.NET Platform Extensions Support Policy

Last updated: April 8, 2025

Microsoft Support for .NET Platform Extensions

Every Microsoft product has a lifecycle, including .NET Platform Extensions. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it's no longer supported. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes to your software. This product is governed by the Microsoft Modern Lifecycle.

The .NET Platform Extensions support policy works slightly differently from the .NET and .NET Core support policy and applies to only the following packages:

Release cadence

.NET Platform Extensions release cadence aligns with the .NET release cadence; that is, .NET Platform Extensions 8.0 shipped with .NET 8.0, .NET Platform Extensions 9.0 shipped with .NET 9.0, and so on.

.NET Platform Extensions ships minor releases at a monthly cadence; each new release ships on the second Tuesday of the month (also known as Patch Tuesday) along with updates for .NET.

.NET Platform Extensions packages covered by this support policy do not follow "semantic versioning", though all attempts are made to align with it as much as possible. A minor release may include a mix of security and non-security fixes and features (including behavioral and API breaking changes).

Supported versions

The following table lists .NET Platform Extensions versions that are actively supported.

Supported versions
Version Original release date Latest patch version Patch release date End of support
.NET Platform Extensions 9.4 April 8, 2025 9.4.0 April 8, 2025 When next major or minor version is released.

Out of support versions

The following table lists .NET Platform Extensions versions no longer supported.

Out of support versions
Version Original release date End of support
.NET Platform Extensions 9.3 March 11, 2025 April 8, 2025
.NET Platform Extensions 9.2 February 11, 2025 March 11, 2025
.NET Platform Extensions 9.1 January 14, 2025 February 11, 2025
.NET Platform Extensions 9.0 November 12, 2024 January 14, 2025
.NET Platform Extensions [8.0-8.10] November 14, 2023 November 12, 2024

Versioning and support

At any time, only the latest release of .NET Platform Extensions is supported by Microsoft. For example, support for .NET Platform Extensions 8.0 ended when .NET Platform Extensions 8.1 was released, and support for .NET Platform Extensions 8.10 ends when .NET Platform Extensions 9.0 is released.

To receive technical support from Microsoft, you need to be on the latest servicing level (update) for the latest .NET Platform Extensions release.

Servicing updates

Servicing updates may be made available for supported versions of .NET Platform Extensions. .NET Platform Extensions updates may include a mix of security and non-security fixes in a single patch update.