Support for Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform Will Be Discontinued

Aspose.Slides Product Family
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1

Hello!

According to this section, support for Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform will be discontinued after the release of Aspose.Slides.NET version 24.8. However, the documentation still recommends its use and new releases continue to be published.

Could you please clarify the current status and future plans for cross-platform support? Are there any recommended alternatives moving forward?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

2

@alopatin

Current status of Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform

  • Support termination: The Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform NuGet package will no longer receive updates or bug‑fixes after the release of Aspose.Slides.NET 24.8.
  • Documentation: The “Modern API” page is being refreshed; the note about discontinuation is already present, but the recommendation to continue using the package is being removed in the next documentation update.
  • Why it is being retired: All functionality of the cross‑platform package has been merged into the main Aspose.Slides.NET library, which now targets .NET 6/7 and works on Windows, Linux and macOS without the need for a separate package.

Recommended alternative

Move to the regular Aspose.Slides.NET package (or the newer multi‑targeted Aspose.Slides.NET v24.x+).

Benefits

Feature Aspose.Slides.NET (modern) Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform
.NET version support .NET 6, .NET 7, .NET 8 (LTS) .NET 6 only
OS support Windows, Linux, macOS (cross‑platform) Windows, Linux, macOS
Continuous updates & bug‑fixes :white_check_mark: :x: (discontinued)
Simplified package management Single NuGet package Two separate packages previously
Documentation & examples Up‑to‑date Legacy

Migration steps

  1. Remove the old package

    dotnet remove package Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform

  2. Add the new package (choose the latest version, e.g., 24.11)

    dotnet add package Aspose.Slides.NET

  3. Update namespace (if needed)
    The old package used Aspose.Slides. The new package uses the same namespace, so most code works unchanged. The only change might be the assembly name in the project file.

  4. Re‑run your build & tests to verify that all features behave as expected.

  5. Optional – target latest .NET runtime
    If you are still on .NET 6, you can keep it, but consider moving to .NET 7/8 to benefit from runtime improvements:

    <TargetFramework>net7.0</TargetFramework>

Where to find more information

Need further assistance?

If you encounter any issues during the migration or have specific questions about a particular feature, please let us know:

  • Provide a short code snippet that is giving trouble.
  • Mention the target .NET version and OS you are using.

We’ll be happy to help you transition smoothly to the supported package.

Thank you for choosing Aspose.Slides!

3

Unfortunately, it doesn’t currently work without the cross-platform DLLs. I tried using Aspose.Slides.NET v25.9, but it still depends on System.Drawing.Common, which isn’t supported in my environment.

I’m running a .NET 8.0 service on Linux. When I use Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform v25.9 instead, everything works as expected. My only concern is that its support is marked as discontinued.

Could you please clarify the recommended approach for running Aspose.Slides in cross-platform scenarios moving forward?

4

@alopatin,
Thank you for posting the questions.

We have opened the following new ticket(s) in our internal issue tracking system and will respond to your questions according to the terms mentioned in Free Support Policies.

Issue ID(s): SLIDESNET-45112
5

@alopatin,
Our developers have reviewed your questions.

Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform was created after Microsoft ended support for System.Drawing.Common on non-Windows platforms. We initially planned to migrate the cross-platform graphics engine from Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform into Aspose.Slides.NET after a transition period.

In practice, both product lines have distinct strengths. Some customers prefer the standard .NET graphics engine in Aspose.Slides.NET, while others rely on the proprietary cross-platform engine developed by the Aspose.Slides team and shipped with Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform.

Accordingly, the statement “Support for Aspose.Slides.NET6.CrossPlatform will be discontinued” is incorrect and will be removed from the documentation shortly.

Currently, there are two main builds of Aspose.Slides for .NET:

Aspose.Slides for .NET

This is the main version of the product. It uses the standard .NET graphics engine.

  • On non-Windows platforms, you may need to install the libgdiplus library and its dependencies.
  • Prior to version Aspose.Slides 25.3, for non-Windows platforms, it was necessary to use the .NET Standard 2.0 DLL from the Aspose.Slides ZIP package.
  • Starting from version Aspose.Slides 25.3, the NuGet package can be used directly even on non-Windows systems.
  • When running on non-Windows systems, your application must include the following line at startup:
    AppContext.SetSwitch("System.Drawing.EnableUnixSupport", true);
  • Starting from version 25.3, you can use this package on platforms that support .NET, such as Linux aarch64 (ARM64).

Aspose.Slides for .NET6 CrossPlatform

This is the version of Aspose.Slides using a proprietary cross-platform graphics engine developed by the Aspose.Slides team.

On non-Windows platforms, the fontconfig library may be required.

Supported Platforms
  • Windows: x86, x86_64
  • Linux: x86_64
  • macOS: x86_64, ARM64
Planned for Future Support
  • Linux: aarch64 (ARM64) — ETA: end of 2025
Not Planned
  • Windows 11 ARM (ARM64) — Not currently under consideration

We hope this information is sufficient. If you require anything further from us, please let us know.