Support for Microsoft's .NET 7 software framework ends in May, just 18 months after its 2022 release — a reminder that the days of enterprise-friendly long-term updates are a thing of the past.

.NET 7 made its debut on November 8, 2022, and unlike its predecessor, it is a Standard Term Support (STS) release, meaning its support period is 18 months. .NET 6 and .NET 8 are both LTS (Long Term Support) versions, which last three years before Microsoft pulls the plug.

The end of support will not have an immediate impact on applications using .NET 7. Microsoft has assured developers that applications will continue to run, but there will be no help or security updates from the company.

This also means that if any vulnerability were to appear after support ends, Microsoft is unlikely to fix it.