What's new in .NET 3.5

Here are some of the new features and enhancements in .NET Framework 3.5. These are not all differences but I think the most interesting ones. Let's take a look.

Common Language Runtime:

new specialized collection HashSet<T>, EventSchemaTraceListener, Pipes support (anonymous and named) allows for interprocess communication for processes from local computer as well within network, improvements in Garbage Collector, new ReaderWriterLockSlim with performace comparable to lock statement in the Threading namespace and Time Zone enhancements

Networking

Peer-to-peer network support, Socket Performance enhancements

Windows Forms

WPF controls and content support in Windows Forms; ClickOnce improvements (deployment from multiple locations is now possible); Client Application Services – Web and Win-based applications can use these services to authenticate users and retrieve user roles and application settings from a shared server ;Vista support –existing Windows Forms applications have the same appearance as written especially for Vista.

LINQ

Linq to Objects, Linq to XML, Linq to SQL, Linq to DataSets (support for any generic database)

ASP.NET

client-centric and server centric AJAX controls; Visual Web Developer IntelliSense support for Java Script and MS Ajax Library