.NET Framework 4.8.1 builds on previous versions of .NET Framework 4.x by adding many new fixes and several new features while remaining a very stable product.$$$$$$The highlights of Windows Forms improvements in .NET Framework 4.8.1 are:$$$$$$Text pattern support– Windows Forms added support for the UIA Text Pattern. This pattern enables assistive technology to traverse the content of a TextBox or similar text-based control letter by letter. It enables text to be selected within the control and changed; and new text to be inserted at the cursor. Windows Forms added this support for TextBox; DataGridView cells; ComboBox controls; and more.$$$$$$Address contrast issues– In several controls; Windows Forms has changed the contrast ratio of selection rectangles to be darker and more visible.$$$$$$Fixed several DataGridView issues:$$$$$$The scrollbar names have been updated to be consistent.$$$Narrator is now able to focus on empty DataGridView cells.$$$Developers are able to set the localized control type property for Custom DataGridView cells.$$$The link color for DataGridViewLink cells has been updated to have better contrast with the background.$$$$$$

Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 includes updates to the Portable Class Library templates to support these scenarios:$$$$$$You can use Windows Runtime APIs in portable libraries that target Windows 8.1; Windows Phone 8.1; and Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1.$$$$$$You can include XAML (Windows.UI.XAML types) in portable libraries when you target Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1. The following XAML templates are supported: Blank Page; Resource Dictionary; Templated Control; and User Control.$$$$$$You can create a portable Windows Runtime component (.winmd file) for use in Store apps that target Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.$$$$$$You can retarget a Windows Store or Windows Phone Store class library like a Portable Class Library.$$$$$$For more information about these changes; see Portable Class Library.$$$$$$The .NET Framework content set now includes documentation for .NET Native; which is a precompilation technology for building and deploying Windows apps. .NET Native compiles your apps directly to native code; rather than to intermediate language (IL); for better performance. For details; see Compiling Apps with .NET Native.$$$$$$The .NET Framework Reference Source provides a new browsing experience and enhanced functionality. You can now browse through the .NET Framework source code online; download the reference for offline viewing; and step through the sources (including patches and updates) during debugging. For more information; see the blog entry A new look for .NET Reference Source.$$$$$$New features and enhancements in the base classes in .NET Framework 4.5.1 include:$$$$$$Automatic binding redirection for assemblies. Starting with Visual Studio 2013; when you compile an app that targets .NET Framework 4.5.1; binding redirects may be added to the app configuration file if your app or its components reference multiple versions of the same assembly. You can also enable this feature for projects that target older versions of .NET Framework. For more information; see How to: Enable and Disable Automatic Binding Redirection.$$$$$$Ability to collect diagnostics information to help developers improve the performance of server and cloud applications. For more information; see the WriteEventWithRelatedActivityId and WriteEventWithRelatedActivityIdCore methods in the EventSource class.$$$$$$Ability to explicitly compact the large object heap (LOH) during garbage collection. For more information; see the GCSettings.LargeObjectHeapCompactionMode property.$$$$$$Additional performance improvements such as ASP.NET app suspension; multi-core JIT improvements; and faster app startup after a .NET Framework update. For details; see the .NET Framework 4.5.1 announcement and the ASP.NET app suspend blog post.$$$$$$Improvements to Windows Forms include:$$$$$$Resizing in Windows Forms controls. You can use the system DPI setting to resize components of controls (for example; the icons that appear in a property grid) by opting in with an entry in the application configuration file (app.config) for your app. This feature is currently supported in the following Windows Forms controls:$$$$$$PropertyGrid$$$TreeView$$$Some aspects of the DataGridView (see new features in 4.5.2 for additional controls supported)$$$To enable this feature; add a new <appSettings> element to the configuration file (app.config) and set the EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing element to true:$$$$$$XML$$$$$$Copy$$$<appSettings>$$$ <add key=EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing value=true />$$$</appSettings>$$$Improvements when debugging your .NET Framework apps in Visual Studio 2013 include:$$$$$$Return values in the Visual Studio debugger. When you debug a managed app in Visual Studio 2013; the Autos window displays return types and values for methods. This information is available for desktop; Windows Store; and Windows Phone apps. For more information; see Examine return values of method calls.$$$$$$Edit and Continue for 64-bit apps. Visual Studio 2013 supports the Edit and Continue feature for 64-bit

Whats new in .NET Framework 4.7.2$$$.NET Framework 4.7.2 includes new features in the following areas:$$$$$$Base classes$$$ASP.NET$$$Networking$$$SQL$$$WPF$$$ClickOnce$$$A continuing focus in .NET Framework 4.7.2 is improved accessibility; which allows an application to provide an appropriate experience for users of Assistive Technology.

.NET Framework 4.8 builds on previous versions of .NET Framework 4.x by adding many new fixes and several new features while remaining a very stable product.

Whats new in .NET Framework 4.8.1$$$.NET Framework 4.8.1 introduces new features in the following areas:$$$$$$Native support for Arm64$$$WCAG2.1 compliant accessible tooltips$$$Windows Forms – Accessibility Improvements$$$Improved accessibility; which allows an application to provide an appropriate experience for users of Assistive Technology; is a major focus of .NET Framework 4.8.1. For information on accessibility improvements in .NET Framework 4.8.1; see Whats new in accessibility in .NET Framework.$$$$$$$$$.NET Framework 4.8.1 adds native Arm64 support to the .NET Framework family. So; your investments in the vast ecosystem of .NET Framework apps and libraries can now leverage the benefits of running workloads natively on Arm64—namely better performance when compared to running x64 code emulated on Arm64.$$$$$$$$$Microsoft has a commitment to providing products and platforms that are accessible to everyone. .NET Framework 4.8.1 offers two Windows UI development platforms; both of which provide developers with the support necessary to create accessible applications. Over the past several releases; both Windows Forms and WPF have added new features and fixed numerous reliability issues related to accessibility. You can read more about the details of what was fixed or added in each release by visiting What’s new in accessibility in .NET Framework.$$$$$$In this release; both Windows Forms and WPF have made improvements to the handling of tooltips to make them more accessible. In both cases; tooltips now comply with the guidelines set forth in the WCAG2.1 content on Hover or Focus guidance. The requirements for tooltips are:$$$$$$Tooltips must display either via mouse hover or by keyboard navigation to the control.$$$Tooltips should be dismissable. That is; a simple keyboard command like Esc should dismiss the tooltip.$$$Tooltips should be hoverable. Users should be able to place their mouse cursor over the tooltip. This enables scenarios like using magnifier to be able to read the tooltip for low-vision users.$$$Tooltips should be persistent. Tooltips should not automatically disappear after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Rather; tooltips should be dismissed by the user moving their mouse to another control or by a keyboard command.$$$In Windows Forms; this support is only available on Windows 11 or later operating systems. Windows Forms is a thin managed wrapper around the Windows API; and the new tooltip behavior only became available in Windows 11. WPF has no operating system version dependencies for its accessible tooltips.$$$$$$WPF had implemented most of the requirements for WCAG2.1 compliant tooltips in .NET Framework 4.8. In this release; WPF improved the experience by ensuring that a tooltip in the current window can easily be dismissed by using the Esc key; the Ctrl key (by itself); or by the combination Ctrl+Shift+F10. The scope of the escape key was reduced in this release to apply only to the current window. Previously it applied to any open tooltip in the application.

The .NET Framework 4.8 includes an updated toolset as well as improvements in several areas:$$$$$$[Runtime] JIT and NGEN Improvements$$$[BCL] Updated ZLib$$$[BCL] Reducing FIPS Impact on Cryptography$$$[WinForms] Accessibility Enhancements$$$[WCF] Service Behavior Enhancements$$$[WPF] High DPI Enhancements; UIAutomation Improvements$$$$$$You can see the complete list of improvements in the .NET Framework 4.8 release notes. Reference sources have also been updated for .NET 4.8.

Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 includes updates to the Portable Class Library templates to support these scenarios:$$$$$$You can use Windows Runtime APIs in portable libraries that target Windows 8.1; Windows Phone 8.1; and Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1.$$$$$$You can include XAML (Windows.UI.XAML types) in portable libraries when you target Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1. The following XAML templates are supported: Blank Page; Resource Dictionary; Templated Control; and User Control.$$$$$$You can create a portable Windows Runtime component (.winmd file) for use in Store apps that target Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.$$$$$$You can retarget a Windows Store or Windows Phone Store class library like a Portable Class Library.$$$$$$For more information about these changes; see Portable Class Library.$$$$$$The .NET Framework content set now includes documentation for .NET Native; which is a precompilation technology for building and deploying Windows apps. .NET Native compiles your apps directly to native code; rather than to intermediate language (IL); for better performance. For details; see Compiling Apps with .NET Native.$$$$$$The .NET Framework Reference Source provides a new browsing experience and enhanced functionality. You can now browse through the .NET Framework source code online; download the reference for offline viewing; and step through the sources (including patches and updates) during debugging. For more information; see the blog entry A new look for .NET Reference Source.$$$$$$New features and enhancements in the base classes in .NET Framework 4.5.1 include:$$$$$$Automatic binding redirection for assemblies. Starting with Visual Studio 2013; when you compile an app that targets .NET Framework 4.5.1; binding redirects may be added to the app configuration file if your app or its components reference multiple versions of the same assembly. You can also enable this feature for projects that target older versions of .NET Framework. For more information; see How to: Enable and Disable Automatic Binding Redirection.$$$$$$Ability to collect diagnostics information to help developers improve the performance of server and cloud applications. For more information; see the WriteEventWithRelatedActivityId and WriteEventWithRelatedActivityIdCore methods in the EventSource class.$$$$$$Ability to explicitly compact the large object heap (LOH) during garbage collection. For more information; see the GCSettings.LargeObjectHeapCompactionMode property.$$$$$$Additional performance improvements such as ASP.NET app suspension; multi-core JIT improvements; and faster app startup after a .NET Framework update. For details; see the .NET Framework 4.5.1 announcement and the ASP.NET app suspend blog post.$$$$$$Improvements to Windows Forms include:$$$$$$Resizing in Windows Forms controls. You can use the system DPI setting to resize components of controls (for example; the icons that appear in a property grid) by opting in with an entry in the application configuration file (app.config) for your app. This feature is currently supported in the following Windows Forms controls:$$$$$$PropertyGrid$$$TreeView$$$Some aspects of the DataGridView (see new features in 4.5.2 for additional controls supported)$$$To enable this feature; add a new <appSettings> element to the configuration file (app.config) and set the EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing element to true:$$$$$$XML$$$$$$Copy$$$<appSettings>$$$ <add key=EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing value=true />$$$</appSettings>$$$Improvements when debugging your .NET Framework apps in Visual Studio 2013 include:$$$$$$Return values in the Visual Studio debugger. When you debug a managed app in Visual Studio 2013; the Autos window displays return types and values for methods. This information is available for desktop; Windows Store; and Windows Phone apps. For more information; see Examine return values of method calls.$$$$$$Edit and Continue for 64-bit apps. Visual Studio 2013 supports the Edit and Continue feature for 64-bit