.net 6 Supported Os Versions
Mariam Obregon
Every Microsoft product has a lifecycle. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it's no longer supported. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes to your software. This product is governed by Microsoft's Modern Lifecycle Policy.
Customers can choose Long Term Support (LTS) releases or Standard Term Support (STS) releases. The quality of all releases is the same. The only difference is the length of support. LTS releases get free support and patches for 3 years. STS releases get free support and patches for 18 months.
A new major release of .NET is published every year in November, enabling developers, the community, and businesses to plan their roadmaps. Even numbered releases are LTS releases that get free support and patches for three years.
Customers choosing LTS need the latest patch update installed to qualify for support. If a system is running 6.0 and 6.0.x has been released, 6.0.x needs to be installed as a first step. Once a patch update has been installed, applications begin using the update by default. LTS releases are supported for three years after general availability.
Customers choosing STS need the latest patch update installed to qualify for support. If a system is running 7.0 and 7.0.x has been released, 7.0.x needs to be installed as a first step. Once a patch update has been installed, applications begin using the update by default. STS releases are supported for 18 months after general availability.
Updates are cumulative and released as patches, with each update built upon all of the updates that preceded it. A device needs to install the latest update to remain supported. Updates may include new features, fixes (security and/or non-security), or a combination of both.
Updates are released on the Microsoft "Patch Tuesday" (second Tuesday of each month), however there is no guarantee that there will be a .NET release on any given Patch Tuesday. Patches are announced on the .NET blog. A digest of monthly releases is published to dotnet/announcements. For more details about .NET servicing and patching, see the .NET releases, patches, and support article.
As the end of life nears for a given .NET version, we recommend that you move to a newer .NET version, and reduce/remove your use of the given .NET version. After support ends, we recommend that you uninstall a given .NET version if you are no longer using it, or install the latest patch, and accelerate your plans to remove your use of that .NET version. Your use of out-of-support .NET versions may put your applications, application data, and computing environment at risk. You are strongly recommended to not use out-of-support software.
Starting with .NET Core 3.1, end of life dates align with Microsoft Patch Tuesday (second Tuesday of each month). For example, .NET 6 was originally released on November 8, 2021 and is supported for three years. But the actual end of support day is the closest Patch Tuesday starting that date, which is November 12, 2024.
Support for ASP.NET Core 2.1 on .NET Framework matches the ASP.NET Support policy for other package-based ASP.NET frameworks. The complete list of packages covered by this policy can be seen in ASP.NET Core 2.1 Supported Packages.
Applications using the Framework Dependent Deployment model benefit from .NET updates delivered by Microsoft update. There is no change to apps that use the Self-Contained Deployment model, so these apps are still responsible for keeping the runtime updated.
Major .NET versions are released annually in November. Each .NET release is defined as either Standard Term Support (STS) or Long Term Support (LTS), at the beginning of the release.
STS releases are released in even-numbered years and LTS releases are releases in odd-numbered years.
The quality of all releases are exactly the same, the only difference is the length of support. LTS releases get free support and patches for 3 years.
STS releases get free support and patches for 18 months.
Patch updates are released monthly on the second Tuesday of each month, also known as Patch Tuesday. Within a release's support lifecycle, systems must remain current on released patch updates. Patches to releases are compatible, which eliminates risk adversely affecting applications.
.NET Framework covers a broad set of Windows technologies including the .NET Framework Base Class Libraries, ASP.NET Web Forms, WCF, and more. Support for .NET Framework follows the Lifecycle Policy of the parent Windows operating system. The .NET Framework is updated machine-wide automatically by Windows Update. .NET Framework 4.8 is the latest version of .NET Framework and will continue to be distributed with future releases of Windows. As long as it's installed on a supported version of Windows, .NET Framework 4.8 will continue to also be supported.
The .NET platform is officially supported by Microsoft. Microsoft ships official releases that are built and tested on Microsoft-maintained servers in Azure and supported just like any Microsoft product.
Xamarin: Xamarin revolutionized mobile app development by enabling cross-platform applications using C# code sharing. Support for this will end on May 1, 2024. Users of this are advised to upgrade to .NET MAUI
Regarding support life cycles, this table illustrates that despite Microsoft designating certain .NET5+ versions as LTS, most are relatively close to the end of their support, with several versions of .NET Framework supported far beyond this, despite being released years earlier.
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 Framework 1.0 were released.[1] The first version of .NET Framework was released on 13 February 2002, bringing managed code to Windows NT 4.0, 98, 2000, 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 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.
.NET Framework 4.8 was announced as the final version of .NET Framework, with future work going into the rewritten and cross-platform .NET Core platform (later, simply .NET), which shipped as .NET 5 in November 2020.[2][3] However, .NET Framework 4.8.1 was released in August 2022.[4]
The first version of the .NET Framework was released on 15 January 2002 for Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, 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.[14]
.NET Framework 1.0 is supported on Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0 (with Service Pack 6a), 2000, 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.[36]
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 to version 1.0, except in rare instances where an application will not run because it checks the version number of a library.[40]
The .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 was released on 30 August 2004.[43] 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.
Version 2.0 was released on 27 October 2005. It was also released along with Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, and BizTalk 2006. A software development kit for this version was released on 29 November 2006.[44] 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.[45]
.NET Framework 2.0 is supported on Windows 98, ME, 2000 (with Service Pack 3 or higher), XP (with Service Pack 2 or higher), Server 2003, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2.[6] An unofficial backport for Windows 95 was created in 2024.[18][46] 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.
The .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 was released on 11 August 2008.[48] 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.[49]
.NET Framework 3.0, formerly called WinFX,[50] 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. 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.[51] 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).
c80f0f1006