: It is now unsupported . If you are a developer, Microsoft recommends migrating to a newer Long Term Support (LTS) version like .NET 8. Should You Install It?

: It can run side-by-side with other .NET versions (like .NET 4.8 or .NET 8) without conflict, as each installs in its own directory.

Have you encountered issues installing the runtime? Or are you a developer migrating your apps to .NET 6? Let us know in the comments below!

If you try to run an app and see an error like:

Why does Runtime 6 matter in a world of Electron (web-based desktop apps) and native C++? Electron apps, like Discord or Slack, embed an entire Chromium browser, consuming hundreds of megabytes of RAM. A WPF app running on Runtime 6 consumes a fraction of that memory while providing direct access to Windows APIs and hardware acceleration. Runtime 6 offers the "goldilocks" solution: the productivity of managed code (C#) with the performance of near-native execution. It allows developers to build rich, accessible, and high-DPI-aware applications without the bloat of a web browser engine.

In this post, we’re going to break down exactly what Windows Desktop Runtime 6 is, how it differs from other versions, and why it is the backbone of modern Windows application development.

"To run this application, you must install .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.x"

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