Jump to content

.NET Framework version history

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hervegirod (talk | contribs) at 11:52, 19 December 2010 (←Created page with 'thumb|right|250px|The .NET Framework stack. Microsoft started development on the .NET Framework in the late 1990s originally under the name ...'). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
The .NET Framework stack.

Microsoft started development on the .NET Framework in the late 1990s originally under the name of Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS). By late 2000 the first beta versions of .NET 1.0 were released.[1]

Version 3.0 of the .NET Framework is included with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. Version 3.5 is included with Windows 7, and can also be installed on Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems.[2] On April 12, 2010, .NET Framework 4 was released alongside Visual Studio 2010.

The .NET Framework family also includes two versions for mobile or embedded device use. A reduced version of the framework, the .NET Compact Framework, is available on Windows CE platforms, including Windows Mobile devices such as smartphones. Additionally, the .NET Micro Framework is targeted at severely resource-constrained devices.

Version Version Number Release Date Visual Studio Default in Windows
1.0 1.0.3705.0 2002-02-13 Visual Studio .NET
1.1 1.1.4322.573 2003-04-24 Visual Studio .NET 2003 Windows Server 2003
2.0 2.0.50727.42 2005-11-07 Visual Studio 2005 Windows Server 2003 R2
3.0 3.0.4506.30 2006-11-06 Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008
3.5 3.5.21022.8 2007-11-19 Visual Studio 2008 Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2
4.0 4.0.30319.1 2010-04-12 Visual Studio 2010

A more complete listing of the releases of the .NET Framework may be found on the List of .NET Framework versions.

.NET Framework 1.0

File:NET v rgb w.png
The old .NET Framework logo

This is the first release of the .NET Framework, released on 13 February 2002 and available for Windows 98, Me, NT 4.0, 2000, and XP. Mainstream support by Microsoft for this version ended 10 July 2007, and extended support ended 14 July 2009.[3]

.NET Framework 1.1

This is the first major .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 Microsoft Visual Studio .NET (released as 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 ends on 8 October 2013. Since .NET 1.1 is a component of Windows Server 2003, extended support for .NET 1.1 on Server 2003 will run out with that of the OS – currently 14 July 2015. .NET 1.1 is the last available version for Windows NT 4.0.

If .NET Framework 1.0 is removed, installing only .NET Framework 1.1 also provides the system support for version 1.0, except in rare instances where an application will not run because it checks the version number of a library. [4]

Changes in 1.1 in comparison with 1.0

  • Built-in support for mobile ASP.NET controls. Previously available as an add-on for .NET Framework, now part of the framework.
  • Security changes – enable Windows Forms assemblies to execute in a semi-trusted manner from the Internet, and enable Code Access Security in ASP.NET applications.
  • Built-in support for ODBC and Oracle databases. Previously available as an add-on for .NET Framework 1.0, now part of the framework.
  • .NET Compact Framework – a version of the .NET Framework for small devices.
  • Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) support.
  • Numerous API changes.

.NET Framework 2.0

Released with Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, and BizTalk 2006.

  • The 2.0 Redistributable Package can be downloaded for free from Microsoft, and was published on 22 January 2006.
  • The 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) can be downloaded for free from Microsoft.
  • It is included as part of Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
  • Version 2.0 without any Service Pack is the last version with support for Windows 98 and Windows Me. Version 2.0 with Service Pack 2 is the last version with official support for Windows 2000 although there have been some unofficial workarounds published online to use a subset of the functionality from Version 3.5 in Windows 2000.[5] Version 2.0 with Service Pack 2 requires Windows 2000 with SP4 plus KB835732 or KB891861 update, Windows XP with SP2 or later and Windows Installer 3.1 (KB893803-v2)
  • It shipped with Windows Server 2003 R2 (not installed by default).

Changes in 2.0 in comparison with 1.1

  • Generics
  • Language support for generics built directly into the .NET CLR.
  • Full 64-bit support for both the x64 and the IA64 hardware platforms.
  • Numerous API changes.
  • SQL Server integration – .NET 2.0, VS 2005, and SQL Server 2005 are all tied together. This means that instead of using T-SQL, 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, assembly loading and more (detailed reference). It was initially developed to efficiently host the runtime in Microsoft SQL Server, which implements its own scheduler and memory manager.
  • Many additional and improved ASP.NET web controls.
  • New data controls with declarative data binding.
  • 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 types
  • Anonymous methods
  • Iterators
  • Data tables

.NET Framework 3.0

.NET Framework 3.0, formerly called WinFX,[6] was released on 21 November 2006. It includes a new set of managed code APIs that are an integral part of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems. 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 Common Language Runtime of .NET Framework 2.0.[7] 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:

.NET Framework 3.5

Version 3.5 of the .NET Framework was released on 19 November 2007, but it is not included with Windows Server 2008. As with .NET Framework 3.0, version 3.5 uses the CLR of version 2.0. In addition, it installs .NET Framework 2.0 SP1, (installs .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 with 3.5 SP1) and .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 (installs .NET Framework 3.0 SP2 with 3.5 SP1), 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.[8]

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 Base Class Library in this version has been partially released (for debugging reference only) under the Microsoft Reference Source License.[9]

Changes since version 3.0

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,[14] 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.Web.Abstraction and System.Web.Routing, have been added; these are used in the ASP.NET MVC Framework and, reportedly, will be utilized 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).

.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.[15] 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. When using the off-line installer or any other OS, the download size is still 250 MB.[16]

.NET Framework 4

Key focuses for this release are:

History

Microsoft announced the intention to ship .NET Framework 4 on 29 September 2008. The Public Beta was released on 20 May 2009.[20]

On 28 July 2009, a second release of the .NET Framework 4 beta was made available with experimental software transactional memory support.[21] 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.[22] At the same time, Microsoft announced the expected launch date for .NET Framework 4 as the 22 March 2010.[22] This launch date was subsequently delayed to 12 April 2010.[23]

On 10 February 2010, a release candidate was published: Version:RC.[24]

On 12 April 2010, the final version of .NET Framework 4.0 was launched alongside the final release of Visual Studio 2010.

Windows Server AppFabric

After the release of the .NET Framework 4, Microsoft released a set of enhancements, named Windows Server AppFabric,[25] for application server capabilities in the form of AppFabric Hosting[26][27] and in-memory distributed caching support.[28]

Future versions

Microsoft has revealed some details about what will come in the next version of the .NET Framework. A central theme is the introduction of a compiler as a service that enables programmers to embed compilers in their applications. One purpose of this would be to provide scripting engines for applications.[29]

Anders Hejlsberg, main architect of the C# programming language, has shown a REPL (read-eval-print loop) built on an early internal version of the API.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Framework Versions".
  2. ^ Microsoft. "Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Administrator Deployment Guide". Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  3. ^ "Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ {cite web | url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/Aa497323.aspx}
  5. ^ "Microsoft don". Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  6. ^ WinFX name change announcement
  7. ^ ".NET Framework 3.0 Versioning and Deployment Q&A". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Catching RedBits differences in .NET 2.0 and .NET 2.0SP1". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference sourcerelease was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b c "What's New in the .NET Framework 3.5". Retrieved 31 March 2008.
  11. ^ Kevin Hoffman. "Orcas' Hidden Gem – The managed PNRP stack". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  12. ^ ".NET Framework 3.5". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  13. ^ a b Matt Winkle. "WCF and WF in "Orcas"". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  14. ^ "Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 and .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1". Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  15. ^ Justin Van Patten (21 May 2008). ".NET Framework Client Profile". BCL Team Blog. MSDN Blogs. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  16. ^ Jaime Rodriguez (20 August 2008). "Client profile explained." Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  17. ^ S. Somasegar. "The world of multi and many cores". Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  18. ^ "Parallel LINQ: Running Queries On Multi-Core Processors". Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  19. ^ "Parallel Performance: Optimize Managed Code For Multi-Core Machines". Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  20. ^ S. Somasegar. "Visual Studio 2010 and .NET FX 4 Beta 1 ships!". Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "STM.NET on DevLabs". 27 July 2008. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ a b S. Somasegar. "Announcing Visual Studio 2010 and .NET FX 4 Beta 2". MSDN Blogs. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  23. ^ Rob Caron. "Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Launch Date". MSDN Blogs. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  24. ^ http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/microsoft-offers-visual-studio-2010-release-candidate-643
  25. ^ http://blogs.iis.net/appfabric/archive/2010/06/07/windows-server-appfabric-now-generally-available.aspx
  26. ^ "'Dublin' App Server coming to .NET 4". DevSource. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  27. ^ ".NET Framework 4 and Dublin Application Server". MSDN Blogs. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  28. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocity_(memory_cache)
  29. ^ a b Anders Hejlsberg (28 October 2008). "The Future of C#". Microsoft. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=.NET_Framework_version_history&oldid=403162525"