Unlike the old .NET Framework (which was deeply intertwined with the Windows OS itself), the .NET 6 Runtime is installed independently. You can have .NET 6, .NET 7, and .NET 8 running on the same machine without them ever acknowledging each other’s existence. This isolation means that a mission-critical legacy app running on an older framework won’t break just because you updated your modern dashboard app to .NET 6. It brings the containerization philosophy of the cloud directly to the desktop.
Look for an entry like: Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 6.0.36 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]
Here is the information you requested for . net 6 desktop runtime
: .NET Multi-platform App UI (.NET MAUI) extends the capabilities of Xamarin.Forms, enabling developers to create natively compiled applications for mobile, tablet, and desktop from a single codebase. .NET 6 integrates .NET MAUI, offering a unified approach to building cross-platform user interfaces.
Improved startup times and reduced memory footprint for WinForms and WPF applications. Unlike the old
While .NET has moved on to versions like .NET 8, the .NET 6 Desktop Runtime remains essential for legacy support and specific enterprise environments that require stable, older frameworks.
Allows you to build apps. It includes the Runtime. Use this if you are a coder. It brings the containerization philosophy of the cloud
When Microsoft moved to .NET Core (the predecessor to .NET 5 and 6), they could have easily discarded the old guard—Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Windows Forms (WinForms). These are technologies that date back nearly two decades and power millions of enterprise line-of-business applications.
The runtime is a collection of libraries and components that allow your computer to understand and execute .NET code. While the standard .NET Runtime covers console apps and web services, the Desktop Runtime adds specific layers needed for graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Key Features and Improvements