Microsoft started development on the

.NET Framework The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...

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 Managed code is computer program code that requires and will execute only under the management of a Common Language Infrastructure (CLI); Virtual Execution System (VES); virtual machine, e.g. .NET, CoreFX, or .NET Framework; Common Language Runti ...

Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, which was released to manufacturing on July 31, 1996, and then to retail ...

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

. Two of these upgrades, .NET Framework 2.0 and 4.0, have upgraded

Common Language Runtime The Common Language Runtime (CLR), the virtual machine component of Microsoft .NET Framework, manages the execution of .NET programs. Just-in-time compilation converts the managed code (compiled intermediate language code) into machine instructio ...

(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 or

embedded device An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' as ...

use. A reduced version of the framework, the

.NET Compact Framework The Microsoft .NET Compact Framework (.NET CF) is a version of the .NET Framework that is designed to run on resource constrained mobile/embedded devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, factory controllers, set-top box ...

, is available on Windows CE platforms, including

Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants. Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...

devices such as

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s. Additionally, the

.NET Micro Framework The .NET Micro Framework (NETMF) is a .NET Framework platform for resource-constrained devices with at least 512 kB of flash and 256 kB of random-access memory (RAM). It includes a small version of the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR ...

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 platforms. Some cross-platform software r ...

.NET Core The domain name net is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from the word ''network'', indicating it was originally intended for organizations involved in networking technologies ...

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 Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. The second operating system in the 9x line, it is the successor to Windows 95, and was released to ...

, ME,

NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, which was released to manufacturing on July 31, 1996, and then to retail ...

, 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

, ME,

(with Service Pack 6a),

, XP, and

Server 2003 Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

. 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 A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific to ...

, 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 designed for such a system, especially i ...

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 ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name stan ...

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 *

, 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 communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...

) support .NET Framework 1.1 is supported on

, ME,

(with Service Pack 6a),

, XP,

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 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 Fe ...

Service Pack 1

The .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 was released on 30 August 2004. It requires

SP6a plus Windows Installer 2.0. It is the last version to support

SP6a,

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), releas ...

RTM-SP2 and

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...

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 The history of Microsoft SQL Server begins with the first Microsoft SQL Server database product – SQL Server v1.0, a 16-bit relational database for the OS/2 operating system, released in 1989. Versions Detailed history Genesis On June 12, 19 ...

, 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

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 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 mod ...

and the IA-64 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 ma ...

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 A stored procedure (also termed proc, storp, sproc, StoPro, StoredProc, StoreProc, sp, or SP) is a subroutine available to applications that access a relational database management system (RDBMS). Such procedures are stored in the database data dic ...

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

, such as support for themes, skins, master pages and webparts *

, a version of the .NET Framework related to the

Smart Personal Objects Technology The Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) is a discontinued initiative by Microsoft to create intelligent and personal home appliances, consumer electronics, and other objects through new hardware capabilities and software features. Developme ...

initiative * Membership provider *

Partial class In object-oriented programming, a class is an extensible program-code-template for creating objects, providing initial values for state (member variables) and implementations of behavior (member functions or methods). In many languages, the class n ...

es * Nullable types *

Anonymous method In computer programming, an anonymous function (function literal, lambda abstraction, lambda function, lambda expression or block) is a function definition that is not bound to an identifier. Anonymous functions are often arguments being passed to ...

s * Iterators * Data tables *

(CLR) 2.0 * Language support for

generics Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

built directly into the .NET

CLR CLR may refer to: * Calcium Lime Rust, a household cleaning-product * California Law Review, a publication by the UC Berkeley School of Law * Centerline Radius, a term in the tubing industry used to describe the radius of a bend * Central London R ...

.NET Framework 2.0 is supported on

, ME,

(with Service Pack 3 or higher), XP (with Service Pack 2 or higher),

and

Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 is the fifth version of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft and released as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally ...

. 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,

with SP2 plus Windows Installer 3.1. It is the last version to support

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

APIs that are an integral part of

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

and Windows Server 2008. It is also available for

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

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 In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

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 (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standa ...

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 extensively ...

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 th ...

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 supp ...

(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 (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 of ...

s *

Windows CardSpace Windows CardSpace (Microsoft codenames, codenamed InfoCard) is a discontinued Information Card#Selectors, identity selector app by Microsoft. It stores references to digital identity, digital identities of the users, presenting them as visual Inf ...

, formerly code-named InfoCard: A software component which securely stores a person's digital identities and provides a unified interface for choosing the identity for a particular transaction, such as logging into a website .NET Framework 3.0 is supported on

, and

. 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 The Framework Class Library (FCL) is a component of Microsoft's .NET Framework, the first implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). In much the same way as Common Language Runtime (CLR) implements the CLI Virtual Execution Syst ...

in this version has been partially released (for debugging reference only) under the

Microsoft Reference Source License The Shared Source Initiative (SSI) is a source-available software licensing scheme launched by Microsoft in May 2001. The program includes a spectrum of technologies and licenses, and most of its source code offerings are available for download a ...

. .NET Framework 3.5 is supported on

(with Service Pack 2 or higher),

(with Service Pack 1 or higher),

, 7,

, 8, Server 2012, 8.1, 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 Entity Framework (EF) is an open source object–relational mapping (ORM) framework for ADO.NET. It was originally shipped as an integral part of .NET Framework, however starting with Entity Framework version 6.0 it has been delivered separately ...

and

ADO.NET Data Services WCF Data Services (formerly ADO.NET Data Services, codename "Astoria") is a platform for what Microsoft calls ''Data Services''. It is actually a combination of the runtime and a web service through which the services are exposed. It also includ ...

. Two new assemblies for web development, System.WebAbstraction and System.WebRouting, have been added; these are used in the

ASP.NET MVC ASP.NET MVC is a web application framework developed by Microsoft that implements the model–view–controller (MVC) pattern. It is no longer in active development. It is open-source software, apart from the ASP.NET Web Forms component, which is ...

framework and, reportedly, will be used in the future release of ASP.NET Forms applications. Service Pack 1 is included with

SQL Server 2008 The history of Microsoft SQL Server begins with the first Microsoft SQL Server database product – SQL Server v1.0, a 16-bit relational database for the OS/2 operating system, released in 1989. Versions Detailed history Genesis On June 12, 198 ...

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

SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and

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 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 Windows Update is a Microsoft service for the Windows 9x and Windows NT families of operating system, which automates downloading and installing Microsoft Windows software updates over the Internet. The service delivers software updates for Wind ...

. 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 composed ...

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 a ...

or distributed systems. To this end, technologies like PLINQ (Parallel LINQ), a parallel implementation of the LINQ engine, and Task Parallel Library, 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 parameter In computer programming, named parameters, named argument or keyword arguments refer to a computer language's support for function calls that clearly state the name of each parameter within the function call. Overview A function call using name ...

s, and optional parameters * Support for Code Contracts * Inclusion of new types to work with arbitrary-precision arithmetic (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 form ...

s (System.Numerics.Complex) * Introduced Common Language Runtime (CLR) 4.0 .NET Framework 4.0 is supported on

(with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2),

(with Service Pack 1 or higher),

, 7 and

. 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

SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2,

SP1, Windows Server 2008 RTM,

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...

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 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 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 ...

. On 18 April 2011, version 4.0.1 was released supporting some customer-demanded fixes for Windows Workflow Foundation. 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 a ...

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

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

(with Service Pack 2),

(with Service Pack 2), 7 (with Service Pack 1),

(with Service Pack 1), 8, Server 2012, 8.1 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 (cl ...

: One for

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for downl ...

and

Windows 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 ...

, called ''.NET APIs for Windows 8.x Store apps''. Another for Universal Windows Platform (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

, 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 Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...

Core features

* Ability to limit how long the regular expression engine will attempt to resolve a regular expression before it times out. * Ability to define the culture for an

application domain An application domain is a mechanism (similar to a process in an operating system) used within the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) to isolate executed software applications from one another so that they do not affect each other. Each applicati ...

. * Console support for

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...

( UTF-16) encoding. * Support for versioning of cultural string ordering and comparison data. * Better performance when retrieving resources. * Native support for

Zip Zip, Zips or ZIP may refer to: Common uses * ZIP Code, USPS postal code * Zipper or zip, clothing fastener Science and technology Computing * ZIP (file format), a compressed archive file format ** zip, a command-line program from Info-ZIP * Zi ...

compression (previous versions supported the compression algorithm, but not the archive format). * Ability to customize a

reflection context Reflection or reflexion may refer to: Science and technology * Reflection (physics), a common wave phenomenon ** Specular reflection, reflection from a smooth surface *** Mirror image, a reflection in a mirror or in water ** Signal reflection, in s ...

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 In computer science, future, promise, delay, and deferred refer to constructs used for synchronizing program execution in some concurrent programming languages. They describe an object that acts as a proxy for a result that is initially unknown ...

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 A webform, web form or HTML form on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for processing. Forms can resemble paper or database forms because web users fill out the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons, or text fields. F ...

. These let you bind data controls directly to data-access methods, and automatically convert user input to and from

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 progra ...

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 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, ...

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

Networking

* Provides a new

programming interface 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 t ...

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 Islan ...

support * Support for

internationalized domain name An internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in non-latin script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Mandarin, simplified ...

(IDN) parsing * Support for

Email Address Internationalization An email address identifies an email box to which messages are delivered. While early messaging systems used a variety of formats for addressing, today, email addresses follow a set of specific rules originally standardized by the Internet Engineer ...

(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 Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

and later and is included with

and Windows Server 2012 R2. 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

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. While ...

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 replacemen ...

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 In computing, just-in-time (JIT) compilation (also dynamic translation or run-time compilations) is a way of executing computer code that involves compilation during execution of a program (at run time) rather than before execution. This may cons ...

(JIT) for 64-bit systems called RyuJIT, which features higher performance and support for

SSE2 SSE2 (Streaming SIMD Extensions 2) is one of the Intel SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) processor supplementary instruction sets first introduced by Intel with the initial version of the Pentium 4 in 2000. It extends the earlier Streamin ...

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 TLS may refer to: Computing * Transport Layer Security, a cryptographic protocol for secure computer network communication * Thread level speculation, an optimisation on multiprocessor CPUs * Thread-local storage, a mechanism for allocating vari ...

1.1 and TLS 1.2 has been added to WCF. This version requires

SP2 or later. It is the last version to support

SP2 and Windows Server 2008 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 NSA Suite B Cryptography was a set of cryptographic algorithms promulgated by the National Security Agency as part of its Cryptographic Modernization Program. It was to serve as an interoperable cryptographic base for both unclassified informati ...

is available to .NET Framework. Suite B consists of

AES AES may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * AES Corporation, an American electricity company * AES Data, former owner of Daisy Systems Holland * AES Eletropaulo, a former Brazilian electricity company * AES Andes, formerly AES Gener ...

, 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 compression ...

family of hashing algorithms, elliptic curve Diffie–Hellman, and

elliptic curve DSA In cryptography, the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) offers a variant of the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) which uses elliptic-curve cryptography. Key and signature-size As with elliptic-curve cryptography in general, the b ...

. .NET Framework 4.6 is supported on

(with Service Pack 2),

(with Service Pack 2), 7 (with Service Pack 1),

(with Service Pack 1), 8, Server 2012, 8.1, 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

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

SP1 or later. It is the last version to support

and

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...

(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 In cryptography, X.509 is an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard defining the format of public key certificates. X.509 certificates are used in many Internet protocols, including TLS/SSL, which is the basis for HTTPS, the secure ...

certificates * TLS 1.1/1.2 support for ClickOnce * 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 a ...

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

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 e ...

* Improve

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

(with Service Pack 1),

(with Service Pack 1), Server 2012, 8.1, 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

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

(with Service Pack 1),

(with Service Pack 1), Server 2012, 8.1, Server 2012 R2, 10, Server 2016 and Server 2019 and also shipped as a Windows container image. It is the last version to support

SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012,

, Windows Server 2012 R2,

(1607–2004),

Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2016 is the eighth release of the Windows Server server operating system developed by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was developed concurrently with Windows 10 and is the successor to the Wind ...

and

Windows Server 2019 Windows Server 2019 is the ninth version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It is the second version of the Server (computing), server operating system based on the Windows ...

. 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 support, WCAG2.1 compliant accessible tooltips, and accessibility improvements for Windows Forms. It is supported on

(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 Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released in October 2021. It is a free upgrade to its predecessor, Windows 10 (2015), and is available for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new Windows 11 ...

References

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