The Microsoft.NET Desktop Runtime
The Microsoft.NET Desktop Runtime is a library of shared codes that developers can use to infuse applications with functionalities without writing them from scratch. These codes are stored in a central repository and can be used on Windows PCs. They aren’t installed with an application and may require a separate installation on a computer. This library is also known as the Microsoft Framework or.NET Framework or NET and is available for all Microsoft Windows platforms. The NET Framework can support applications written in languages such as Visual Basic and C#. It also supports a wide range of features including user interface, data access, database connectivity, cryptography, web application development, and numeric algorithms.
When deploying a.NET Core Windows Desktop application you have a few options from shipping it with a large self contained install to using the trimmed down shared runtime that is shipped with the OS or manually installing the.NET Core SDK to a new directory with something like dotnet build -r win-x64. The latter option is pretty rough - while it works in a pinch, it’s not the ideal install experience and can be prone to issues if someone uninstalls the app or accidentally deletes the downloaded files. What would be really nice is if the EXE launcher could detect that a runtime wasn’t installed and offer a link to download and install it. That functionality doesn’t seem to exist in the NET Core IDE but is available for a few of the package managers.