Scrub "introduced in .NET Framework XYZ" from the documentation

[adegeo]

Pointing out that things were introduced in .NET Framework 1.1 - 4.5 probably aren't that useful to readers. Perhaps 4.6-4.8.1 should remain. Those other clauses should be removed.

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Associated WorkItem - 578710

[jcotton42]

This would make the docs less valuable to those that have to target older runtimes for one reason or another (legacy software, plugins for legacy software, targeting older Windows versions for whatever reason). For example, at work I have to target 4.6.2 in a few places.

What is the motivation for removing it? Is it really a maintenance burden?

[jcotton42]

Also, what does "Pointing out that things were introduced" refer to? The "Applies to" box? Prose on some doc pages?

[adegeo]

Hello @jcotton42!

I appreciate your concern! This was born out of the times I review things and notice that wording and then I delete it when it doesn't add value. So I created this issue to track that idea of removing these clauses that have no real value anymore. Really it's just cleaning up existing documentation for what is applicable currently. It really depends on the context. For example, how useful is:

Starting with .NET Framework 2.0, the JIT compiler always generates tracking information...

.NET Framework arrived 21 years ago, 3.0 arrived 20 years ago.

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Or take this note for example:

[NOTE]
Starting with .NET Framework 4, the Task Parallel Library and PLINQ provide APIs for task and data parallelism in multi-threaded programs. For more information, see Parallel Programming.

That doesn't add any value, except perhaps for the those in the moment working on multithreading and were just alerted that .NET Framework now supports parallel programming through the task API. The reality now is that these APIs introduced 16 years ago are just standard and available. If someone wanted to know what was introduced in 4.0, it's pretty easy to search for that and the article where this note exists wouldn't' be one of the sources providing that information.

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This following example I don't believe should be changed. The entire content is dedicated to describing a large behavioral difference across many different .NET Framework installs and the Client Profile, even though that's not a thing anymore and hasn't been for a long time.

Starting with .NET Framework 4.5, the Client Profile has been discontinued and only the full redistributable package is available. Optimizations provided by .NET Framework 4.5, such as smaller download size and faster deployment, have eliminated the need for a separate deployment package. The single redistributable streamlines the installation process and simplifies your app's deployment options.

However, if you are targeting the .NET Framework 4 or 3.5 and want to learn more about the Client Profile and when to use it, see .NET Framework Client Profile in the .NET Framework 4 documentation.

When you install .NET Framework 4.5, the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile is updated to the full version of the .NET Framework. For information about installing .NET Framework 4.5, see Install the .NET Framework for developers.