It arrives as an in-place update for .NET Framework 4

Jun 2, 2012 12:31 GMT  ·  By

Recently, Microsoft made available for download the Release Candidate of its Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 platform, with various improvements in terms of features and stability.

The new framework release was preceded by the availability of a beta flavor a few months ago, and it should be followed by a final version in the not too distant future.

The new Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 RC arrives as an in-place update to .NET Framework 4, and offers compatibility with applications designed for that version of the platform.

“This version of the .NET Framework runs side-by-side with .NET Framework 3.5 and earlier versions, but performs an in-place update for the .NET Framework 4,” Microsoft explains.

The new release of the Framework, combined with the C# or Visual Basic programming languages, offers developers the possibility to come up with applications for the Metro interface in Windows 8.

“The .NET Framework 4.5 RC includes significant language and framework enhancements for C# and Visual Basic so that you can more easily write asynchronous code, the blending of control flow in synchronous code, a responsive UI, and web app scalability,” Microsoft explains.

“The .NET Framework 4.5 RC adds substantial improvements to other functional areas such as ASP.NET, Managed Extensibility Framework, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows Identity Foundation.”

The same as the.NET Framework 4.5 Beta before it, the Release Candidate version of the platform arrives with better performance, as well as with improved reliability and security.

Developers interested in learning more on how they can deploy applications built with Visual Studio 2012 RC and .NET Framework 4.5 RC in a production environment should head over to Microsoft’s website for that.

The .NET Framework 4.5 RC can be installed on x86 and x64 machines running under Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 (only x64), and Windows Vista.

It should also be noted that Windows 8 Release Preview and Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate come with the .NET Framework 4.5 RC packed inside, which means that installation on these operating systems is unnecessary.

Download Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 RC