Microsoft released .NET 8 today, and what stands out to me is how normal this version of .NET now feels.
A few years ago, every new .NET Core release felt like another step toward figuring out what the platform was going to become. There were still questions about compatibility, missing APIs, and whether existing applications should stay on the full .NET Framework.
That feels different now.
.NET 8 is an LTS release, and Microsoft is continuing to improve performance, ASP.NET Core, Entity Framework Core, containers, and cloud development. Native AOT is also getting more attention, which is interesting for applications where startup time and deployment size matter.
For me, the bigger story is not any single feature.
It is that modern .NET no longer feels like the alternative version of .NET.
If I were starting a new application today, I would not be asking whether I should use .NET Framework or .NET Core. I would just start with .NET 8 unless there was a specific reason not to.
That is a pretty big change from where things were only a few years ago.