Paint.NET 5.1 relies on .NET 9 - final version announced for November [Update]

(Original September 14, 2024): Today another beta update for the upcoming version 5.1 was released for Paint.NET. A few small errors have been corrected. However, a lot has been done under the hood to improve performance (including at startup) and for the future.

Paint.NET now runs .NET 9 (currently RC1). This achieves performance improvements over .NET 8. This also ensures that plugins can continue to use the latest runtime, framework, libraries and tools.

Another change was made to the UI presentation system, switching to Windows.UI.Composition (also known as “WUC”). This interface is recommended by Microsoft for apps and will ensure that everything (programs, plugins, etc.) harmonizes and runs with each other in the future. The changes in Paint.NET 5.1 Beta Build 9023 are:

Updated to .NET 9.0 (RC1)
Switching the Direct2D presentation system from DirectComposition to Windows.UI.Composition
Fixed: Rotate/Zoom was causing rendering issues at certain image sizes, such as 13830 x 7485 px (which was 4 tiles wide and 2 tiles high).
Known Issue: Dialog title bars sometimes start out white and then turn black instead of just being black (bug in .NET 9.0 RC1, already fixed for 9.0 RC2)
Changed: Plugins are no longer allowed to use BinaryFormatter
AVIF FileType has been updated to version 3.10.0 and DDS FileType Plus has been updated to version 1.12.11.

(Update September 29, 2024): 5.1 Beta Build 9023

Another preview was released today. Rick writes that he is now waiting for the final version of .NET 9 so that he can then release the final version of Paint.NET 5.1.

A number of corrections have been made with the new version. Here is a selection:

Fixed some rendering issues in the levels UI when resizing the window.
Fixed some rendering issues in the Curves UI that occurred when switching between transfer tables (Luminosity vs. RGB).
Corrections to initialization of the mouse pointer during certain operations, such as B. Undo/Redo or when drawing a line/curve. Instead of a crosshair or a hand, the standard arrow cursor was displayed.
Fixed a bug in the input state that caused the thumbnails to stop working if focus was lost while the mouse button was pressed. For example, pressing Ctrl+N (for File->New) while using the Move Pixel tool.
Fixed a flickering that could occur in the History panel when switching between images and in the toolbar when performing undo or redo operations.
Fixed a rendering error that could occur when resizing the window while holding Ctrl+Tab to switch between images. Some images had their canvas cut off, which was only resolved after resizing the window.