.NET Core vs .NET Framework
Windows only

by Brian Gillespie (Last updated: Wednesday, March 6, 2024)

Rhino 8 uses .NET Core by default.

On Windows, some older plug-ins will not run when .NET Core is active, and requires the legacy .NET Framework, instead.

To change Rhino to always use .NET Framework:

  1. Start Rhino for Windows
  2. Type the command SetDotNetRuntime
  3. Select the Runtime option
  4. Set the NETFramework option
  5. Close Rhino

To change Rhino to always use .NET Framework using the Registry:

  1. Run RegEdit
  2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\McNeel\Rhinoceros\8.0\Global Options
  3. Create a REG_SZ value named DotNetRuntime and set its data to netfx

To start Rhino in .NET Framework once:

Caution: only recommended if you have a plug-in that doesn’t run in .NET Core.

  1. Create a new shortcut for Rhino in Windows
  2. Edit the shortcut
  3. Add command line argument /netfx

To start Rhino in .NET CORE once:

  1. Create a new shortcut for Rhino in Windows
  2. Edit the shortcut
  3. Add command line argument /netcore

For more details:

For more details, visit our developer documentation for .NET 7.