.NET Framework

.NET Versions | .NET release history

Microsoft has released many upgraded versions of .NET Framework since the release of the first version. New versions of .NET Framework replaces the older versions or can co-exist side by side in certain versions.

.NET Framework version history

This article is to give a quick reference on various .net versions which were released so far, which .NET framework versions released along with different visual studio versions, which CLR version and what C# language versions were released along with different .NET versions and visual studio versions.

It is noticed many times that developers do not use the efficient and advanced features of the .Net and C# versions (or any framework for that matter) they are already working on.Developers miss this essential knowledge due to lack of time for update themselves according to the latest releases.It is essential to know the technology updates time to time to leverage the best out of it.

Developers miss this essential knowledge due to lack of time for self-update according to the latest releases.It is mandatory to know the technology updates time to time to leverage the best out of it.

But, We feel it is really difficult to track .Net framework and C# language release history due to yearly releases.Here we consolidated the .Net Versions Release history in a tabular format for your quick reference.

.Net Versions Release history – History of dot net

.Net Framework Version CLR Version Date Of Release IDE Core Features
1.0 1.0 2002 Visual Studio .Net First release of .net
Object-oriented Web application development
1.1 1.0 2003 Visual Studio 2003 Enhancement to ADO.NET and ASP.NET
Support for ASP.Net mobile controls
Supports side-by-side execution
Security Enhancements
IPv6 support (Internet Protocol version 6 support)
2.0 2.0 2005 Visual Studio 2005 Partial Classes
Generics
Anonymous Method
Nullable Types
Support of IPv6 addresses in .net remoting
Common Language Runtime 2.0
3.0 2.0 2006 WCF (Windows Communication Foundation)
WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation)
WF (Windows Workflow Foundation)
Card Space
3.5 2.0 2008 Visual Studio 2008 LINQ
Addin / Plugin Model
Multi-targeted Framework Support
Support for Dynamic Data
4.0 4.0 2010 Visual Studio 2010 Parallel Computing – Task Parellel Library
Code Contracts
Lazy Initialization
Dynamic Language Runtime
In-process side-by-side hosting
MEF(Managed Extensibility Framework)
Covariance and Contravariance
4.5 4.0 2012 Visual Studio 2012 Enhancement of ASP.NET, WPF, WCF and WF
Advanced regular expression
Application domain Ddefault culture
Zip compression
Support for more than 2GB sized arrays
Enhanced parallel computing features
Async/Await Support
4.5.1 4.0 2013 Visual Studio 2013 Automatic binding redirection
Enhanced performance and debugging features
During garbage collection compact large object heap(LOH)
Collection of diagnostics information
Multi-core JIT improvements
4.6 4.0 2015 Visual Studio 2015 JIT compiler for 64-bit systems
Introduction of RyuJIT
Open Source .Net Framework Packages
Code page encodings support
Enhanced event tracing

Download .NET Framework

The .NET Framework is a version of .NET that can be used on Windows to build any type of app.

You can download .NET Framework here.

But as a developer, you may have the wish to develop many different cross-platform applications. You can build .NET cross-platform applications using .NET core, .NET 5 & latest .NET 6.0. These are open-source,cross-platform .NET Core developer platforms.

These latest versions of .Net Framework can be downloaded from here, Download .NET Core and .NET 5.0

Download the Visual Studio Community Edition, from here Download VS Community Edition.

FAQ on .NET Framework Version History


What is the latest version of .NET Framework?

The latest version of the .NET Framework is NET Framework 4.8.

Specifically, .NET framework 4.8.0 Build 3928 was released on July 25, 2019.

How to check which .NET Framework versions installed in my system?

  • If you have .NET Framework version 4.5 or later installed in your systen, then the version of the .NET Framework installed on a machine is listed in the registry location, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full. Check detail in microsoft documentation here.
  • Can get the name of the .NET installation on which an app is running by using the property

public static string FrameworkDescription { get; }

Summary

This article covered the .NET Framework Version History. Hope these details were extremely useful to you. Also shared the download links of various .net frameworks. Please add your feedback and valuable comments on.NET framework versions in the comments section below.

Related Topics :

C# Version History

Rajeev

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