This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(131.20000000000002, 61%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EAE%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I'm new to using the C# language and .NET Core Framework. I normally used VB.NET with the .NET Framework and coding strictly for Windows Forms applications.
If I code in C# using the .NET Core, will I be able to build desktop applications that will be cross-platform to run on Windows, MAC, & Linux straight out of the box or will it still require a good amount of additional plugins or libraries?
Say that I export the application to an .exe file, will it be able to run immediately on Windows, MAC, & Linux in most scenarios?
Nothing changes much, https://blog.lextudio.com/the-story-about-net-cross-platform-ui-frameworks-dd4a9433d0ea even if MAUI ships in .NET 6 in the coming months.
So if I create a WinForms application using C# & the .NET CORE framework and publish it, will it execute a .dmg for MAC & .tar.gz for Linux as well as the .exe for Windows and be able to run on all platforms or do I have to use some other GUI program inside or outside of the Visual Studio designer to get it compatible with all desktop OS?
If you read my blog post, you will see there is no WinForms on macOS/Linux from Microsoft, and you have to choose a different UI framework (and many of them don't have visual designers).
So, just to clarify, you're saying that the Visual Studio designer where you can drag and drop controls on to the forms, will not publish and deploy for MAC & Linux as well?
Out of all the GUI designers you mention in your article, which do you feel is the best to use with C# to accomplish a cross-platform GUI desktop application?
You can see articles like : How to Build Cross-Platform .NET Core Apps
Thank you for your reply. So, after looking briefly at the article that you've shared, I noticed that the author is creating a console application instead of a desktop GUI application. Will I be able to export/publish a desktop application with a GUI the same exact way and it too will run on MAC & Linux as well or will it only run with console applications?
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(115.19999999999999, 4%, 21%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ETY%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
@Aaron Esteban
MAUI is currently available in Visual Studio 2022 (Preview), but the documentation is not yet complete, and there is no official support yet.
Build your first app
If you are interested in it, you can try it yourself, or you can use an open-source framework such as Avalonia to complete your needs.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(230.39999999999998, 2%, 32%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EIM%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
If your code uses WinForms, regardless of whether it is written in .NET Core it is not cross-platform. That is because WinForm controls are internally bound to Windows specific UI elements, and the entire WinForms platform is designed to run only on Windows. To make cross-platform applications that run on Windows, Mac and inside the browser via Blazor-WebAssembly I can recommend that you take a look at this framework: https://www.nevron.com/products-open-vision.aspx.