Microsoft has announced that .NET 10 is now in the release candidate stage, marking a big step toward its official release. After seven preview versions, this milestone shows the platform is getting closer to general availability, which is expected in November. Developers can now test many of the new features and improvements in this upcoming update.

Key Highlights of the Release Candidate

One of the most important updates is the completion of the post-quantum cryptography API. This new API enhances security by offering methods resistant to future quantum attacks. It helps developers build more secure applications for the future. Additionally, the ML-DSA class for cryptography has been upgraded. Developers can now create and verify signatures using an external mu (μ) value, adding more flexibility for security features.

Another notable change is in ASP.NET Core Identity. It now includes built-in metrics to monitor core user and sign-in activities. This means developers can better track actions like user creation, password changes, and role assignments. Such monitoring helps improve security and makes user management more efficient.

New Features and Improvements

RC 1 introduces a range of new features and fixes. Support for handling persistent component state in Blazor has been added. This allows web components to save their state and read it during navigation, making web apps built with Blazor more user-friendly. Validation features have also been improved in Minimal APIs and the Blazor framework. This makes data validation and form handling easier for developers.

Entity Framework 10 now fully supports the new JSON data type available on Azure SQL Database and SQL Server 2025. This makes it simpler to work with JSON data directly within the database. Support for complex data types has also been enhanced, enabling more advanced data modeling. For Windows Forms applications, dark mode has moved out of experimental status and can now be used without extra setup, providing a better visual experience for users.

Additional Developments and Compatibility

The .NET MAUI framework, used for building cross-platform apps, now includes comprehensive diagnostics and metrics tracking. This new feature helps developers monitor layout performance and identify issues more easily. Microsoft confirmed that this release works with Visual Studio 2026 Insiders and Visual Studio Code with the C# Dev Kit. Ongoing improvements include an XAML source generator, better JIT code for struct arguments, and new user-defined operators in C# 14.

While some components like C#, F#, the SDK, and Windows Presentation Foundation haven’t seen major changes in RC 1, this release sets the stage for the final launch in November. Developers interested in trying out the RC can download it from the official Microsoft site and start exploring the new features and improvements.

Inspired by

• https://www.infoworld.com/article/4054199/net-10-moves-to-release-candidate-stage.html

Sources

• microsoft.com
• microsoft.com
• aka.ms