Licensing Reference
Licensing reference materials are continuously updated, highly-detailed entries covering Microsoft licensing terms, procedures, practices and timelines.
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Product Reference
Product reference materials are clear, concise definitions and descriptions of Microsoft's ever-growing catalog of products and services.
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.NET Roadmap
.NET is a set of class libraries and a run-time environment for developing and running... more
Other Runtimes and APIs Roadmap
Along with .NET, Microsoft supports several distinct API sets, including several legacy runtimes that are... more
.NET Timeline
Timeline for .NET offerings
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Windows Copilot Runtime Aids AI Application Development
Updated: April 1, 2025
The Copilot Runtime is a new Windows client OS component that facilitates development of AI-enabled...more
.NET 5 to Unify .NET Offerings in 2020
Updated: August 20, 2024
.NET 5, planned for 2020, will merge current .NET offerings into one runtime and API...more
Windows Copilot Runtime Architecture
Updated: July 30, 2024
Illustration shows Directions’ interpretation of the interaction of components included in the Copilot Runtime.
.NET 8.0 Brings Long-Term Support
Updated: February 19, 2024
.NET 8.0, generally available, is a good choice for applications requiring longer stability periods because...more
.NET 8.0 Arriving with Long-Term Support
Updated: September 11, 2023
.NET 8.0, in preview, is a good choice for applications requiring longer stability periods because...more
.NET 6.0 Brings Long Term Support
Updated: September 4, 2023
The .NET 6.0 cross-platform software development framework became generally available in Nov. 2021. It is...more
.NET 7.0 Arrives as Short-Term Release
Updated: September 4, 2023
.NET 7.0 will only be supported until May 2024, so .NET 6.0 or the upcoming...more
Lessons from Microsoft’s Internal .NET Upgrade
Updated: May 31, 2023
Microsoft’s discussions of internal application upgrades from the .NET Framework to .NET could help customers...more
Windows App SDK 1.2 Available
Updated: May 31, 2023
The Windows App SDK may help developers build new applications for Windows 11 and upgrade...more
Windows: The Best Dev Box?
Updated: May 31, 2023
Windows could be the best choice as a development environment because it can be used...more
Windows App SDK Mostly for New Apps
Updated: May 31, 2023
The Windows App SDK allows developers to build Windows applications with the latest UI elements....more
Visual Studio and .NET Framework Roadmap Update
Updated: October 3, 2021
New versions of Microsoft’s application runtime and developer tools, the .NET Framework and Visual Studio,...more
Tool Migrates .NET Framework Code to .NET 5.0
Updated: May 17, 2021
The .NET Upgrade Assistant can help organizations migrate .NET Framework code to .NET 5.0, which...more
Previews of Java Distributions Available
Updated: April 19, 2021
Previews of Microsoft distributions of the Java platform became available in Apr. 2021.
.NET Unification Continues with .NET 5.0
Updated: January 3, 2021
.NET 5.0, now generally available, is the successor to .NET Core and the latest step...more
Visual Basic Won’t Evolve; C#, F# Updated
Updated: December 14, 2020
Visual Basic is essentially deprecated but is supported with .NET 5.0. Organizations with Visual Basic...more
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Application Platforms Roadmap
