Microsoft released .NET Core 2.0 today along with ASP.NET Core 2.0 and Entity Framework Core 2.0.

I was interested in .NET Core 1.0 when it came out last year, but it still felt like something I wanted to watch more than something I was ready to use for most of my work.

Version 2.0 feels different.

The biggest reason for me is .NET Standard 2.0. A much larger set of APIs are available now, which means more of the things I am used to doing in the full .NET Framework should be possible without having to work around missing pieces.

ASP.NET Core 2.0 also looks like it has cleaned up some of the setup and configuration that made the first version feel a little rough around the edges.

I am still not planning to move existing .NET Framework applications just because a new version is available. If an application is working there needs to be a good reason to rewrite or migrate it.

For new web applications though, .NET Core is starting to look like a real option instead of an experiment I am keeping an eye on.

I think it is time to start using it on something more than a test project.