{ "id": "8292720f-5cc6-49a5-83d1-149f10abeaeb", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:15:31.025762Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:20:52.321365Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "360004b396ce7c6faa1403013f836636faa34d97", "title": "What is .NET Framework? A software development framework | .NET", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 117892, "plain_text": "What is .NET Framework? A software development framework |\r\n.NET\r\nArchived: 2026-04-05 13:49:44 UTC\r\n.NET and .NET Framework\r\n.NET is a developer platform made up of tools, programming languages, and libraries for building many different\r\ntypes of applications.\r\nThere are various implementations of .NET. Each implementation allows .NET code to execute in different places\r\n—Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and many more.\r\n1. .NET Framework is the original implementation of .NET. It supports running websites, services, desktop\r\napps, and more on Windows.\r\n2. .NET is a cross-platform implementation for running websites, services, and console apps on Windows,\r\nLinux, and macOS. .NET is open source on GitHub. .NET was previously called .NET Core.\r\n3. Xamarin/Mono is a .NET implementation for running apps on all the major mobile operating systems,\r\nincluding iOS and Android.\r\n.NET Standard is a formal specification of the APIs that are common across .NET implementations. This allows\r\nthe same code and libraries to run on different implementations.\r\nhttps://dotnet.microsoft.com/learn/dotnet/what-is-dotnet-framework\r\nPage 1 of 5\n\nArchitecture of .NET Framework\r\nThe two major components of .NET Framework are the Common Language Runtime and the .NET Framework\r\nClass Library.\r\nThe Common Language Runtime (CLR) is the execution engine that handles running applications. It\r\nprovides services like thread management, garbage collection, type-safety, exception handling, and more.\r\nThe Class Library provides a set of APIs and types for common functionality. It provides types for strings,\r\ndates, numbers, etc. The Class Library includes APIs for reading and writing files, connecting to databases,\r\ndrawing, and more.\r\n.NET applications are written in the C#, F#, or Visual Basic programming language. Code is compiled into a\r\nlanguage-agnostic Common Intermediate Language (CIL). Compiled code is stored in assemblies—files with a\r\nhttps://dotnet.microsoft.com/learn/dotnet/what-is-dotnet-framework\r\nPage 2 of 5\n\n.dll or .exe file extension.\r\nWhen an app runs, the CLR takes the assembly and uses a just-in-time compiler (JIT) to turn it into machine code\r\nthat can execute on the specific architecture of the computer it is running on.\r\nRead more: What is the .NET Framework\r\nRelease history\r\nThe following releases have reached end of life, meaning they're no longer supported. We recommend moving to a\r\nsupported release.\r\nOut of support versions\r\nVersion Release date End of support\r\n.NET Framework 4.6.1 November 30, 2015 April 26, 2022\r\n.NET Framework 4.6 July 20, 2015 April 26, 2022\r\n.NET Framework 4.5.2 May 5, 2014 April 26, 2022\r\n.NET Framework 4.5.1 October 17, 2013 January 12, 2016\r\n.NET Framework 4.5 August 15, 2012 January 12, 2016\r\n.NET Framework 4.0 April 12, 2010 January 12, 2016\r\n.NET Framework FAQ\r\nWhat is .NET Framework used for?\r\n.NET Framework is used to create and run software applications. .NET apps can run on many operating systems,\r\nusing different implementations of .NET. .NET Framework is used for running .NET apps on Windows.\r\nWho uses .NET Framework?\r\nSoftware developers and the users of their applications both use .NET Framework:\r\nUsers of applications built with the .NET Framework need to have .NET Framework installed. In most\r\ncases, .NET Framework is already installed with Windows. If needed, you can download .NET Framework.\r\nSoftware developers use .NET Framework to build many different types of applications—websites,\r\nservices, desktop apps, and more with Visual Studio. Visual Studio is an integrated development\r\nenvironment (IDE) that provides development productivity tools and debugging capabilities. See the .NET\r\ncustomer showcase for examples of what people are building with .NET.\r\nWhy do I need .NET Framework?\r\nhttps://dotnet.microsoft.com/learn/dotnet/what-is-dotnet-framework\r\nPage 3 of 5\n\nYou need .NET Framework installed to run applications on Windows that were created using .NET Framework.\r\nIt's already included in many versions of Windows. You only need to download and install .NET Framework if\r\nprompted to do so.\r\nHow does .NET Framework work?\r\n.NET Framework applications are written in C#, F#, or Visual Basic and compiled to Common Intermediate\r\nLanguage (CIL). The Common Language Runtime (CLR) runs .NET applications on a given machine, converting\r\nthe CIL to machine code. See Architecture of .NET Framework for more info.\r\nWhat are the main components/features of .NET Framework?\r\nThe two major components of .NET Framework are the Common Language Runtime (CLR) and the .NET\r\nFramework Class Library. The CLR is the execution engine that handles running applications. The Class Library\r\nprovides a set of APIs and types for common functionality. See Architecture of .NET Framework for more info.\r\nWhat is the difference between .NET and .NET Framework?\r\n.NET and .NET Framework share many of the same components and you can share code across the two. Some\r\nkey differences include:\r\n.NET is cross-platform and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. .NET Framework only runs on\r\nWindows.\r\n.NET is open-source and accepts contributions from the community. The .NET Framework source code is\r\navailable but doesn't take direct contributions.\r\nAll of the innovation happens in .NET.\r\n.NET Framework is included in Windows and automatically updated machine-wide by Windows Update.\r\n.NET is shipped independently.\r\nSee .NET vs. .NET Framework for server apps for more details.\r\nCan you have multiple .NET Frameworks installed?\r\nSome versions of .NET Framework are installed side-by-side, while others will upgrade an existing version\r\n(known as an in-place update). In-place updates occur when two .NET Framework versions share the same CLR\r\nversion.\r\nFor example, installing .NET Framework 4.8 on a machine with .NET Framework 4.7.2 and 3.5 installed will\r\nperform an in-place update of the 4.7.2 installation and leave 3.5 installed separately.\r\nCLR version used by .NET Framework versions\r\n.NET Framework version CLR version\r\n.NET Framework 4.x 4.0\r\n.NET Framework 2.x and 3.x 2.0\r\nhttps://dotnet.microsoft.com/learn/dotnet/what-is-dotnet-framework\r\nPage 4 of 5\n\n.NET Framework version CLR version\r\n.NET Framework 1.1 1.1\r\n.NET Framework 1.0 1.0\r\nHow much does .NET Framework cost?\r\n.NET Framework is free, like the rest of the .NET platform. There are no fees or licensing costs, including for\r\ncommercial use. See .NET is free for more details.\r\nWhich version of .NET Framework should I use?\r\nIn most cases, you should use the latest stable release. Currently, that's .NET Framework 4.8.1 .\r\nApplications that were created with any 4.x version of .NET Framework will run on .NET Framework 4.8.1 . To\r\nrun an application that was created for an earlier version (for example, .NET Framework 3.5), you should install\r\nthat version. See Download .NET Framework for a complete list.\r\nWhat is the support policy for .NET Framework?\r\n.NET Framework 4.8.1 is the latest version of .NET Framework and will continue to be distributed with future\r\nreleases of Windows. As long as it is installed on a supported version of Windows, .NET Framework 4.8.1 will\r\ncontinue to also be supported.\r\nSee the .NET Framework support policy for more details\r\nSource: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/learn/dotnet/what-is-dotnet-framework\r\nhttps://dotnet.microsoft.com/learn/dotnet/what-is-dotnet-framework\r\nPage 5 of 5", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "MITRE" ], "references": [ "https://dotnet.microsoft.com/learn/dotnet/what-is-dotnet-framework" ], "report_names": [ "what-is-dotnet-framework" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775434531, "ts_updated_at": 1775791252, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/360004b396ce7c6faa1403013f836636faa34d97.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/360004b396ce7c6faa1403013f836636faa34d97.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/360004b396ce7c6faa1403013f836636faa34d97.jpg" } }