Tuesday, 13 June 2006

WinFX is the New .NET Framework 3.0

At TechEd 2006 in Boston, Microsoft has officially renamed WinFX to .NET Framework 3.0. The change is a result of a re-branding effort to convey to potential users that .NET Framework 3.0 will include the same components as in WinFX. "The .NET Framework has always been at the core of WinFX, but the WinFX brand didn’t convey this," explained Soma Somasegar, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Developer Division. ".NET Framework 3.0 aptly identifies the technology for exactly what it is – the next version of our developer framework."

.NET Framework 3.0 extends version 2.0 with Windows Vista-specific additions. The new features in .NET Framework 3.0 include Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation and CardSpace (formerly InfoCard). ASP.NET, WinForms, ADO.NET and the CLR will remain part of the framework, which provides the basis for development on Windows Vista. .NET Framework 3.0 will be available for download on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 as well.

Developers can download sample code and provide feedback from a new community site that Microsoft has created for the new .NET Framework 3.0.