Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime installs the necessary runtime and associated files for applications that use the .NET Framework.

The differences between .NET 8.0 and .NET 9.0 are significant in terms of performance, support, and features. Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Performance Enhancements: .NET 9.0 takes a comprehensive approach to performance optimization, implementing improvements in multiple areas. It enhances loop optimizations, meaning the execution of repetitive operations is faster and more efficient. Additionally, inlining improvements allow the runtime to directly insert method code where it is called, reducing overhead and speeding up execution. Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO) is also improved, allowing the .NET runtime to make intelligent decisions based on how the application is used in real-world scenarios, further enhancing overall application performance.

Support Lifecycles: .NET 8.0 is designated as a Long-Term Support (LTS) version, which means it will receive updates and support until November 2026. This is advantageous for organizations that require stability and long-term planning in their development lifecycle. In contrast, .NET 9.0 is not an LTS version and will have support available only until May 2026, making it more suitable for projects that accommodate more frequent updates and changes.

New Features and Tools: .NET 9.0 introduces a host of new language features that enhance coding efficiency and readability. It also includes improved developer tools that streamline the development process, making it easier for developers to write, test, and debug their applications. Furthermore, cross-platform development has been significantly enhanced, enabling developers to build applications that run on various operating systems with greater ease and consistency than ever before.

Overall, .NET 9.0 focuses on providing advanced performance, a refined support model, and a richer set of features to empower developers and improve application development processes.

Microsoft's programming model, .NET, is a comprehensive and consistent platform for developing applications that offer visually stunning user experiences, secure communication, and the ability to model various business processes. The latest version of .NET, built on the performance enhancements introduced in .NET 7, further optimizes the Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler, garbage collector, and runtime, resulting in faster startup times, improved overall application performance, and reduced memory usage.

The .NET Desktop Runtime works alongside older Framework versions, allowing applications based on earlier versions to continue running on the targeted version by default.

This latest Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime version boasts numerous performance improvements throughout the platform. It now includes Dynamic Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO), a new code generator that optimizes your code based on its actual usage. This feature is enabled by default and can enhance the performance of your applications by up to 20%. The AVX-512 instruction set, which is now supported, lets you perform parallel operations on larger sets of data, thus allowing you to process more data in less time. Additionally, numerical and other primitive types now implement a new formattable and parsable interface that will enable them to format and parse as UTF-8 directly without any transcoding overhead.

The package includes both the .NET Runtime and the ASP.NET Core Runtime, which are essential for hosting stand-alone apps on Windows Servers. Additionally, the ASP.NET Core Module for IIS is included and can be installed separately on servers without installing the .NET Runtime.

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