Since it is still in the preview state, Microsoft has released .NET 7 Preview 4, which is the 4th update for .NET 7. However, you can still download and install it on your compatible devices using the direct download links shared below. .NET 7 can be installed on the following platforms:
WindowsLinuxMacOS
.NET 7 Preview 4 has been tested with Visual Studio 17.3 Preview 1, thus Microsoft recommends that you use it with preview channel releases of Visual Studio only to avoid compatibility conflicts. Note: Visual Studio for Mac support for .NET 7 preview release is not yet available, but Microsoft says it will be coming soon. Let us now dig into the new improvements this release has to offer. This release includes enhancements to the following components of .NET:
New in .NET 7 Preview 4 Improvements to Observability Updated TimeStamp, DateTime, DateTimeOffset, TimeOnly New TAR APIs On Stack Replacement (OSR) Download .NET 7 Preview 4 Runtime SDKs ASP.NET Core Install .NET 7 Preview 4 Final Thoughts
Microsoft has finished annotating the Microsoft.Extensions.* libraries for nullability.Observability.Updated TimeStamp, DateTime, DateTimeOffset, and TimeOnly.Added new TAR APIs.On Stack Replacement (OSR)
Let’s discuss a few of these in detail.
New in .NET 7 Preview 4
Improvements to Observability
A series of improvements to support observability in .NET 7 via OpenTelemetry, Microsoft has made a few improvements to the different components.
They introduced a Activity.Current change event which can be used instead to receive the desired notifications instead of the AsyncLocal
Updated TimeStamp, DateTime, DateTimeOffset, TimeOnly
Previously, the lowest increment of time available in the various date and time structures was the “tick”, where a single tick is 100 nanoseconds (ns). Currently, Microsoft has added increments of microseconds and nanoseconds to TimeStamp, DateTime, DateTimeOffset, and TimeOnly.
New TAR APIs
Microsoft has added a new System.Formats.Tar assembly. This new assembly contains cross-platform APIs that allow reading, writing, archiving, and extracting of Tar archives. It offers variants that allow extracting from a stream or archiving into a stream. Moreover, the entries of an archive can be traversed one by one using the reader, and they can also be written one by one into an archive stream using the writer.
On Stack Replacement (OSR)
OSR allows the runtime to change the code executed by currently running methods in the middle of method execution, while those methods are active “on stack.” It serves as a complement to the tiered compilation. This feature significantly improves startup time. According to Microsoft’s analysis, OSR helped to improve the startup time in jitting-heavy applications like Avalonia “IL” spy by 25 percent.
Download .NET 7 Preview 4
Use the direct download links below to download the .NET 7 Preview 4 Runtime, SDKs, and ASP.NET Core matching your operating system and architecture:
Runtime
Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Desktop Runtime for Windows x64 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Desktop Runtime for Windows x86 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Desktop Runtime for Windows ARM64 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime for macOS x64 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime for macOS ARM64 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime Binaries for Linux Arm32 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime Binaries for Linux Arm64 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime Binaries for Linux Arm32 Alpine Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime Binaries for Linux Arm64 Alpine Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime Binaries for Linux x64 Download .NET 7.0.0 Preview 4 Runtime Binaries for Linux x64 Alpine
SDKs
Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 for Windows x64 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 for Windows x86 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 for Windows ARM64 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 for macOS x64 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 for macOS ARM64 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm32 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm64 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm32 Alpine Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm64 Alpine Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux x64 Download .NET SDK 7.0.100 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux x64 Alpine
ASP.NET Core
Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Hosting Bundle for Windows Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 for Windows x64 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 for Windows x86 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for Windows ARM64 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for macOS x64 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for macOS ARM64 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm32 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm64 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm32 Alpine Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux Arm64 Alpine Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux x64 Download ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.0 Preview 4 Binaries for Linux x64 Alpine More download and install options here.
Install .NET 7 Preview 4
You can begin by downloading .NET 7 Preview 4 for your architecture from the links above and then execute it to begin the installation process. You have now installed .NET 7 Preview 3. You may check which .NET version is running by typing in the following command in Command Prompt:
Final Thoughts
The last preview release for .NET 7, which was .NET 7 Preview 3, was released nearly 4 weeks ago. This indicates that Microsoft is working round the clock to improve the .NET platform and make the necessary changes before launching it publicly. That being said, since this release is still in its preview, we do not recommend that you install it in a production environment. Rather, we suggest you use it in test environments only and check out the new improvements and compatibility with your existing and new applications.
