.NET 10 lands with AI agent framework, post-quantum crypto, faster runtime, and C# 14/F# 10 upgrades

.NET 10 lands with faster runtime, AI agent framework, and new C# 14 and F# 10 features

Microsoft has shipped .NET 10, calling it the most performant release yet. It brings AI agent development tools, expanded cryptography, runtime gains, and major upgrades to C# and F#. You can get it now from the official site: Download .NET 10.

Two release candidates and seven previews led into this production release.

Highlights at a glance

• AI: Microsoft Agent Framework for building intelligent agents with first-class MCP support.
• Security: Post-quantum cryptography upgrades, new cryptography APIs, and AES KeyWrap with padding.
• Runtime: Better JIT inlining, devirtualization, stack allocations, AVX 10.2, NativeAOT size and speed wins.
• Languages: C# 14 with field-backed properties; F# 10 with safer nullability and faster equality.
• Workloads: .NET MAUI 10 improvements, Windows Forms clipboard updates, ASP.NET Core 10 enhancements.

AI agent development: Microsoft Agent Framework

.NET 10 adds the Microsoft Agent Framework to make AI agent development feel as straightforward as building a web API. You get .NET libraries that reduce boilerplate and let you focus on orchestration and tooling.

• Workflows: sequential, concurrent, handoff, and group chat orchestration.
• Tooling: function-based tools or integrations through MCP servers, with first-class MCP support.
• Hosting: familiar .NET patterns including dependency injection, middleware, and production-grade observability.

If you're extending agents with external tools and services, MCP support is baked in. Learn more about MCP here: Model Context Protocol.

Cryptography and security upgrades

.NET 10 broadens its crypto footprint across APIs for cryptography, globalization, numerics, serialization, collections, and diagnostics. The focus is practical: safer primitives, simpler APIs, fewer foot-guns.

• Post-quantum cryptography: Windows CNG support, enhanced ML-DSA with simpler APIs, HashML-DSA, and Composite ML-DSA for hybrid strategies.
• AES KeyWrap with Padding for secure key wrapping scenarios.

Runtime performance: meaningful wins without code changes

The runtime gets faster with zero app changes on your part. There are significant improvements in JIT inlining, method devirtualization, and stack allocations.

• Vectorization: AVX 10.2 support for newer Intel processors.
• NativeAOT: smaller and quicker ahead-of-time compiled apps.
• Codegen: better handling of struct arguments and smarter loop inversion.

C# 14: cleaner syntax and smoother upgrades

C# 14 focuses on everyday ergonomics and gradual code evolution. It reduces friction when you move from simple patterns to more advanced ones.

• Field-backed properties: a simple path from auto-properties to custom accessors.
• nameof for unbound generics: use nameof(List<>) without a type argument.
• Lambda parameter modifiers: ref, in, out without explicitly specifying parameter types.
• Partial instance constructors and events, complementing partial methods and properties.
• Extension blocks: static extension methods plus static and instance extension properties.
• Null-conditional assignment (?.=) for cleaner null-safe updates.

F# 10: safer interop, faster loops, better tooling

F# 10 brings language, library, and tooling enhancements with a focus on safety and performance. You'll see gains in common loops and equality checks, along with quality-of-life features.

• Nullable reference types for safer interop with C# libraries.
• Optimized integral ranges for faster for-loops and comprehensions.
• Faster equality checks that avoid boxing.
• Discriminated unions gain autogenerated .Is* properties for quick case testing.
• Standard library adds random functions for collections (handy for data science and games).
• Improved diagnostics, parse recovery, and overall developer tooling.

.NET MAUI 10, Windows Forms, and ASP.NET Core 10

• .NET MAUI 10: a new project template integrates with Aspire service defaults. It wires up telemetry and service discovery, configures OpenTelemetry metrics and tracing, and sets up HttpClient for service discovery.
• MAUI controls: web request interception for BlazorWebView and HybridWebView to modify headers, redirect, or serve local responses.
• Windows Forms: improved clipboard access and better handling of clipboard data formats.
• ASP.NET Core 10: Blazor improvements, OpenAPI enhancements, and minimal API updates to speed up web app development.

Practical next steps

• Install: Get .NET 10 and test your existing apps to capture baseline perf gains.
• Prototype an agent: spin up a small service using the Microsoft Agent Framework with an MCP tool for a real workflow (sequential or handoff).
• Measure AOT: try NativeAOT on a microservice and compare startup, memory, and image size.
• Ship some C# 14: add field-backed properties where you need custom accessors and use ?.= to simplify null-safe updates.

Looking to level up your AI skills alongside .NET? Explore hands-on courses and certifications here: Latest AI courses.