Episode Details

What does modern .NET development really look like in 2026? How has the ecosystem evolved from traditional Windows desktop applications with WPF to cloud-native ASP.NET services, microservices, and high-performance gRPC communication? In this episode of the m365.fm podcast, Mirko Peters sits down with Microsoft MVP Gábor Ruzsinszki to explore the past, present, and future of .NET development — from legacy enterprise applications to scalable modern backend architectures. Gábor Ruzsinszki is a Microsoft MVP in Developer Technologies specializing in C#, software architecture, and modern .NET development. Before becoming a professional software architect, Gábor originally worked as an IT and programming teacher, helping students learn algorithms, databases, software engineering, and development fundamentals. That strong educational background shines throughout the episode as he breaks down complex technical concepts into practical, understandable insights for developers at every level.

THE EVOLUTION OF .NET DEVELOPMENT

The episode begins with Gábor sharing his personal journey into software development and how he first became interested in C# and the .NET ecosystem. Starting with Delphi programming before transitioning into C and C++, he eventually discovered C# during university and immediately recognized its potential as a more modern and developer-friendly language. Since then, he has spent more than a decade building applications with .NET across desktop, backend, and enterprise systems. Mirko and Gábor dive deep into how the .NET ecosystem has transformed over the years. What started as a Windows-focused framework has evolved into a high-performance, truly cross-platform development ecosystem capable of powering cloud-native applications, Linux services, microservices, APIs, web applications, IoT systems, and enterprise-scale backend infrastructures. Gábor explains why modern .NET is faster, cleaner, and significantly more flexible than earlier versions of the framework. One particularly fascinating discussion focuses on performance improvements inside recent .NET releases. Gábor shares a real-world example where upgrading an enterprise application from an older version of .NET to .NET 9 reduced processing time from forty-five minutes down to twenty-five minutes without major code changes — purely because of framework-level optimizations and performance improvements from Microsoft. 

WHY WPF STILL MATTERS IN ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

Even though WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) is now more than fifteen years old, many enterprise organizations still rely heavily on it for business-critical applications. Gábor explains why WPF became such a dominant desktop UI framework and why it remains relevant even today. Its powerful XAML-based architecture, flexibility, mature tooling inside Visual Studio, and massive community knowledge base still make it valuable for Windows-focused enterprise applications. The conversation explores how WPF influenced modern UI frameworks like MAUI and WinUI, both of which continue using XAML concepts introduced years ago with WPF. Gábor also discusses the challenges organizations face when attempting to migrate large legacy WPF applications toward newer technologies. Many enterprise systems are simply too large, too stable, or too business-critical to rewrite quickly. Mirko and Gábor also compare modern alternatives like .NET MAUI, Avalonia, Uno Platform, and WinUI. The discussion covers licensing considerations, cross-platform support, development experience, community maturity, and why developers should carefully evaluate their long-term platform strategy before starting new projects. 

ASP.NET CORE, MINIMAL APIS, AND MODERN BACKEND DEVELOPMENT

A major focus of the episode is ASP.NET Core and the rise of modern backend architectures. Gábor explains why the software industry has shifted heavily toward SaaS platfo