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What's new for .NET 5 (Windows Forms .NET)

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Windows Forms for .NET 5 adds the following features and enhancements over .NET Framework.

There are a few breaking changes you should be aware of when migrating from .NET Framework to .NET 5. For more information, see Breaking changes in Windows Forms.

Enhanced features

  • Microsoft UI Automation patterns work better with accessibility tools like Narrator and Jaws.

  • Improved performance.

  • The VB.NET project template defaults to DPI SystemAware settings for high DPI resolutions such as 4k monitors.

  • The default font matches the current Windows design recommendations.

    Caution

    This may impact the layout of apps migrated from .NET Framework.

New controls

The following controls have been added since Windows Forms was ported to .NET Framework:

Enhanced controls

  • System.Windows.Forms.ListView

    • Supports collapsible groups
    • Footers
    • Group subtitle, task, and title images

  • System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog

    This dialog has been upgraded to use the modern Windows experience instead of the old Windows 7 experience.

  • System.Windows.Forms.FileDialog

    • Added support for ClientGuid.

      ClientGuid enables a calling application to associate a GUID with a dialog's persisted state. A dialog's state can include factors such as the last visited folder and the position and size of the dialog. Typically, this state is persisted based on the name of the executable file. With ClientGuid, an application can persist different states of the dialog within the same application.

  • System.Windows.Forms.TextRenderer

    Support added for ReadOnlySpan<T> to enhance performance of rendering text.

See also