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.NET vs .NET Framework – What to Choose in 2025?

.NET

Published: 2025-07-21

.NET vs .NET Framework – What to Choose in 2025?

The .NET world has undergone a massive transformation in recent years. If you're just starting with Microsoft technologies or planning to modernize your applications, it's easy to get confused between the names: .NET, .NET Core, .NET Framework... In this post, I'll explain the differences and help you decide when to choose which technology.

.NET Framework – The Classic Windows Platform

.NET Framework has a history dating back to 2002. Over the years, it became the foundation for Windows business applications – from WinForms, through WPF, to ASP.NET Web Forms and WCF.

However, its architecture has limitations:

  • Runs exclusively on Windows
  • Is closed-source software
  • Installed globally in the system (no side-by-side versioning)
  • Based on older configuration technologies (e.g., web.config, MSBuild)

The current and final version is .NET Framework 4.8. Microsoft maintains it primarily for legacy applications – new features are no longer being added.

Modern .NET – The Successor and Future of the Platform

When we talk about .NET today, we mean the evolving line from .NET Core 1.0 (2016) to the current version .NET 9 (2025). This is an open-source, cross-platform, and dynamically developing platform that combines the best features of its predecessors.

Key Features of Modern .NET:

  • Cross-platform – runs on Windows, Linux, macOS
  • Open source (GitHub)
  • Modern SDK-style projects
  • ASP.NET Core – one of the fastest web frameworks
  • Container support (Docker, Kubernetes)
  • Side-by-side deployment – different .NET versions can run alongside each other
  • JSON configuration + extensive DI and configuration system
  • Short release cycles (new version every year)

Performance and Scalability

In benchmarks, especially in the context of web applications, .NET 6/7/8/9 decisively outperforms the classic Framework.

Thanks to the optimized runtime and lightweight architecture, ASP.NET Core applications handle more requests with lower resource consumption.

Technical Examples

Modern SDK-style project:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net9.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Legacy .NET Framework project:

<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" ...>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.8</TargetFrameworkVersion>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Minimal API in .NET 6+:

var app = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args).Build();
app.MapGet("/", () => "Hello from .NET 9!");
app.Run();

JSON Configuration:

var config = new ConfigurationBuilder()
                .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json")
                .Build();
string value = config["MySetting"];

Summary

If you're creating new projects, the choice is simple – go with modern .NET (6/7/8/9).

You'll gain community support, modern APIs, cross-platform compatibility, containerization, and performance.

If you're maintaining legacy Windows applications, .NET Framework 4.8 is still supported, but only for scenarios requiring old technologies like Web Forms or WCF.

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