Microsoft released the .NET Framework 4.7.1 earlier today for all supported Windows operating systems. The company notes that the .NET Framework 4.7.1 is included in the Fall Creators Update for Windows 10, and that it is available as a web installer and offline installer for other versions of Windows.
As far as the supported versions of Windows are concerned, Microsoft did not make any blunders this time as it released the framework for all supported client and server operating systems.
- Client versions of Windows: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 Anniversary Update and Creators Update.
- Server versions of Windows: Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016
The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.1 is an in-place update to framework versions 4, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, and 4.7.
Home users and server administrators can download the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.1 in the following two setup versions:
- Web Installer — The installer requires an active Internet connection as it will download the components during installation. (size 1.4 Megabyte)
- Offline Installer — The installer has a larger size as it comes with all packages included. Installation does not require an Internet connection (installer tries to connect to Microsoft servers regardless of that, can be blocked however). (size 65 Megabyte)
Microsoft lists the following improvements in the .NET Framework 4.7.1:
- Accessibility improvements in narration, high contrast and focus control areas
- .NET Framework support for .NET Standard 2.0 and compiler features
- More secure SHA-2 support in ASP.NET and System.Messaging
- Configuration builders
- ASP.NET Execution step feature
- ASP.NET HttpCookie parsing
- Enhancements in Visual Tree for WPF applications
- Performance and reliability improvements
Read also: KB4012218, KB4012219: Windows Update processor generation detection
Developers need to download the Developer Pack, and may target the new framework version in Visual Studio 2017 already.
Microsoft published the full release notes on GitHub.
The .Net Framework 4.7.1 has built in support for the .NET Standard 2.0, and implements nearly 200 APIs according to Microsoft that were not included in versions 4.6.1, 4.6.2 and 4.7. (via Deskmodder)