Does this mean that NETMF vNext is not going to happen at all, or just GHI will not participate?
@ CW2 - and when is that going to be available? I would love to see an official announcement form Microsoft .NET Micro Framework | Microsoft Learn
October 2015 NETMF 4.4
December 2012 NETMF 4.3 <<< 4 years ago was the last major release
Aug 2012 NETMF 4.2
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Well, I hoped you might have some insight into that (obviously you/your company have better relations with the Microsoft NETMF team than us mere mortals). I think there is very little hope for any official announcement, because the NETMF team has not existed for quite some time (only Steve Maillet remains, but he has been quiet since September, after an unusual burst of activity that almost regularly happens at the end of european holiday season, this time amplified by the Manifest).
Personally, I understand your decision, I am just trying to figure out what that means for the future of NETMF.
I believe not matter what happens, Iām confident we will be able to program in c# at the arm level, and this will leave GHI in a good position. vNext or whatever, if i can continue to code in c# then Iām happy and confident i can port my code to what forms this takes.
Isnāt coding in c# the essence of our questions? For me it is 
Can someone explain why the microsoft iot has bad licensing?
@ CW2 - We are under NDA with Microsoft. I can only point out what is publicly stated. And you said it āonly Steve Maillet remainsā. We love Steveās passion and work but how much can he do alone and what if Steve got busy doing something else?
Canāt there be a deal with MS to at least have the insiders be more informed. There are a few very talented people worth to be involved ā¦ ??
@ .Peter. - We canāt speak for other companies but we can assure you we will do our bestā¦and we have the entire source code to do it 
Actually, we can now work faster and better since we do not have to coordinate with others. Of course we will still be looking for feedback when we have something to show. We do need all the talented people we have around this community in the very near future.
I think that the future of .netmf depends on the simplicity of the whole system.
I mean.
very important you need a lighter ide like SharpDevelop (that I can quickly install it, without internet connection)
many simple tutorials for beginners.
many libraries that allow to be immediately productive.
Many wiring diagrams that allow to successfully implement simple projects.
This will allow bloggers and makers to write more articles for beginners.
the success of NETMF is determined not by his power but by its ability to be used by novice users.
I think about most of the Points the other way around (mainly personal opinions):
VisualStudio is currently the best IDE out there. And Iāts free, and itās easy to install (yes itās not small, but who cares).
Many libraries are ok, but often not usefull for individual Projects, specially when targetting smaller devices.
āMany wiring diagramsā is Gadgeteer, which has failed already, because itās too complex (also on the maintaing side as GHI mentioned). Actually i never used it.
And in generall C# is easier to write than C (like for Arduino), and also creating a new Project with some simple functionality that simply works without dependency Trouble: That is exactly VisualStudio + C# + NETMF
@ marco_lai - I totally disagree with your points.
There is nothing better than Visual Studio, and while powerful, it is easy to use, and more, it is free.
Your other points are not realistic
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ok I agree that visual studio ide is the best, but how come the NETMF has not happened?
If a user wants to test the NETMF not want to waste time installing visual studio.
Arduino has happened because I can use my grandmother.
@ SouthernStars
I do not understand because they are not realistic
They are the key to Arduino success!!
Arduino was designed to be easy to use by someone who knows nothing about Computer Science (and doesnāt really want to learn). There are lots of great tutorials out there and it is incredibly easy to get started blinking lights. Because it operates on the ābare metalā, it is quite powerful with low spec hardware. It was also first (or so it seems). But, the IDE and build process are incredibly limiting for complex projects (not to mention the lack of a debugger). So, itās easy to get started, you can find a lot of help online, you can make a lot of cool stuff, but complex projects are really painful.
NetMF on the other hand was designed to be used by trained professionals. It might have been modified to be somewhat easier for them than say straight C or C++. There are some tutorials out there, but with the changes that have occurred over the last few years, many of them are obsolete and require modifications that a newbie would not know. The way Arduino handles libraries is simple (too simple for complex projects perhaps). The way NetMF uses namespaces and assemblies is complex, but very powerful. The Aurduino IDE is really simple (too simple/limiting for complex projects). VS install is long and complex and then you have to install NetMF and then the GHI stuff. After you do all of this (on a stock Win 8 or newer system) it will fail with a very cryptic message, error number really. This is due to a dependency on an older version of .Net, which is easy enough to fix, but only if you know about it.
For me, it is all about using the right tool for the job. If the job is blinking LEDs, Arduino is much easier. If you want to monitor (on the Internet) and control the temperature of an aerated static pile of (pre) compost, I find NetMF to be a far better solution.
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@ Frogmore - 
I cannot agree more.
Riaan
@ Frogmore - I used Arduino once, and even I am an trained professional. It took me 3 days to get the 1st Programm running,
Also the Arduinde IDE is a compplete mess. I woldnāt even call it and IDE.
Notepad is a better Editor.
It can work quick, but it does not do so in any case.
But latest when you program gets a bit mere komplex than a single Loop with 10 lines of Code, you need a Debugger. And as far as I know Arduino has None out of the box.
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@ Frogmore - So you are saying that Arduino is simpler to program than .NETMF? :
Notepad++ definately better. However, the is Arduino IDE for Visual Studio. I did not use it yet but look like there is a debugger.
https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/069a905d-387d-4415-bc37-665a5ac9caba
EDIT:
Ironically you can program Arduino in VS2015 but .NETMF officially supported by VS2013 only. :wall:
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what you write is right, but youāre sure that a professional user to choose the NETMF?
in a year did not receive any updates, it is a professional user can not devote resources to a project that seems to go on.
So what are we talking about?
I am a supporter of NETMF but how do I dedicate resources if you do not see future developments?
I bought cards and sensors gadgeeter and now do not know what to do.
so I think the future of NETMF can happen if the makers approach to this platform.
Here in Italy we built tinyclr.it community but after the initial enthusiasm we have seen that there are no users interested in this platform.
@ Reinhard Ostermeier
the fact is that the world revolves around Arduino makers, and certainly not the professional world revolves around the NETMF.
After four years of teaching students embedded C#, I can confidently tell that Visual Studio is the biggest hurdle [em]by far[/em]. Every year. Too many windows, too many buttons, too may options, too many files and know-hows, all thrown into the face of a first timer at once. They accidentally close one window (Debug output, Toolbox, program.cs, you name it), and they stuck immediately. Because they donāt know how to reopen, and, most of all, [em]why [/em]would they want to reopen it.
And then comes all the platform perks. Target framework version ā what? Platform x86, ARM ā WTF? Deploying to emulator, COM, USB ā even I do not want to care about it, why would they?
Visual Studio is the best, true, but only for professionals. Newcomers rarely are professionals. All they care is to flash a LED, measure temperature, maybe do some other tiny little thing. Installing multi-GB hog that Visual Studio is quickly turn excitement down, and an opportunity to hook them up is lost.
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@ Simon from Vilnius - Maybe we need a NETMF extension for Visual Studio Code?
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Remember that at its core NetMF is SPOT, which was created for smart watch development a long time ago. It was a good enough idea that it lived on long after that project was cancelled. NetMF has had varying levels of support over the years from Microsoft, GHI, and some others who no longer exist. If you have a commercial project, I am sure GHI will support you to the level you can afford. Would Arduino or RPi be cheaper, maybe, but that depends on what you are trying to achieve and how much you value your time. None of these platforms just work to do what you want, since all of them require you to do some programming and that will always introduce the possibility of errors.
If you can live within the constraints of the system it is great. If not, you can go bare metal and write a WHOLE bunch of code and use IAR or Keil to compile and debug it. That is what a lot of professional embedded developers do.
Yes, in the maker world Arduino is king. RPi is big too. And esp8266 with the Aurdino support is also common. I donāt know if it was ever a goal, but it didnāt ever seem to be a goal for NetMF to be really successful in the maker community. Due to some significant disadvantages (speed, code size, predictability) the advantages are not enough for many commercial projects. For others the advantages outweigh the limitations. Only you can decide what is right for you. GHI says they are committed to NetMF and it sounds like they will have greater freedom to actually fix things in the core. Only time will tell how well that will play out. For me, I am still glad I chose GHI so many years ago. But, I keep looking at other things to see if something else might be better. I think esp8266 might be good enough for some things, but it is still a work in progress (but at least it does appear to be progressing).
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