.Net 11 unveiled by Microsoft, focusing on performance gains and enhanced AI capabilities

Microsoft officially introduced .NET 11 during the .NET Conf 2026 online conference on November 10, 2026. This new version brings a suite of updates across web, mobile, and desktop development, targeting improvements in runtime performance, developer efficiency, and AI application construction. Key enhancements include C# 15, which introduces union types to allow compilers to check for complete handling of various operation outcomes. Performance optimizations involve hundreds of runtime and base library improvements, alongside features like native-compiled command-line entry points and pre-warmed build services to reduce startup overhead. For AI integration, .NET 11 features a built-in MCP server template to facilitate connecting applications to AI tool invocation systems. Supporting AI libraries and agent frameworks enable model access, tool calling, and workflow orchestration, while Blazor gains experimental AI interface components for features like streaming chat. Furthermore, .NET MAUI now defaults to the CoreCLR runtime, and Windows Forms offers optional modern visual styling. The standard support version, .NET 11, is backed by two years of support, while .NET 10 remains available as a long-term support option.