Is it 'acceptable' to release .NET 4 based software yet (Nov 2009)?

Question

Hi,

I'm writing a small free tool. It's currently in Beta testing using .NET 3.5 but there's at least one aspect from .NET 4 I'd like to incorporate.

So, is it jumping the gun a bit to release .NET 4 based software?

Thx!

Answer 1

Wait till atleast the public release of .NET 4.0 before releasing anything other than early beta software with it.

I'm excited about alot of the new stuff too, but beta software built on a framework that is itself in beta is a recipe for disaster if you ask me.

Answer 2

Well, you'd be forcing people to download and install Beta software. People may be reluctant or even unable to do this so, if nothing else, you're limiting your audience.

Also anything built with the Beta software isn't guaranteed to be compatible with the final released version.

Answer 3

Writing code for 4.0 might make sense. Releasing for general consumption prior to its official release seems foolish to me. Minor changes in 4.0 between now and the official release could cause your code to break. It would likely be easy to fix, but until you do your users are mad at you for putting out (what appears to them to be) a buggy program.

Answer 4

I read somewhere that VS2010 comes with a go-live license, meaning you can. Not sure I would, though. (See other answers...)

Answer 5

I wouldn't go for the full framework, but including libraries like the CTP for the Task Parallel Library if your application is heavily multithreaded would be OK since you can just ship the .dll with you application and your users won't have to download anything. However, even with the TPL I would watch out, it's quirky and can slow your algorithms by an order of magnitude on things that should seemingly run just fine. The CTP is already over a year old though.