.NET: Now 24 months of support for standard term releases starting with .NET 9.0
Microsoft is extending standard term support for .NET releases from 18 to 24 months –. This already applies to the current version, .NET 9.0.
(Image: Sepp photography/Shutterstock.com)
The release period for .NET STS (Standard Term Support) versions will be extended to 24 months. Previously, Microsoft provided 18 months of support for STS releases, while LTS (Long-Term Support) releases received updates for three years.
The new support periods
The change already applies to the current STS release .NET 9.0, which will now reach its end of support on November 10, 2026, instead of May 12, 2026, as originally planned. Previously, the date was six months after the release of the next .NET version, but now it is twelve months. The support period for LTS releases remains unchanged. For example , .NET 10.0, scheduled for release in November 2025, will remain in support for three years as planned.
(Image:Â Microsoft)
(Image:Â coffeemill/123rf.com)
Improved classes in .NET 10.0, native AOT with Entity Framework Core 10.0, and more: .NET professionals will be sharing their insights at the online conference betterCode() .NET 10.0 on November 18, 2025. This will be followed by six full-day workshops on topics such as C# 14.0, artificial intelligence, and web APIs.
Support phases for .NET releases
Microsoft defines support for .NET and .NET Core as both active support, which improves functionality and reduces security risks, and maintenance support, which applies during the last six months of the support period for STS and LTS releases and only refers to the reduction of security risks. Once a .NET release has reached its end of life (EOL) or end of support (EOS), it will no longer receive any fixes, updates, or technical online support.
The reason behind this
Microsoft cites as its reason that .NET is evolving rapidly and new features are increasingly ending up in out-of-band (OOB) releases rather than in the annual releases, which affects .NET Aspire, Microsoft.Extensions.AI, and the C# Dev Kit, for example.
.NET users sometimes stick with a .NET LTS version because of its longer support period instead of switching to a newer STS release. This can lead to difficulties when dealing with OOB releases: Previously, an OOB release in use may have had a dependency on a newer STS release, thereby shifting part of the runtime from LTS to STS. This package then had a shorter support period, as the newer STS release was already out of support six months before the older LTS release.
Now, however, the LTS release .NET 8.0 and the STS release .NET 9.0, for example, have the same end-of-support date, November 10, 2026. But even aside from OOB releases, the longer support period is intended to encourage users to consider STS releases in the future.
(mai)
