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Releases and support for .NET

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Microsoft ships major releases, minor releases, and servicing updates (patches) for .NET. This article explains release types, servicing updates, SDK feature bands, support periods, and support options.

Note

For information about versioning and support for .NET Framework, see .NET Framework Lifecycle.

Release types

Information about the type of each release is encoded in the version number in the form major.minor.patch.

For example:

  • .NET 6 and .NET 7 are major releases.
  • .NET Core 3.1 is the first minor release after the .NET Core 3.0 major release.
  • .NET Core 5.0.15 is the fifteenth patch for .NET 5.

For a list of released versions of .NET and information about how often .NET ships, see the Support Policy.

Major releases

Major releases include new features, new public API surface area, and bug fixes. Examples include .NET 6 and .NET 7. Due to the nature of the changes, these releases are expected to have breaking changes. Major releases install side by side with previous major releases.

Minor releases

Minor releases also include new features, public API surface area, and bug fixes, and may also have breaking changes. An example is .NET Core 3.1. The difference between these and major releases is that the magnitude of the changes is smaller. An application upgrading from .NET Core 3.0 to 3.1 has a smaller jump to move forward. Minor releases install side by side with previous minor releases.

Servicing updates

Servicing updates (patches) ship almost every month, and these updates carry both security and non-security bug fixes. For example, .NET 5.0.8 was the eighth update for .NET 5. When these updates include security fixes, they're released on "patch Tuesday", which is always the second Tuesday of the month. Servicing updates are expected to maintain compatibility. Starting with .NET Core 3.1, servicing updates are upgrades that remove the preceding update. For example, the latest servicing update for 3.1 removes the previous 3.1 update upon successful installation.

Feature bands (SDK only)

Versioning for the .NET SDK works slightly differently from the .NET runtime. To align with new Visual Studio releases, .NET SDK updates sometimes include new features or new versions of components like MSBuild and NuGet. These new features or components may be incompatible with the versions that shipped in previous SDK updates for the same major or minor version.

To differentiate such updates, the .NET SDK uses the concept of feature bands. For example, the first .NET 5 SDK was 5.0.100. This release corresponds to the 5.0.1xx feature band. Feature bands are defined in the hundreds groups in the third section of the version number. For example, 5.0.101 and 5.0.201 are versions in two different feature bands while 5.0.101 and 5.0.199 are in the same feature band. When .NET SDK 5.0.101 is installed, .NET SDK 5.1.100 is removed from the machine if it exists. When .NET SDK 5.0.200 is installed on the same machine, .NET SDK 5.0.101 isn't removed.

For more information about the relationship between .NET SDK and Visual Studio versions, see .NET SDK, MSBuild, and Visual Studio versioning.

Runtime roll forward and compatibility

Major and minor updates install side by side with previous versions. An application built to target a specific major.minor version continues to use that targeted runtime even if a newer version is installed. The app doesn't automatically roll forward to use a newer major.minor version of the runtime unless you opt in for this behavior. An application that was built to target .NET Core 3.0 doesn't automatically start running on .NET Core 3.1. We recommend rebuilding the app and testing against a newer major or minor runtime version before deploying to production. For more information, see Framework-dependent apps roll forward and Self-contained deployment runtime roll forward.

Servicing updates are treated differently from major and minor releases. An application built to target .NET 7 runs on the 7.0.0 runtime by default. It automatically rolls forward to use a newer 7.0.1 runtime when that servicing update is installed. This behavior is the default because we want security fixes to be used as soon as they're installed without any other action needed. You can opt out from this default roll forward behavior.

.NET version lifecycles

.NET versions adopt the modern lifecycle rather than the fixed lifecycle that was used for .NET Framework releases. Products that adopt a modern lifecycle have a service-like support model, with shorter support periods and more frequent releases.

Release tracks

There are two support tracks for releases:

  • Standard Term Support (STS) releases

    These versions are supported until 6 months after the next major or minor release ships.

    Example:

    • .NET 5 is an STS release and was released in November 2020. It was supported for 18 months, until May 2022.
    • .NET 7 is an STS release and was released in November 2022. It's supported for 18 months, until May 2024.

  • Long Term Support (LTS) releases

    These versions are supported for a minimum of 3 years, or 1 year after the next LTS release ships if that date is later.

    Example:

    • .NET Core 3.1 is an LTS release and was released in December 2019. It was supported for 3 years, until December 2022.
    • .NET 6 is an LTS release and was released in November, 2021. It's supported for 3 years, until November 2024.

Releases alternate between LTS and STS, so it's possible for an earlier release to be supported longer than a later release. For example, .NET Core 3.1 was an LTS release with support through December 2022. The .NET 5 release shipped almost a year later but went out of support earlier, in May 2022.

Servicing updates ship monthly and include both security and non-security (reliability, compatibility, and stability) fixes. Servicing updates are supported until the next servicing update is released. Servicing updates have runtime roll forward behavior. That means that applications default to running on the latest installed runtime servicing update.

How to choose a release

If you're building a service and expect to continue updating it on a regular basis, then an STS release like the .NET 7 runtime may be your best option to stay up to date with the latest features .NET has to offer.

If you're building a client application that will be distributed to consumers, stability might be more important than access to the latest features. Your application might need to be supported for a certain period before the consumer can upgrade to the next version of the application. In that case, an LTS release like the .NET 6 runtime could be the right option.

Note

We recommend upgrading to the latest SDK version, even if it's an STS release, as it can target all available runtimes.

Support for servicing updates

.NET servicing updates are supported until the next servicing update is released. The release cadence is monthly.

You need to regularly install servicing updates to ensure that your apps are in a secure and supported state. For example, if the latest servicing update for .NET 7 is 7.0.8 and we ship 7.0.9, then 7.0.8 is no longer the latest. The supported servicing level for .NET 7 is then 7.0.9.

For information about the latest servicing updates for each major and minor version, see the .NET downloads page.

End of support

End of support refers to the date after which Microsoft no longer provides fixes, updates, or technical assistance for a product version. Before this date, make sure you have moved to using a supported version. Versions that are out of support no longer receive security updates that protect your applications and data. For the supported date ranges for each version of .NET, see the Support Policy.

Supported operating systems

.NET can be run on a range of operating systems. Each of these operating systems has a lifecycle defined by its sponsor organization (for example, Microsoft, Red Hat, or Apple). We take these lifecycle schedules into account when adding and removing support for operating system versions.

When an operating system version goes out of support, we stop testing that version and providing support for that version. Users need to move forward to a supported operating system version to get support.

For more information, see the .NET OS Lifecycle Policy.

Get support

You have a choice between Microsoft assisted support and Community support.

Microsoft support

For assisted support, contact a Microsoft Support Professional.

You need to be on a supported servicing level (the latest available servicing update) to be eligible for support. If a system is running .NET 7 and the 7.0.8 servicing update has been released, then 7.0.8 needs to be installed as a first step.

Community support

For community support, see the Community page.