The Visual Studio releases supported by SocketTools 11 depends on the edition and languages being used. The following table lists which editions are compatible with Visual Studio and whether the edition is supported with that version.
| Visual Studio | .NET | ActiveX | Library | x64 | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.0 (1998) | 🞬 | ✔ | ✔ | 🞬 | ✔ |
| .NET (2002) | 🞬 | 🞬 | ✔ | 🞬 | 🞬 |
| .NET 2003 | 🞬 | 🞬 | ✔ | 🞬 | 🞬 |
| 2005 | 🞬 | 🞬 | ✔ | ✔ | 🞬 |
| 2008 | 🞬 | 🞬 | ✔ | ✔ | 🞬 |
| 2010 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2012 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2013 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2015 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2017 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2019 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 2022 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
.NET Framework
The SocketTools .NET Edition provides classes for .NET 4.0 and later versions, including the current .NET 8.0 release. Support for .NET 1.1, 2.0 and 3.5 are deprecated and it is recommended you use .NET 4.5 as the minimum framework version. We may continue to make .NET assemblies available for older frameworks on request. However, they are for legacy application support and should not be used with new projects.
Visual Studio 2022
Microsoft released Visual Studio 2022 on November 8, 2021. SocketTools 11 provides support for this version, including both .NET 6.0 and .NET 7.0 assemblies with the installer package. When you create a new project and select Windows Forms App as the template, it will currently default to using .NET 6.0. If you want to use .NET 4.8 instead, make sure you select Windows Forms App (.NET Framework) for the project template. SocketTools 11 also includes support for the upcoming release of .NET 8.0. You must install the current Visual Studio 2022 Preview to use .NET 8.0.
Visual Studio 2019
Microsoft released Visual Studio 2019 in April 2019 and will reach the end of mainstream support in 2024. It will continue to receive security updates and critical fixes until 2029. Versions prior to 16.7 are no longer supported by Microsoft and it is recommended you upgrade to the current version, which at this time is 16.11. SocketTools 11 provides support for Visual Studio 2019 and includes .NET 5.0 assemblies; however, please note that .NET 5.0 is no longer supported by Microsoft and has been replaced with the .NET 6.0 long-term service release which requires Visual Studio 2022.
Visual Studio 2017
Microsoft released Visual Studio 2017 in March 2017 and reached the end of mainstream support on April 15, 2022. It will continue to receive security updates and critical fixes until April 2027. It is recommended you upgrade to the latest version, which at this time is 15.9. SocketTools 11 provides support for Visual Studio 2017 and includes assemblies that can be used with applications which target .NET 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7. SocketTools does not include support for .NET Core 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0. These versions of .NET are no longer supported by Microsoft and have been replaced by .NET 5.0 and later versions.
Visual Studio 2012-2015
Visual Studio 2015 reached the end of mainstream support in October 2020 and will stop receiving critical security fixes in October 2025. Visual Studio 2013 will continue to receive security updates until April 2024. Visual Studio 2012 reached its end of support on January 10, 2023. SocketTools 11 supports these older versions of Visual Studio, however they will not support the current .NET Framework versions. We recommend transitioning to the current version of Visual Studio as soon as its feasible.
Visual Studio 2010
Although Microsoft ended support for Visual Studio 2010 on July 14, 2020, we will continue to provide support for that development environment with the current version of SocketTools. This version of Visual Studio only supports .NET 4.0 which is the minimum version of the .NET Framework supported by SocketTools 11. If you are still using Visual Studio 2010, we recommend beginning the transition to the current version of Visual Studio as soon as it's feasible.
Visual Basic 6.0
Visual Basic 6.0 is a special case where we will continue to provide support for maintaining legacy applications on Windows. However, you must have Service Pack 6a installed, which was the last update Microsoft released. We also support the use of the SocketTools 32-bit libraries (DLLs) with Visual Basic. Although Microsoft no longer supports the VB6 IDE, they have continued to provide support for the VB6 runtime library (msvbvm60.dll) on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Applications created using VB6 are 32-bit only and you may need to run them in compatibility mode for a previous version of Windows.
ActiveX Controls
The SocketTools ActiveX controls are primarily provided for legacy support of existing applications, including those written in Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro and similar languages. The controls can also be used with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in Microsoft Office, and in various scripting languages. The ActiveX Edition is not recommended for use with .NET applications. Although Visual Studio does provide support for referencing ActiveX controls, it is recommended you use the SocketTools .NET assemblies when creating .NET applications.
We cannot provide technical support for the ActiveX Edition controls using C++ and MFC. If you are developing a new application using Visual C++, we recommend using the Library Edition which includes C++ classes and can be used to create projects which target both the x86 and x64 platforms.
See Also
SocketTools System Requirements
Reference Manager Lists Multiple Assemblies
Referencing .NET Core and .NET 5.0 Assemblies
Building Visual C++ 6.0 Projects
Compilation Errors using Visual C++ 6.0