There was increasing public outcry from the developer community. Source: Microsoft Blogs
There was increasing public outcry from the developer community. Source: Microsoft Blogs

Microsoft says that it will reverse a plan to remove an important feature from its upcoming .NET 6 framework. The move comes after increasing public outcry from the developer community. The Windows giant had decided to remove a key part of Hot Reload in the .NET 6, something that did not go down well with the open-source community. 

Hot Reload is a feature that allows developers to modify the source code even if an app is still running and see the impact right away. 

The feature was seen as an important aspect of the Visual Studio Code and many other platforms. But Microsoft had other plans. The company decided to lock the feature to its Visual Studio 2022, a move that was seen as controversial. 

This is because Studio 2022 is a paid product that is only limited to Windows. To make matters worse, the decision was also made last-minute just when .NET 6 was scheduled to come out.

The decision to add Hot Reload to Visual Studio 2022 was purely a business move. Source: The Verge
The decision to add Hot Reload to Visual Studio 2022 was purely a business move. Source: The Verge

Sources within Microsoft told various online news outlets that the decision to add Hot Reload to Visual Studio 2022 was purely a business move and it was made by the head of Microsoft’s Developer division. 

But due to massive backlash, the company has decided to reverse the move. It is reported that there was even anger among Microsoft's employees regarding the decision. According to Scott Hunter, the director of program management for .NET, the company admits that it made a mistake in executing this decision. 

Scott also added that Microsoft failed to respond to the concerns raised by the open-source community sooner. Nonetheless, the Windows giant listened and as such, the feature will be available on the final version of the .NET 6 SDK. The release is expected to roll out on November 8th. Despite this, Microsoft has said very little concerning the thought process that led to this decision.

It seems like Microsoft will listen to its developer. Source: News Quick 24
It seems like Microsoft will listen to its developer. Source: News Quick 24

 Although so far, the company says that it was more of a business decision and nothing else, the expansion has been lacking in details. For people that value transparency, especially among big tech companies, it would have been nice for the Windows company to explain further why it had taken this step. 

It would have also made sense for the company to give specifics about the reasoning behind the move. After all, if indeed the reasons behind the decision were valid in the eyes of Microsoft, the matter may be revisited later. Microsoft decided to make the .NET platform open source back in 2014. 

Shortly thereafter, the .NET Foundation was created, an independent organization that was designed to improve the open source for developers out there. But there have been reports of Microsoft's involvement in the foundation, something that has put doubts over its independence. 

But with everything said and done, it seems like Microsoft will listen to its developers. The public outcry associated with the .NET decision is a clear sign that public opinion matters. The fact that Microsoft reversed course before further damage was caused is good news.