Two decades of Microsoft's runtime — the Windows-only legacy line, the cross-platform .NET Core revolution, and today's unified modern .NET. As of October 2026, .NET 10 is the current LTS. .NET 11 is the next annual release, and .NET 12 is expected in 2027.
.NET 12 is not the current released version. The latest released version is .NET 10 (LTS); .NET 11 is the next annual release, while .NET 12 is expected later. Microsoft ships major .NET releases annually, with even-numbered versions as LTS.
Every major release from 2002 to the expected .NET 12 LTS in 2027 — what shipped, and what we build with it.
Windows desktop, ASP.NET web, Windows Forms, Web Services.
Windows apps, ASP.NET, Web Services.
WinForms, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, enterprise applications.
WPF, WCF, WF, Windows applications.
LINQ, ASP.NET, WPF, WCF, database applications.
Parallel programming, WPF, ASP.NET, WCF, enterprise apps.
Modernized ASP.NET, async/await, Web API, desktop.
Enterprise Windows applications.
ASP.NET, WPF, WinForms, enterprise Windows.
Windows desktop + enterprise applications.
Windows desktop + ASP.NET.
Windows / enterprise applications.
Mature Windows-only applications.
Latest .NET Framework line; Windows applications.
Cross-platform console, Web/API, cloud applications.
Cross-platform web / backend.
ASP.NET Core, Web API, cloud / backend.
Production web / API / cloud applications.
Web / API / cloud.
WPF + WinForms + ASP.NET Core + Web API.
Enterprise web / API + desktop.
Unified modern .NET; Web, API, desktop, cloud.
Web API, MVC, Blazor, desktop, cloud, MAUI.
Web / API, cloud, performance, modern applications.
Web API, Blazor, MVC, WPF, WinForms, MAUI, cloud, AI.
Modern web / API, cloud, AI, performance, Blazor.
Current LTS: Web / API, Blazor, cloud, desktop, AI, services.
Next-generation modern .NET — annual release.
Future LTS release — not yet available.
.NET Framework and .NET Core evolved on separate tracks. In 2020, .NET Core became the unified modern .NET — while .NET Framework remains the separate Windows-only legacy line.
Still used to maintain existing enterprise Windows applications. Not the target for new development.
Introduced true cross-platform .NET. Evolved into the unified modern .NET starting with .NET 5.
Microsoft confirms that .NET 5+ is the renamed, unified successor to .NET Core. One SDK, one runtime, every platform — web, desktop, mobile, cloud, and AI.
Everything you build with once the runtime is in place.
Focus primarily on the modern stack. Framework-era tech is for maintenance, not new builds.
.NET Framework / WPF / WinForms are still useful for maintaining existing enterprise applications, but Microsoft recommends modern .NET for all new development.