Is .NET framework dead and what is its future? (2024)

• 2. It will never update
• 3. Microsoft will replace .NET with something functionally similar
• 4. Concentration on making .NET Core more agile and powerful
• 5. Future of .NET development will be Xamarin Forms 4 and Unity 8
• 6. There is no single sign that it will change in a midterm perspective
• 7. Conclusion

There is nothing in the realm of technology that remains constant in popularity, as new frameworks and devices get introduced every day. The .NET framework is one of the most popular programming platforms, and its remarkable capabilities have never failed to provide an incredible development experience. Because of their legacy projects, it is still the preferred choice for many enterprises and huge corporations. Furthermore, this framework employs C#, one of the most powerful programming languages available.

On the flip side, this framework also had a few versions such as Silverlight which didn’t work up to expectations and forced us to look for other solutions.

In 2019, Microsoft had announced that .NET Framework 4.8 will be the final version of the framework and declared .NET 5.0 as the successor of .NET 3.0. Now, let’s look at the experts’ opinion on whether the .NET framework is really dead?

“In 2019, Microsoft declared that the .NET Framework 4.8 was the last among the .NET Framework. Furthermore, they announced that the .NET Core 3.0 would be referred to as .NET 5.0. Thus, .NET Core replaced .NET Framework.

It is important to note that .NET 5.0 does not support the use of ASP.NET Web Forms in building web UIs. Additionally, you cannot use Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). Instead, you have to use Blazor and other alternatives like CoreWCF, meaning there is a gap for apps built in .NET Framework.

Developers, therefore, feel that a gap exists between the release and sustainability of the Microsoft software products.”

- Katherine Brown, Founder & Marketing Director of Spyic

“The .NET Framework is no longer in use*. A big number of engineers throughout the world were enraged by Microsoft's controversial action on the.NET framework. They believe there is a large gap between release and stability in the software development behemoth's products. Electron and Delphi are two alternative frameworks to.NET Framework. Delphi, on the other hand, is the best.”

- Yana Trihub, Chief Executive Officer at KeyUA

Planning to hire Java developers for your next project? Your search ends here.

“Yes, the .NET framework is dead. It is dead because it will never update or come out with anything new again - and it already hasn’t for a year. Though it may receive some security updates, it’s features will never update. Microsoft announced back in 2019 that it would be releasing its last ever framework, so the company itself announced its end. Luckily, there are lots of alternatives out there, like Delphi, Java, Python, Node and more.”

- Brian Donovan from Timeshatter

“The .NET framework appears to be dead, for several reasons. First, its last release was in 2019, over two years ago. Second, its successor, .NET 5.0, had a rollout that was confusing and actually infuriating to web developers globally as a matter of fact. The main reason behind that is that those developers felt that there was a gap existing between its release and its stability. Developers, among others, were basically left guessing for the most part.”

- Thomas Hawkins, Owner of Electrician Apprentice HQ

“Not exactly! .NET framework is the best Microsoft framework for creating web applications and desktops. This framework hasn't received any update since 2019.

Previously, Microsoft proclaimed that the .NET framework 4.8 would be the advanced release of .NET. As Microsoft's controversies are moving forward, the .NET framework has a wide array of developers worldwide. They have felt that there is a particular gap between stability and release in software development giant products. Therefore, it's not exactly dead; it will be rolling out soon with more incredible features.

Also, Microsoft is bracing the developers for the inevitable comeback, indicating that the .NET framework isn't dead.”

- Eden Cheng, Co-Founder of PeopleFinderFree

“.NET is dead as a future framework for web applications and software. Microsoft won't be building for it and they won't support it. But software that already runs on .NET and is no longer being updated will still run on it. You just may have to use an older operating system in the future to get these programs to work.

All of that said, Microsoft will replace .NET with something functionally similar. Of course, this puts the burden on developers to update their applications so that newer operating systems can run them.”

- Daivat Dholakia, Director of Operations at Force by Mojio

“It seems that .NET’s product cycle is coming to a close. While it's not in the immediate future, it certainly has already been hit with an end date, with v.4.7 ending in 2022. The latest update that is rolling out, v.4.8, is going to be updated, but will inevitably be overshadowed by the newer .NET 5 platform. While it certainly doesn’t mean that .NET as a language will be gone anytime soon, it does mean it will eventually be phased out as developers look to the newer .NET 5 language for coding.”

- Carla Diaz, Co-Founder of Broadband Search

“It’s become progressively clear over the past couple of years that .NET Framework is on its way out. With the software giant centering, most of its concentration on making .NET Core more agile and powerful, its longstanding ancestor has been slowly abandoned, receiving only smaller variations now and then. .NET 5 will be cross-platform and provide what you would expect and also make it better equipped for Internet of Things and mobile platform development. Microsoft has promised to bring the potential that .NET 5 has to contribute should make it a pretty attractive choice with developers.”

- Shiv Gupta, Marketing Director of Incrementors Web Solutions

“The old framework of the .net framework is declining. However, the new framework of .net core is rising rapidly. Generally speaking, there are mixed good and bad news. The good news is that newcomers will have many opportunities in the future. The worry is that some old .net programmers may not be able to learn, and there is a middle-aged crisis, while many old java programs. It’s like a fish in the water for members to switch to .net core. In addition, the .net heart is being invaded by some java programmers, and many old java programmers switch to .net body.”

- Andy, Head of Marketing at Cloom

“Much has been made of the fact that Microsoft announced that they are ending support for the .NET framework in 2021. However, much of this discussion has been based on a misunderstanding of the situation. The .NET framework isn't dead; it just won't be developed by Microsoft anymore. Many other organizations are committed to its continued use and development, including Xamarin and Unity.

That said, there is a big question of what will happen to the apps written in .NET. The simple answer to that question is nothing. They will continue to work just as they do today with no changes necessary.

However, the fact that Microsoft won't be developing the .NET framework anymore does mean that there won't be any more feature additions. Some of the performance issues with .NET applications are unlikely to be fixed in the future. Instead, future .NET development will happen in open-source projects like Xamarin Forms 4 and Unity 8.”

- Lynda Fairly, Co-founder of Numlooker

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“It's not dead, never was, and will not be dead in the foreseeable future.

.NET made giant progress in the last few years after .NET Core has been released. It's a cross-platform, fast, solid, and robust ecosystem that covers almost all the directions of modern development - web backend, desktop, ML, mobile, event frontend to some extent with a Blazor. It has Microsoft support, great community support, amazing development infrastructure, and IDEs. Also, there's Azure.

C# is constantly developing and has cool new features with every new release. There's also F# for guys who like functional programming and it's really cool.

That being said - .NET is alive and well, and there is no single sign that it will change in a midterm perspective.”

- Oksana Kushnir, Smm specialist at Exoft

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