We are thrilled to announce the release of the .NET Framework 4.8 today. It's included in the Windows 10 May 2019 Update. .NET Framework 4.8 is also available on Windows 7+ and Windows Server 2008 R2+.

The .NET Framework 4.8 includes an updated toolset as well as improvements in several areas:

  • [Runtime] JIT and NGEN Improvements
  • [BCL] Updated ZLib
  • [BCL] Reducing FIPS Impact on Cryptography
  • [WinForms] Accessibility Enhancements
  • [WCF] Service Behavior Enhancements
  • [WPF] High DPI Enhancements, UIAutomation Improvements

What's New

Native support for Arm64

  • Add native Arm64 support to the .NET Framework family to leverage the benefits of running workloads natively on Arm64 for better performance when compared to running x64 code emulated on Arm64.

Accessible Tooltips

  • tooltips now comply with the guidelines set forth in the WCAG2.1 content on Hover or Focus guidance. The requirements for tooltips require the following:
  • Tooltips must display either via mouse hover or by keyboard navigation to the control.
  • Tooltips should be dismissable. That is, a simple keyboard command like the ESC key should dismiss the tooltip.
  • Tooltips should be hoverable. Users should be able to place their mouse cursor over the tooltip. This enables scenarios like using magnifier to be able to read the tooltip for low-vision users.
  • Tooltips should be persistent. Tooltips should not automatically disappear after a certain time has elapsed. Rather, the tooltips should be dismissed by the user moving their mouse to another control, or by dismissing the tooltip as described above.

Windows Forms

  • Added support for the UIA Text Pattern to enable assistive technology to traverse the content of a TextBox or similar text-based control letter by letter.
  • Fixed high contrast issues in several controls and have changed the contrast ratio of selection rectangles to be darker and more visible.

Fixed several DataGridView issues:

  • Updated the scrollbar names for consistency.
  • Fixed an issue where Narrator was unable to focus on empty DataGridView cells.
  • Enabled developers to set the localized control type property for Custom DataGridView cells.
  • Updated the link color for DataGridViewLink cells to have better contrast with the background.

IMPORTANT:

If you have installed earlier pre-release versions of .NET Framework 4, then you must uninstall them prior to running this installation by using Add or Remove Programs.

For more details on this release of the framework, see the following references: https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700830.aspx https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/default.aspx