Today, we are announcing .NET Core 3.0 Preview 3. We would like to update you on the .NET Core 3.0 schedule and introduce you to improvements in .NET Core SDK installers, Docker containers, Range, and Index. We also have updates on the Windows Desktop and Entity Framework projects. 

• Removed the AJAX pattern to focus even more on MVC best practices
• Removed Facebook login to reduce problems for first-time readers
• Updated the Docker deployment instructions to reflect the latest practices
• A new jacket design
• Many typo fixes and small suggestions! 

Almost overnight, Docker has become the de facto standard that developers and system administrators use for packaging, deploying, and running distributed applications. It provides tools for simplifying DevOps by enabling developers to create templates called images that can be used to create lightweight virtual machines called containers, which include their applications and all of their applications’ dependencies.  

ASP.NET Core 2.1 introduces new application host for Windows services. We can now run ASP.NET Core applications as Windows services with minimal effort. This blog post introduces how it is done and how to build and run Windows services on ASP.NET Core without any need for dirty hacks. 

One of the main reasons for using .NET Core is that you can run it on multiple platforms and architectures. So you can build an app that will run on Windows, but also on Linux, macOS and on different architectures like x86 and ARM. This is perfect for lots of scenarios, including desktop applications.