parallel constructs via method calls, are included. * New Visual Basic .NET and C# language features, such as implicit line continuations,

dynamic dispatch In computer science, dynamic dispatch is the process of selecting which implementation of a polymorphic operation (method or function) to call at run time. It is commonly employed in, and considered a prime characteristic of, object-oriented ...

, named parameters, and optional parameters * Support for Code Contracts * Inclusion of new types to work with

arbitrary-precision arithmetic In computer science, arbitrary-precision arithmetic, also called bignum arithmetic, multiple-precision arithmetic, or sometimes infinite-precision arithmetic, indicates that calculations are performed on numbers whose digits of precision are l ...

(System.Numerics.BigInteger) and

complex number In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the f ...

s (System.Numerics.Complex) * Introduced Common Language Runtime (CLR) 4.0 .NET Framework 4.0 is supported on Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2),

(with Service Pack 1 or higher), Server 2008, 7 and Server 2008 R2. Applications utilizing .NET Framework 4.0 will also run on computers with .NET Framework 4.5 or 4.6 installed, which supports additional operating systems. Support for .NET Framework 4.0 ended on 12 April 2016 and is no longer providing technical support, bug fixes, or security fixes for .NET Framework 4.0 vulnerabilities which may be subsequently reported or discovered. It is the last version to support Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP1,

RTM, Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM.

History

Microsoft announced the intention to ship .NET Framework 4 on 29 September 2008. The Public Beta was released on 20 May 2009. On 28 July 2009, a second release of the .NET Framework 4 beta was made available with experimental

software transactional memory In computer science, software transactional memory (STM) is a concurrency control mechanism analogous to database transactions for controlling access to shared memory in concurrent computing. It is an alternative to lock-based synchronization. ...

support. This functionality is not available in the final version of the framework. On 19 October 2009, Microsoft released Beta 2 of the .NET Framework 4. At the same time, Microsoft announced the expected launch date for .NET Framework 4 as 22 March 2010. This launch date was subsequently delayed to 12 April 2010. On 10 February 2010, a release candidate was published: Version:RC. On 12 April 2010, the final version of .NET Framework 4.0 was launched alongside the final release of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. On 18 April 2011, version 4.0.1 was released supporting some customer-demanded fixes for

. Its design-time component, which requires Visual Studio 2010 SP1, adds a workflow state machine designer. On 27 October 2011, version 4.0.2 was released supporting some new features of

. On 5 March 2012, version 4.0.3 was released.

Windows Server AppFabric

After the release of the .NET Framework 4, Microsoft released a set of enhancements, named Windows Server AppFabric, for

application server An application server is a server that hosts applications or software that delivers a business application through a communication protocol. An application server framework is a service layer model. It includes software components available to ...

capabilities in the form of AppFabric Hosting and in-memory distributed caching support.

.NET Framework 4.5

.NET Framework 4.5 was released on 15 August 2012; a set of new or improved features were added into this version. NET Framework 4.5 is supported on Windows Vista or later. The .NET Framework 4.5 uses Common Language Runtime 4.0, with some additional runtime features. .NET Framework 4.5 is supported on Windows Vista (with Service Pack 2), Server 2008 (with Service Pack 2), 7 (with Service Pack 1), Server 2008 R2 (with Service Pack 1), 8, Server 2012,

and Server 2012 R2. Applications utilizing .NET Framework 4.5 will also run on computers with .NET Framework 4.6 installed, which supports additional operating systems.

.NET for Metro-style apps

Metro-style apps were originally designed for specific form factors and leverage the power of the Windows operating system. Two subset of the .NET Framework is available for building Metro-style apps using C# or

Visual Basic Visual Basic is a name for a family of programming languages from Microsoft. It may refer to: * Visual Basic .NET (now simply referred to as "Visual Basic"), the current version of Visual Basic launched in 2002 which runs on .NET * Visual Basic (c ...

: One for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, called ''.NET APIs for Windows 8.x Store apps''. Another for

Universal Windows Platform Universal Windows Platform (UWP) is a computing platform created by Microsoft and first introduced in Windows 10. The purpose of this platform is to help develop universal apps that run on Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile (discontinued), Windows 11 ...

(UWP), called ''.NET APIs for UWP''. This version of .NET Framework, as well as the runtime and libraries used for Metro-style apps, is a part of Windows Runtime, the new platform and development model for Metro-style apps. It is an ecosystem that houses many platforms and languages, including .NET Framework, C++ and HTML5 with

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, often ...

Core features

* Ability to limit how long the

regular expression A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp; sometimes referred to as rational expression) is a sequence of characters that specifies a search pattern in text. Usually such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for "find" or ...

engine will attempt to resolve a regular expression before it times out. * Ability to define the culture for an application domain. * Console support for Unicode ( UTF-16) encoding. * Support for versioning of cultural string ordering and comparison data. * Better performance when retrieving resources. * Native support for Zip compression (previous versions supported the compression algorithm, but not the archive format). * Ability to customize a reflection context to override default reflection behavior through the CustomReflectionContext class. * New asynchronous features were added to the C# and

languages. These features add a task-based model for performing asynchronous operations, implementing futures and promises.

Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)

The Managed Extensibility Framework or MEF is a library for creating lightweight, extensible applications. It allows application developers to discover and use extensions with no configuration required. It also lets extension developers easily encapsulate code and avoid fragile hard dependencies. MEF not only allows extensions to be reused within applications, but across applications as well.

ASP.NET

* Support for new HTML5 form types. * Support for model binders in Web Forms. These let you bind data controls directly to data-access methods, and automatically convert user input to and from .NET Framework

data type In computer science and computer programming, a data type (or simply type) is a set of possible values and a set of allowed operations on it. A data type tells the compiler or interpreter how the programmer intends to use the data. Most pro ...

s. * Support for unobtrusive

in client-side validation scripts. * Improved handling of client script through bundling and minification for improved page performance. * Integrated encoding routines from the Anti-XSS library (previously an external library) to protect from

cross-site scripting Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of security vulnerability that can be found in some web applications. XSS attacks enable attackers to inject client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users. A cross-site scripting vulnerability ma ...

attacks. * Support for WebSocket protocol. * Support for reading and writing

HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, w ...

requests and responses

asynchronously Asynchrony is the state of not being in synchronization. Asynchrony or asynchronous may refer to: Electronics and computing * Asynchrony (computer programming), the occurrence of events independent of the main program flow, and ways to deal wit ...

. * Support for asynchronous modules and handlers. * Support for content distribution network (CDN) fallback in the ScriptManager control.

Networking

* Provides a new programming interface for HTTP applications: System.NetHttp namespace and System.Net.HttpHeaders namespaces are added * Improved

internationalization In economics, internationalization or internationalisation is the process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization. Internationalization is a crucial strateg ...

and

support * RFC-compliant

URI Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Isla ...

support * Support for internationalized domain name (IDN) parsing * Support for Email Address Internationalization (EAI)

.NET Framework 4.5.1

The release of .NET Framework 4.5.1 was announced on 17 October 2013 along Visual Studio 2013. This version requires Windows Vista SP2 and later and is included with Windows 8.1 and

Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows Server 2012 R2, codenamed "Windows Server 8.1" or "Windows Server Blue", is the seventh version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was unveiled on June 3, 2013 ...

. New features of .NET Framework 4.5.1: * Debugger support for X64 edit and continue (EnC) * Debugger support for seeing managed return values * Async-aware debugging in the Call Stack and Tasks windows * Debugger support for analyzing .NET memory dumps (in the Visual Studio Ultimate SKU) * Tools for .NET developers in the Performance and Diagnostics hub * Code Analysis UI improvements * ADO.NET idle connection resiliency

.NET Framework 4.5.2

The release of .NET Framework 4.5.2 was announced on 5 May 2014. This version requires Windows Vista SP2 and later. For

Windows Forms Windows Forms (WinForms) is a free and open-source graphical (GUI) class library included as a part of Microsoft .NET, .NET Framework or Mono Framework, providing a platform to write client applications for desktop, laptop, and tablet PCs. Whi ...

applications, improvements were made for high

DPI A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replacem ...

scenarios. For ASP.NET, higher reliability HTTP header inspection and modification methods are available as is a new way to schedule background asynchronous worker tasks.

.NET Framework 4.6

.NET Framework 4.6 was announced on 12 November 2014. It was released on 20 July 2015. It supports a new just-in-time compiler (JIT) for 64-bit systems called RyuJIT, which features higher performance and support for SSE2 and

AVX2 Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) are extensions to the x86 instruction set architecture for microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They were proposed by Intel in March 2008 and first supported by Intel with the Sandy Bridge ...

instruction sets. WPF and Windows Forms both have received updates for high DPI scenarios. Support for TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 has been added to WCF. This version requires Windows Vista SP2 or later. It is the last version to support Windows Vista SP2 and

SP2. The cryptographic API in .NET Framework 4.6 uses the latest version of Windows CNG cryptography API. As a result, NSA Suite B Cryptography is available to .NET Framework. Suite B consists of AES, the

SHA-2 SHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2) is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and first published in 2001. They are built using the Merkle–Damgård construction, from a one-way compress ...

family of hashing algorithms, elliptic curve Diffie–Hellman, and elliptic curve DSA. .NET Framework 4.6 is supported on Windows Vista (with Service Pack 2), Server 2008 (with Service Pack 2), 7 (with Service Pack 1), Server 2008 R2 (with Service Pack 1), 8, Server 2012,

, Server 2012 R2, 10 and Server 2016. Support for .NET Framework 4.6 ended on 26 April 2022.

.NET Framework 4.6.1

The release of .NET Framework 4.6.1 was announced on 30 November 2015. This version requires Windows 7 SP1 or later. New features and APIs include: * WPF improvements for spell check, support for per-user custom dictionaries and improved touch performance. * Enhanced support for Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) X509 certificates. * Added support in SQL Connectivity for AlwaysOn, Always Encrypted and improved connection open resiliency when connecting to Azure SQL Database. * Azure SQL Database now supports distributed transactions using the updated System.Transactions APIs . * Many other performance, stability, and reliability related fixes in RyuJIT, GC, WPF and WCF.

.NET Framework 4.6.2

The preview of .NET Framework 4.6.2 was announced on 30 March 2016. It was released on 2 August 2016. This version requires Windows 7 SP1 or later. It is the last version to support Windows 8 and Windows 10 (RTM-1511) although there have been some unofficial workarounds to use a subset of the functionality from Version 4.7 in Windows 8. New features include: * Support for paths longer than 260 characters * Support for FIPS 186-3 DSA in X.509 certificates * TLS 1.1/1.2 support for

ClickOnce ClickOnce is a component of Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and later, and supports deploying applications made with Windows Forms or Windows Presentation Foundation. It is similar to Java Web Start for the Java Platform or Zero Install for Linux. ...

* Support for localization of data annotations in ASP.NET * Enabling .NET desktop apps with Project Centennial * Soft keyboard and per-monitor DPI support for WPF .NET Framework 4.6.2 is also shipped as Windows container image.

.NET Framework 4.7

On 5 April 2017, Microsoft announced that .NET Framework 4.7 was integrated into

Windows 10 Creators Update Windows 10 Creators Update (also known as version 1703 and codenamed "Redstone 2") is the third major update to Windows 10 and the second in a series of updates under the Redstone codenames. It carries the build number 10.0.15063. PC version histo ...

, promising a standalone installer for other Windows versions. An update for

Visual Studio 2017 Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms such ...

was released on this date to add support for targeting .NET Framework 4.7. The promised standalone installer for Windows 7 and later was released on 2 May 2017, but it had prerequisites not included with the package. NET Framework 4.7 dropped support for Windows 8 and will only run on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and later. New features in .NET Framework 4.7 include: * Enhanced cryptography with

elliptic curve cryptography Elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC) is an approach to public-key cryptography based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields. ECC allows smaller keys compared to non-EC cryptography (based on plain Galois fields) to provide ...

* Improve TLS support, especially for version 1.2 * High-DPI awareness support in Windows Forms * More support for touch and stylus in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) * New print APIs for WPF .NET Framework 4.7 is supported on Windows 7 (with Service Pack 1), Server 2008 R2 (with Service Pack 1), Server 2012,

, Server 2012 R2, 10, Server 2016 and Server 2019. .NET Framework 4.7 is also shipped as a Windows container image.

.NET Framework 4.7.1

.NET Framework 4.7.1 was released on 17 October 2017. Amongst the fixes and new features, it corrects a d3dcompiler dependency issue. It also adds compatibility with the .NET Standard 2.0 out of the box. .NET Framework 4.7.1 is also shipped as a Windows container image.

.NET Framework 4.7.2

.NET Framework 4.7.2 was released on 30 April 2018. Amongst the changes are improvements to ASP.NET, BCL, CLR, ClickOnce, Networking, SQL, WCF, Windows Forms, Workflow and WPF. This version is included with Server 2019. .NET Framework 4.7.2 is also shipped as a Windows container image.

.NET Framework 4.8

.NET Framework 4.8 was released on 18 April 2019. It was the final version of .NET Framework, all future work going into the .NET Core platform that will eventually become .NET 5 and onwards. This release included

JIT Jit (also known as jiti, jit-jive and the Harare beat) is a style of popular Zimbabwean dance music. It features a swift rhythm played on drums and accompanied by a guitar. Jit evolved out many diverse influences, including domestic chimurenga, ...

enhancements ported from .NET Core 2.1, High DPI enhancements for WPF applications, accessibility improvements, performance updates, and security enhancements. It supported Windows 7 (with Service Pack 1), Server 2008 R2 (with Service Pack 1), Server 2012,

, Server 2012 R2, 10, Server 2016 and Server 2019 and also shipped as a Windows container image. It is the last version to support Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1,

Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012, codenamed "Windows Server 8", is the sixth version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It is the server version of Windows based on Windows 8 and succ ...

, Windows 8.1,

, Windows 10 (1607–2004), Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019. The most-recent release is 4.8.0 Build 4115, with an offline installer size of 115 MB (121,307,088 bytes) and a digital signature date of May 1, 2021.

.NET Framework 4.8.1

.NET Framework 4.8.1 was released on 9 August 2022. This version includes the native

ARM64 AArch64 or ARM64 is the 64-bit extension of the ARM architecture family. It was first introduced with the Armv8-A architecture. Arm releases a new extension every year. ARMv8.x and ARMv9.x extensions and features Announced in October 2011, AR ...

support, WCAG2.1 compliant accessible tooltips, and accessibility improvements for Windows Forms. It is supported on Windows 10 (20H2+),

Windows Server 2022 Windows Server 2022 or Windows Server 2022 Edition is the tenth and latest major long term servicing channel (LTSC) release of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was annou ...

and Windows 11.

References

{{.NET Framework 2002 software Microsoft application programming interfaces Microsoft development tools Software version histories