Supporting next-generation silicon
Other compiler-level features target upcoming new x64 instructions, specifically AVX 10.2. These add important new processor features across a wide selection of different tasks: from AI to WebAssembly and cryptography. More and more of today’s software depends on vector processing, and support for these new features will allow .NET code to work more effectively. However, silicon that supports these new functions is still under development, so while there’s support ready for when processors ship, it’s currently disabled.
With a three-year support window, getting features like this baked into .NET early makes a lot of sense. Microsoft can switch them on when the hardware is ready without having to make significant changes to the .NET runtime—and Microsoft can assess performance on sample hardware running in its own labs before shipping it to the wider world.
Rewiring ASP.NET Core
The .NET platform is about a lot more than programming languages. It’s a platform that’s used on-premises, in the cloud, and across multiple operating systems. Much of its platform capabilities come from tools such as .NET Aspire and ASP.NET Core. Aspire’s .NET 10 feature set is still under development, and although Aspire 9.1 arrived at the same time as the first .NET 10 preview, it’s still targeted at .NET 8 and .NET 9.