.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.0, Service Pack 1
The .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1 was released on 19 November 2007.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.0, Service Pack 2
The .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 was released on 22 February 2010.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.5
Version 3.5 of the .NET Framework was released on 19 November 2007. As with .NET Framework 3.0, version 3.5 uses Common Language Runtime (CLR) 2.0, that is, the same version as .NET Framework version 2.0. In addition, .NET Framework 3.5 also installs .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and 3.0 SP1 (with the later 3.5 SP1 instead installing 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2), which adds some methods and properties to the BCL classes in version 2.0 which are required for version 3.5 features such as Language Integrated Query (LINQ). These changes do not affect applications written for version 2.0, however.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.5
As with previous versions, a new .NET Compact Framework 3.5 was released in tandem with this update in order to provide support for additional features on Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded CE devices.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.5
The source code of the Framework Class Library in this version has been partially released (for debugging reference only) under the Microsoft Reference Source License.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.5
.NET Framework 3.5 is supported on Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, 7, Server 2008 R2, 8, Server 2012, 8.1, Server 2012 R2, 10, and Server 2016. Starting from Windows 8, .NET Framework 3.5 is an optional feature that can be turned on or off in control panel.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.5
Although .NET Framework 3.5 is over 10 years old, it is also shipped as Windows Container image, allowing old applications that based on .NET Framework 2.0–3.5 to run in container environment.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.5, Service Pack 1
The .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 was released on 11 August 2008. This release adds new functionality and provides performance improvements under certain conditions, especially with WPF where 20–45% improvements are expected. Two new data service components have been added, the ADO.NET Entity Framework and ADO.NET Data Services. Two new assemblies for web development, System.Web.Abstraction and System.Web.Routing, have been added; these are used in the ASP.NET MVC framework and, reportedly, will be used in the future release of ASP.NET Forms applications. Service Pack 1 is included with SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1. It also featured a new set of controls called "Visual Basic Power Packs" which brought back Visual Basic controls such as "Line" and "Shape." Version 3.5 SP1 of the .NET Framework shipped with Windows 7. It also shipped with Windows Server 2008 R2 as an optional component (disabled by default).


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 3.5, Service Pack 1, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Client Profile
For the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 there is also a new variant of the .NET Framework, called the ".NET Framework Client Profile", which at 28 MB is significantly smaller than the full framework and only installs components that are the most relevant to desktop applications. However, the Client Profile amounts to this size only if using the online installer on Windows XP SP2 when no other .NET Frameworks are installed or using Windows Update. When using the off-line installer or any other OS, the download size is still 250 MB.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0
.NET Framework 4.0 is supported on Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, 7 and Server 2008 R2. Applications utilizing .NET Framework 4.0 will also run on computers with .NET Framework 4.5 or 4.6 installed, which supports additional operating systems. .NET Framework 4.0 is the last version to support Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, History
Microsoft announced the intention to ship .NET Framework 4 on 29 September 2008. The Public Beta was released on 20 May 2009.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, History
On 28 July 2009, a second release of the .NET Framework 4 beta was made available with experimental software transactional memory support. This functionality is not available in the final version of the framework.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, History
On 19 October 2009, Microsoft released Beta 2 of the .NET Framework 4. At the same time, Microsoft announced the expected launch date for .NET Framework 4 as 22 March 2010. This launch date was subsequently delayed to 12 April 2010.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, History
On 10 February 2010, a release candidate was published: Version:RC.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, History
On 12 April 2010, the final version of .NET Framework 4.0 was launched alongside the final release of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, History
On 18 April 2011, version 4.0.1 was released supporting some customer-demanded fixes for Windows Workflow Foundation. Its design-time component, which requires Visual Studio 2010 SP1, adds a workflow state machine designer.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, History
On 27 October 2011, version 4.0.2 was released supporting some new features of Microsoft SQL Server.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.0, Windows Server AppFabric
After the release of the .NET Framework 4, Microsoft released a set of enhancements, named Windows Server AppFabric, for application server capabilities in the form of AppFabric Hosting and in-memory distributed caching support.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.5
.NET Framework 4.5 was released on 15 August 2012; a set of new or improved features were added into this version. The .NET Framework 4.5 is only supported on Windows Vista or later. The .NET Framework 4.5 uses Common Language Runtime 4.0, with some additional runtime features.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.5
.NET Framework 4.5 is supported on Windows Vista, Server 2008, 7, Server 2008 R2, 8, Server 2012, 8.1 and Server 2012 R2. Applications utilizing .NET Framework 4.5 will also run on computers with .NET Framework 4.6 installed, which supports additional operating systems.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.5, .NET for Metro-style apps
Metro-style apps were originally designed for specific form factors and leverage the power of the Windows operating system. Two subset of the .NET Framework is available for building Metro-style apps using C# or Visual Basic: One for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, called .NET APIs for Windows 8.x Store apps. Another for Universal Windows Platform (UWP), called .NET APIs for UWP. This version of .NET Framework, as well as the runtime and libraries used for Metro-style apps, is a part of Windows Runtime, the new platform and development model for Metro-style apps. It is an ecosystem that houses many platforms and languages, including .NET Framework, C++ and HTML5 with JavaScript.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.5, Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)
The Managed Extensibility Framework or MEF is a library for creating lightweight, extensible applications. It allows application developers to discover and use extensions with no configuration required. It also lets extension developers easily encapsulate code and avoid fragile hard dependencies. MEF not only allows extensions to be reused within applications, but across applications as well.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.5, .NET Framework 4.5.1
The release of .NET Framework 4.5.1 was announced on 17 October 2013 along Visual Studio 2013. This version requires Windows Vista SP2 and later and is included with Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. New features of .NET Framework 4.5.1:


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.5, .NET Framework 4.5.2
The release of .NET Framework 4.5.2 was announced on 5 May 2014. This version requires Windows Vista SP2 and later. For Windows Forms applications, improvements were made for high DPI scenarios. For ASP.NET, higher reliability HTTP header inspection and modification methods are available as is a new way to schedule background asynchronous worker tasks.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.6
.NET Framework 4.6 was announced on 12 November 2014. It was released on 20 July 2015. It supports a new just-in-time compiler (JIT) for 64-bit systems called RyuJIT, which features higher performance and support for SSE2 and AVX2 instruction sets. WPF and Windows Forms both have received updates for high DPI scenarios. Support for TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 has been added to WCF. This version requires Windows Vista SP2 or later.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.6
The cryptographic API in .NET Framework 4.6 uses the latest version of Windows CNG cryptography API. As a result, NSA Suite B Cryptography is available to .NET Framework. Suite B consists of AES, the SHA-2 family of hashing algorithms, elliptic curve Diffie–Hellman, and elliptic curve DSA.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.6
.NET Framework 4.6 is supported on Windows Vista, Server 2008, 7, Server 2008 R2, 8, Server 2012, 8.1, Server 2012 R2, 10 and Server 2016. However, .NET Framework 4.6.1 and 4.6.2 drops support for Windows Vista and Server 2008, and .NET Framework 4.6.2 drops support for Windows 8.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.6, .NET Framework 4.6.1
The release of .NET Framework 4.6.1 was announced on 30 November 2015. This version requires Windows 7 SP1 or later. New features and APIs include:


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.6, .NET Framework 4.6.2
The preview of .NET Framework 4.6.2 was announced on 30 March 2016. It was released on 2 August 2016. This version requires Windows 7 SP1 or later. New features include:


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.6, .NET Framework 4.6.2
.NET Framework 4.6.2 is also shipped as Windows container image.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.7
On 5 April 2017, Microsoft announced that .NET Framework 4.7 was integrated into Windows 10 Creators Update, promising a standalone installer for other Windows versions. An update for Visual Studio 2017 was released on this date to add support for targeting .NET Framework 4.7. The promised standalone installer for Windows 7 and later was released on 2 May 2017, but it had prerequisites not included with the package.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.7
.NET Framework 4.7 is supported on Windows 7, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012, 8.1, Server 2012 R2, 10, Server 2016 and Server 2019.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.7
.NET Framework 4.7 is also shipped as Windows container image.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.7, .NET Framework 4.7.1
.NET Framework 4.7.1 was released on 17 October 2017. Amongst the fixes and new features, it corrects a d3dcompiler dependency issue. It also adds compatibility with the .NET Standard 2.0 out of the box.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.7, .NET Framework 4.7.1
.NET Framework 4.7.1 is also shipped as Windows container image.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.7, .NET Framework 4.7.2
.NET Framework 4.7.2 was released on 30 April 2018. Amongst the changes are improvements to ASP.NET, BCL, CLR, ClickOnce, Networking, SQL, WCF, Windows Forms, Workflow and WPF. This version is included with Server 2019.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.7, .NET Framework 4.7.2
.NET Framework 4.7.2 is also shipped as Windows container image.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.8
.NET Framework 4.8 was released on 18 April 2019. It was the final version of .NET Framework, all future work going into the .NET Core platform that will eventually become .NET 5 and onwards. This release included JIT enhancements ported from .NET Core 2.1, High DPI enhancements for WPF applications, accessibility improvements, performance updates, and security enhancements. It supported Windows 7, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012, 8.1, Server 2012 R2, 10, Server 2016 and Server 2019 and also shipped as a Windows container image.


.NET Framework version history, .NET Framework 4.8
The most-recent release is 4.8.0 Build 4115, with an offline installer size of 115 MB and a digital signature date of May 1, 2021.


.NET Gadgeteer
Microsoft .NET Gadgeteer is an open-source rapid-prototyping standard for building small electronic devices using the Microsoft .NET Micro Framework and Microsoft Visual Studio/Visual C# Express.


.NET Gadgeteer, The Gadgeteer platform
The Gadgeteer platform centers around a Gadgeteer mainboard with a microcontroller running the .NET Micro Framework. Gadgeteer sets out rules about how hardware devices packaged as add-on modules may connect to the mainboard, using solderless push-on connectors. Gadgeteer includes a small class library to simplify the implementation details for integrating these add-on modules into a system. It is a way of assigning the plethora of functions that a microcontroller provides to sockets that have a standardized, small set of interfaces at the hardware level.


.NET Gadgeteer, History and licensing
.NET Gadgeteer was created by researchers at Microsoft Research Cambridge, where the Sensors and Devices group created it as a way develop device ideas rapidly and iteratively. It quickly generated interest from hobbyists, teachers, and developers, who wanted a platform to build gadgets in a short time.


.NET Gadgeteer, History and licensing
In response to outside interest, Microsoft then released Gadgeteer as an open source software project, describing the project as "an open collaboration between Microsoft, hardware manufacturers, and end users".


.NET Gadgeteer, History and licensing
The core libraries are published under the Apache 2.0 License, while the hardware designs are under the Creative Commons 3.0 License. The core source code is publicly available from the CodePlex source repository.


.NET Gadgeteer, History and licensing
Microsoft has stated plans to continue supporting and investing in the .NET Gadgeteer ecosystem, including hosting educational materials and working with companies to create compatible kits and modules.


.NET Gadgeteer, Design and construction
.NET Gadgeteer projects consist of a mainboard and a series of modules connected via a standard 10 pin connector. The mainboard sockets can support one or more different types of modules, shown by a series of letters next to the socket. Each module has a letter showing its module type. (Connecting modules incorrectly does not harm the hardware – providing only one red power module is used). Any module that supplies power (via USB, DC or battery) is coloured red to help prevent multiple power sources that can potentially harm the devices.


.NET Gadgeteer, Design and construction
The Gadgeteer library includes a layer of event-driven drivers and code generation, which integrates with Visual Studio. This enables developers to visually create a diagram in Visual Studio of which hardware modules (for instance, a camera module, button module and screen module) are connected to which sockets on the mainboard, and the Gadgeteer SDK then auto-generates code creating object instances for all the relevant hardware. In this way the developer can immediately begin writing .NET code targeting the connected hardware.


.NET Gadgeteer, Design and construction
Many different modules are currently available for a series of hardware vendors, including wireless transmission, environment sensors, actuators and custom community modules resulting in a large ecosystem of projects.


.NET Gadgeteer, Hardware
Any hardware manufacturer, builder or hobbyist can create .NET Gadgeteer-compatible hardware; currently multiple manufacturers participate.


.NET Micro Framework
The .NET Micro Framework (NETMF) is a .NET Framework platform for resource-constrained devices with at least 512 kB of flash and 256 kB of random-access memory (RAM). It includes a small version of the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) and supports development in C#, Visual Basic .NET, and debugging (in an emulator or on hardware) using Microsoft Visual Studio.


.NET Micro Framework
NETMF features a subset of the .NET base class libraries (about 70 classes with about 420 methods), an implementation of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), a GUI framework loosely based on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), and a Web Services stack based on Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Web Services Description Language (WSDL). NETMF also features added libraries specific to embedded applications. It is free and open-source software released under Apache License 2.0.


.NET Micro Framework
The Micro Framework aims to make embedded development easier, faster, and less costly by giving embedded developers access to the modern technologies and tools used by desktop application developers. Also, it allows desktop .NET developers to use their skills in embedded systems, enlarging the pool of qualified embedded developers.


.NET Micro Framework
The Micro Framework is part of the .NET Foundation. Announced at the Build 2014 conference, the foundation was created as an independent forum to foster open development and collaboration around the growing set of open-source technologies for .NET.


.NET Micro Framework, Features
Relative to other .NET platforms, the unique features of the Micro Framework are:


.NET Micro Framework, Features
Due to the constraints under which it operates, the Micro Framework does have some limits beyond those imposed by its slimmed-down libraries. For example, the platform does not support symmetric multiprocessing, multidimensional arrays, machine-dependent types, or unsafe instructions. The CLR is an interpreter rather than a just-in-time compiler, and uses a simpler mark-and-sweep garbage collector instead of a generational method. An ahead-of-time compiler is being developed using a modified LLVM compiler. Interoperation between managed and native code currently has several limitations. As of 2011, Micro Framework supported two .NET languages: C# and Visual Basic.


.NET Micro Framework, Support
As of 2013, the .NET Micro Framework was supported on ARM architecture processors (including ARM7, ARM9, and Cortex-M) and has been supported on Analog Devices Blackfin in the past. The Porting Kit is now available along with the source code as a free download under the Apache License 2.0 at the Microsoft Download Center.


.NET Micro Framework, Support
The Micro Framework has its roots in Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative and was used in MSN Direct products such as smart watches before being made available to third-party developers early in 2007. It is a common platform for Windows SideShow devices and has been adopted in other markets, such as energy management, healthcare, industrial automation, and sensor networks.


.NET Micro Framework, Support
Microsoft allows developers to create applications using the Micro Framework without charge, and makes a software development kit (SDK) available for free download that can be used with all versions of Visual Studio, including the free Express editions.


.NET Micro Framework, History
In November 2009, Microsoft released the source code of the Micro Framework to the development community as free and open-source software under the Apache License 2.0.


.NET Micro Framework, History
In January 2010, Microsoft launched the netmf.com community development site to coordinate ongoing development of the core implementation with the open-source community.


.NET Micro Framework, History
On 9 January 2010, GHI Electronics announced FEZ Domino, the first member of the product line called FEZ (Freakin' Easy! ), a combination of open-source hardware with a proprietary closed-source version of .NET Micro Framework.


.NET Micro Framework, History
On 3 August 2010, Secret Labs announced the Netduino, the first all-open-source electronics platform using the .NET Micro Framework.


.NET Micro Framework, History
In February 2011, Novell posted a preview of the Mono 2.12 C# compiler, the first open-source compiler for .NET Micro Framework.


.NET Micro Framework, History
On 23 January 2017, after numerous attempts ( and ) to revive .NET Microframework project and bring it to community governance and a period of work "in the dark", a group of embedded systems developers publicly announced .NET nanoFramework as spin-off of .NET Micro Framework.


.NET Micro Framework, History
A major rework on the build system, an easier way of adding new targets, a modernized API following UWP, a Visual Studio extension with all the tools required for managing targets, full development experience from coding to debugging on the native code and support for ARM Cortex-M and ESP32 were the key differences at that time. On 12 October 2018 the first official release of the class libraries and firmware images was announced.


.NET Micro Framework, History
On 16 December 2016, GHI Electronics announced their own implementation of Micro Framework called TinyCLR OS, citing lack of maintenance of NETMF by Microsoft. On 7 July 2017 GHI announced 5th preview of TinyCLR OS. On 2 February 2018 GHI announced 8th preview of TinyCLR OS. On 5 April 2018 GHI announced 10th preview of TinyCLR OS.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware
Multiple vendors make chips, development kits, and more that run the Micro Framework.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, Netduino by Wilderness Labs
Netduino is an open-source electronics platform using the Micro Framework. Originally created by Secret Labs, but now manufactured and maintained by Wilderness Labs Inc. Based on 168Mhz Cortex-M4 (STM32F4) with up to 1,408 KB of code storage and 164 KB of RAM. On-board USB, Ethernet, Wifi, SD card slot. Development environment is MS Visual Studio and C#. Pin compatible with Arduino shields although drivers are required for some shields.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, GHI Electronics
GHI Electronics makes several modules that support the Micro Framework:


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, GHI Electronics
GHI Electronics also makes the .NET FEZ line of very small open-source hardware boards with proprietary firmware, targeted for beginners. They are based on the USBizi chipset and all its features. The FEZ Domino board offers USB host. Even though FEZ is for beginners, it's also a low-cost starting point for professionals wanting to explore NETMF. Some of these boards are physically compatible with the Arduino.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, Mountaineer boards
Mountaineer boards, part of the Mountaineer Group, make a small range of open-source open-hardware boards that make use of the Micro Framework. Mountaineer have ported the Micro Framework for use on the STM32 family of microcontrollers featured on their Mountaineer boards and elsewhere.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics, creators of the microcontroller family STM32, make low-cost discovery boards to showcase the controllers, and provides ports of the Micro Framework to run on them.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, Netmfdevices
Netmfdevices is an open-source electronics platform using FEZHacker and .NET Micro Framework.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, Micromint
The Micromint Bambino 200 is the first multi-core processor SBC compatible with the .NET Gadgeteer framework. The model 200 is powered by an NXP LPC4330, the first dual-core ARM Cortex-M microcontroller. Its Cortex-M4 and Cortex-M0 cores are both capable of 204 MHz. It has 264 KB SRAM onboard and 4 MB of flash. The model 200E has all the same features as the model 200, and increased flash memory to 8 MB, 10 Gadgeteer sockets, an Ethernet port, microSD socket, and other features.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, .NET Gadgeteer devices
Several manufacturers make boards and modules compatible with the .NET Gadgeteer rapid-prototyping standard for the framework.


.NET Micro Framework, Hardware, MikroBus.Net
The MikroBus.Net Quail is an STM32-powered development solution for building hardware prototypes with click boards and C# managed code. It brings together Mikroelectronika click boards and the Micro Framework for embedded devices (NETMF).


.NET My Services
.NET My Services (codenamed Hailstorm) is an abandoned collection of XML-based Web services by Microsoft for storing and retrieving information. NET My Services was announced on March 19, 2001 as part of Microsoft's .NET initiative and was intended to rely on what was then known as a Microsoft Passport, a single sign-in web service now referred to as a Microsoft account.


.NET My Services
.NET My Services was a platform intended to facilitate the storage and retrieval of user-related information, such as contacts, calendar information, and e-mail messages, by allowing it to be accessed from a centralized repository across various applications and device types, including traditional desktop PCs, and mobile devices such as laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, and tablet PCs; access to this stored information would be based solely on user discretion. The technology would rely on a subscription-based business model.


.NET My Services
Although the technology required a Microsoft Passport, it was based on cross-platform, open standard web services, including SOAP, UDDI, and WS-Discovery, which enabled interoperability with compatible systems without requiring Microsoft Windows.


.NET My Services
After .NET My Services was announced on March 19, 2001, Microsoft intended for it to reach broad developer availability at that year's Professional Developers Conference, with  a subsequent end-user release scheduled for 2002. However, due to industry concerns related to anti-competitive behavior and end-user privacy, the company ultimately abandoned the initiative before it could fully materialize.


.NET Persistence API
The .NET Persistence API, also referred to as NPA, is a persistence and object-relational mapping (ORM) specification for the .NET framework.


.NET Persistence API
NPA is based on the Java Persistence API (JPA), which is the standard persistence API in the Java world. NPA follows JPA by providing a complete persistence API and a rich set of ORM features.


.NET Persistence API, Motivation
The main purposes of the .NET Persistence API (NPA) are:


.NET Persistence API, Implementations
NPA is a persistence specification. To use NPA an implementation of the specification is required. Persistence and ORM vendors can provide their own implementations of NPA.


.NET Persistence API, Implementations
First implementation, NPA for NHibernate, was released in December 2011.


.NET Reflector
.NET Reflector is a class browser, decompiler and static analyzer for software created with .NET Framework, originally written by Lutz Roeder. MSDN Magazine named it as one of the Ten Must-Have utilities for developers, and Scott Hanselman listed it as part of his "Big Ten Life and Work-Changing Utilities".


.NET Reflector, Overview
.NET Reflector was the first CLI assembly browser. It can be used to inspect, navigate, search, analyze, and browse the contents of a CLI component such as an assembly and translates the binary information to a human-readable form. By default Reflector allows decompilation of CLI assemblies into C#, Visual Basic .NET, C++/CLI and Common Intermediate Language and F# (alpha version). Reflector also includes a "Call Tree" that can be used to drill down into intermediate language methods to see what other methods they call. It will show the metadata, resources and XML documentation. .NET Reflector can be used by .NET developers to understand the inner workings of code libraries, to show the differences between two versions of the same assembly, and how the various parts of a CLI application interact with each other. There are a large number of add-ins for Reflector.


.NET Reflector, Overview
.NET Reflector can be used to track down performance problems and bugs, browse classes, and maintain or help become familiar with code bases. It can also be used to find assembly dependencies, and even windows DLL dependencies, by using the Analyzer option. There is a call tree and inheritance-browser. It will pick up the same documentation or comments that are stored in xml files alongside their associated assemblies that are used to drive IntelliSense inside Visual Studio. It is even possible to cross-navigate related documentation (xmldoc), searching for specific types, members and references. It can be used to effectively convert source code between C# and Visual Basic.


.NET Reflector, Overview
.NET Reflector has been designed to host add-ins to extend its functionality, many of which are open source. Some of these add-ins provide other languages that can be disassembled too, such as PowerShell, Delphi and MC++. Others analyze assemblies in different ways, providing quality metrics, sequence diagrams, class diagrams, dependency structure matrices or dependency graphs. It is possible to use add-ins to search text, save disassembled code to disk, export an assembly to XMI/UML, compare different versions, or to search code. Other add-ins allow debugging processes. Some add-ins are designed to facilitate testing by creating stubs and wrappers.


.NET Reflector, History
.NET Reflector was originally developed by Lutz Roeder as freeware. Its first versions can be tracked back to January 2001.


.NET Reflector, History
Archive.org hosts a collection of the early versions of .


.NET Reflector, History
On 20 August 2008, Red Gate Software announced they were taking responsibility for future development of the software.


.NET Reflector, History
In February 2010 Red Gate released .NET Reflector 6 along with a commercial Pro edition that enabled users to step into decompiled code in the Visual Studio debugger as if it were their own source code.


.NET Reflector, History
On 10 January 2011 Red Gate announced that .NET Reflector 7 would incorporate Jason Haley's PowerCommands add-in.


.NET Reflector, History
On 1 February 2011 Red Gate announced that .NET Reflector would become a commercial product as of version 7, which was released on 14 March 2011. This led to the creation of several free alternatives, including dotPeek, CodeReflect and  the open source program ILSpy. Subsequently, on 26 April 2011, due to community feedback Red Gate announced that they would continue to make .NET Reflector 6 available for free to existing users (while new users will have to pay for Reflector).


.NET Remoting
.NET Remoting is a Microsoft application programming interface (API) for interprocess communication released in 2002 with the 1.0 version of .NET Framework. It is one in a series of Microsoft technologies that began in 1990 with the first version of Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) for 16-bit Windows. Intermediate steps in the development of these technologies were Component Object Model (COM) released in 1993 and updated in 1995 as COM-95, Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), released in 1997 (and renamed Active X), and COM+ with its Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), released in 2000. It is now superseded by Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), which is part of the .NET Framework 3.0.


.NET Remoting
Like its family members and similar technologies such as Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) and Java's remote method invocation (RMI), .NET Remoting is complex, yet its essence is straightforward. With the assistance of operating system and network agents, a client process sends a message to a server process and receives a reply.


.NET Remoting, Overview
.NET Remoting allows an application to make an object (termed remotable object) available across remoting boundaries, which includes different appdomains, processes or even different computers connected by a network. The .NET Remoting runtime hosts the listener for requests to the object in the appdomain of the server application. On the client end, any requests to the remotable object are proxied by the .NET Remoting runtime over Channel objects, that encapsulate the actual transport mode, including TCP streams, HTTP streams and named pipes. As a result, by instantiating proper Channel objects, a .NET Remoting application can be made to support different communication protocols without recompiling the application. The runtime itself manages the act of serialization and marshalling of objects across the client and server appdomains.


.NET Remoting, Overview
.NET Remoting makes a reference of a remotable object available to a client application, which then instantiates and uses a remotable object as if it were a local object. However, the actual code execution happens at the server-side. A remotable object is identified by Activation URLs and are instantiated by a connection to the URL. A listener for the object is created by the remoting runtime when the server registers the channel that is used to connect to the remotable object. At the client side, the remoting infrastructure creates a proxy that stands-in as a pseudo-instantiation of the remotable object.


.NET Remoting, Overview
It does not implement the functionality of the remotable object, but presents a similar interface. As such, the remoting infrastructure needs to know the public interface of the remotable object beforehand. Any method calls made against the object, including the identity of the method and any parameters passed, are serialized to a byte stream and transferred over a communication protocol-dependent Channel to a recipient proxy object at the server side ("marshalled"), by writing to the Channel's transport sink.


.NET Remoting, Overview
At the server side, the proxy reads the stream off the sink and makes the call to the remotable object on the behalf of the client. The results are serialized and transferred over the sink to the client, where the proxy reads the result and hands it over to the calling application. If the remotable object needs to make a callback to a client object for some services, the client application must mark it as remotable and have a remoting runtime host a listener for it.


.NET Remoting, Overview
The server can connect to it over a different Channel, or over the already existent one if the underlying connection supports bidirectional communication. A channel can be composed of a number of different Channel objects, possibly with different heterogeneous transports. Thus, remoting can also work across systems separated by an interconnection of heterogeneous networks, including the internet. Type safety is enforced by the CTS and the .NET Remoting runtime. Remote method calls are inherently synchronous; asynchronous calls can be implemented using threading libraries. Authentication and access control can be implemented for clients by either using custom Channels or by hosting the remotable objects in IIS and then using the IIS authentication system.


.NGO and .ONG
The domain names .ngo and .ong are generic top-level domains (gTLD) of the Domain Name System (DNS) used in the Internet, sponsored and managed by the Public Interest Registry. The backend is provided by Afilias. The .ngo domain name is an acronym which stands for "non-governmental organization", reflecting the intended usage of the domain.


.NGO and .ONG
In June 2011, ICANN expanded the Internet's naming system to allow applications for new top-level domain names. The Public Interest Registry declared publicly an interest in the .ngo domain in August 2011 and applied for it in May 2012. The PIR simultaneously applied for the top-level domain .ong, which is a similarly recognisable initialism for "organisation non gouvernementale" in French, and equivalent terms in many other Romance languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian. Registrants do not purchase an .ngo or .ong domain name separately; a single registration is valid for two domain names which end in either .ngo or .ong, but are otherwise identical.


.NGO and .ONG
Unlike the more prevalent .org domain, which is also managed by the Public Interest Registry, .ngo will require validation of the registrant's non-governmental status. Non -governmental organizations told the Public Interest Registry they needed a closed domain that validated the legitimacy of websites accepting online donations to avoid fraud. The Public Interest Registry plans to use the funds from selling .ngo domains to develop an “NGO Community Program” to reach out to NGOs in developing nations. It also intends to create a directory service of NGOs to support their SEO and visibility, and develop a closed community for NGOs to learn from each other. The new domains have been publicly available since May 6, 2015.


.O.rang
.O.rang (or 'O'rang) was an English experimental music project led by former Talk Talk members Lee Harris and Paul Webb, with a shifting cast of guest musicians.


.O.rang
.O.rang's music exhibits more culturally diverse influences than Talk Talk. Webb has commented "We used to be in a reggae band when we were younger... The Talk Talk thing was always very Westernised, and we were listening to other kinds of world music." Among other elements, the project draws on dub, Krautrock, post-rock, and world fusion music.


.O.rang
The group's first album, Herd of Instinct (1994), was recorded similarly to Talk Talk's later albums: guest musicians played hours of improvisational material, then the performances were edited down and pieced together. However, in contrast to Talk Talk, the song structures were not planned before being recorded. Paul Webb explained, "it was recorded before it was written." Guests on the album included former Bark Psychosis leader Graham Sutton and Portishead singer Beth Gibbons (who at the time applied to become the group's singer, before Portishead's growing success removed this possibility).


.O.rang
After several false starts, a second album - 1996's Fields and Waves - was recorded. This album was more Krautrock-oriented and more structured in terms of composition, as well as being more focused around the core duo of Webb and Harris.


.O.rang
A third album (with the working title of Loudhailer No. 19) was projected for release in 2001, but remains unreleased.


.OOO
The domain name OOO (Triple O - Alphabet O) is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It was launched and is operated by Infibeam.


.QL
.QL (pronounced "dot-cue-el") is an object-oriented query language used to retrieve data from relational database management systems. It is reminiscent of the standard query language SQL and the object-oriented programming language Java. .QL is an object-oriented variant of a logical query language called Datalog. Hierarchical data can therefore be naturally queried in .QL in a recursive manner.


.QL
Queries written in .QL are optimised, compiled into SQL and can then be executed on any major relational database management system. .QL query language is being used in SemmleCode to query a relational representation of Java programs.


.QL
.QL is developed at Semmle Limited and is based on the company's proprietary technology.


.QL, Language features
.QL has several language features to make queries concise, intuitive and reusable:


.QL, Example query
The sample query below illustrates use of .QL to query a Java program. This is how one would select all classes that contain more than ten public methods:


.QL, Example query
In fact, this query selects not only all classes with more than ten public methods, but also their corresponding packages and the number of methods each class has.


.Wav Theory
.Wav Theory (sometimes stylized as .WAV Theory) is a mixtape by American rapper Towkio. It was released on April 28, 2015. It includes production from Kaytranada and Lido, as well as guest appearances from Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper. Music videos were created for "I Know You", "Free Your Mind", ".Wav Theory", "Reflection", and "Clean Up".


.Wav Theory, Critical reception
Matthew Strauss of Pitchfork gave the mixtape a 6.2 out of 10, writing, "Towkio's nebulousness leaves .Wav Theory as an enjoyable album that asks few questions and gives few answers." Adam Kivel of Consequence of Sound gave the mixtape a C+ grade, commenting that it is full of "energetic, fun tracks with middling verses."


.Wav Theory, Critical reception
It was placed at number 27 on Complex's "Best Albums of 2015" list, number 13 on RedEye's "20 Best Albums of 2015" list, and number 9 on Chicago Tribune's "Top 10 Chicago Indie Albums of 2015" list.


.XIP
An .XIP file is a XAR archive which can be digitally signed for integrity. The .XIP file format was introduced in OS X 10.9, along with Apple's release of Swift. .XIP allows for a digital signature to be applied and verified on the receiving system before the archive is expanded. When a XIP file is opened (by double-clicking), Archive Utility will automatically expand it (but only if the digital signature is intact).


.XIP
Apple has reserved the right to use the .XIP file format exclusively, removing it from public use since release. Starting with macOS Sierra, only .XIP archives signed by Apple will be expanded. Developers who had been using .XIP archives were required to move to using signed installer packages or disk images.


.ac
The .ac top-level domain is the Internet country code (ccTLD) for Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and primarily for Ascension Island. It is administered by NIC.AC, a subsidiary of the Internet Computer Bureau based in the United Kingdom.


.ac
Registration for the domain is open to anyone. The registry accepts registrations of internationalized domain names.


.ac
The domain is marketed by some domain-brokers as a domain for the city of Aachen, Germany, after the automotive license plate designation ("AC") for the city.


.ac, Use as an abbreviation for "academic"
Due to its similarity to the .ac ("academic") second-level domain that exists under some country code top-level domains, some educational institutions also register under the .ac top-level domain:


.ac (second-level domain)
The sequence .ac (short for academia) is in use in many countries as a second-level domain for academic institutions such as universities, colleges, and research institutes. In the United Kingdom and Japan, for example, academic institutions use domain names ending in .ac.uk and .ac.jp respectively.


.ac (second-level domain)
Many countries use .edu for the same purpose, such as Australia (.edu.au) and Malaysia (.edu.my). Still others do not maintain a second-level domain specifically for academic institutions. In France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, for example, each institution will have its own second-level domain (thus sorbonne.fr for the Sorbonne, hslu.ch for the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and tum.de for the Technical University of Munich).


.ac (second-level domain)
In some countries, both .edu and .ac second-level domains exist, differentiating between different types of academic institutions. China, for example, announced in 2006 that it would use .edu.cn for educational institutions and .ac.cn for research institutions.


.accountants
.accountants is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System of the internet. It was originally delegated to Knob Town, LLC, c/o Donuts LLC on 02 May 2014. On 23 March 2018, .accountants and 195 other domains were transferred to its current sponsor, Binky Moon, LLC, c/o Donuts LLC.


.accountants, Reference section
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.accountants, Reference section
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.ad
.ad is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Andorra. It is administered by Andorra Telecom.


.ad
Because .ad is also an abbreviation for the word advertisement or advert, .ad has also been used in an unconventional manner as a domain hack by some advertising media, as well as in the year usage 20XX.ad.


.ae
.ae is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet for the United Arab Emirates. It is administered by .aeDA which is part of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority of UAE (TDRA).


.ae
The internationalized country code top-level domain in the Arabic alphabet of the UAE is امارات., which is represented as .xn--mgbaam7a8h in Punycode.


.ae, Second and third level domain registrations
The domain ae is administered by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority of UAE (TDRA). Registrations are permitted directly at the second level (unrestricted zone) or at the third level (restricted zone) beneath several category labels. During 1995–2003 co.ae was used for commercial entities, but this has been deprecated by UAEnic in 2003 in preference to the commercial use of second-level registrations; existing co.ae registrations were allowed to be retained if their registrants so desire. During 2008 when ae was re-delegated to the TRA, the .aeDA published new policies in which co.ae was introduced only for local commercial companies provided that the name is connected to the business name.


.ae, Re-delegation of .ae
The .AE domain was originally delegated to UUNET. Recognising the domain should be administered in the country, the domain was transferred in 1995 to Etisalat, following a brief period of administration by the United Arab Emirates University. Since that time, Etisalat, through its division the UAE Network Information Center (UAEnic), has been responsible for the operation of the .ae domain.


.ae, Re-delegation of .ae
During GITEX 2006, TDRA announced that the .ae ccTLD management and operations will be re-delegated to TDRA from Etisalat/UAEnic, the current .ae ccTLD manager. A new entity called .ae Domain Administration (.aeDA) has been formed to take care of management and operations of .ae based on latest DNS and Domain Registry technologies. During January 2008, IANA officially re-delegated the .ae Domain to the TDRA.


.ae, Re-delegation of .ae
On 3 August 2008, the .aeDA took over the DNS and launched their services with the new registry system which supports registry–registrar model. Currently the .aeDA has accredited eight registrars from different parts of the world. For the first time, Internet users in the UAE will be able to register and manage their domain names under .ae automatically using an online system without going through manual process which used to take up to six weeks for domain registrations. As per .aeDA policies, current domain holders are allowed to transfer between registrars at no cost.


.ae, Re-delegation of .ae
The .ae is the first ccTLD in the Arab region to use the standard Registry-Registrar model and .aeDA is the first registry in the region to use the industry-standard Extensible Provisioning Protocol to manage its domains.


.ae, Accredited registrars
As of 6 December 2020, there are 22 accredited registrars:


.ae, Transfer between registrars
Registrants (domain name holders) can transfer their domains from one registrar to another provided that they obtain a domain name password. Domain name passwords can be recovered online through .aeDA's website . After obtaining this password, registrants can supply this password to the gaining registrar who will be able to transfer it directly without dealing with the losing registrar. Losing registrars are prohibited from charging a fee when a domain transfer occur; however gaining registrars may do so.


.ae, Domain name pricing
.ae domain name retail prices ranges from  to  depending on the provider and the level of support and services provided with the domain name.


.ae, Domain name pricing
The .ae registration prices have noticeably dropped since the introduction of .aeDA. Prior to 3 August 2008, .ae domains were offered by Etisalat for around  per year while ac.ae, org.ae, gov.ae and sch.ae were offered for around  per year. International providers used to charge around 100– in order to cover the administrative cost involved in the manual registration process.


.ae, Domain name pricing
After .aeDA's go-live in August 2008, .ae registration price declined to as low as  with international registrars.


.ae, Domain name count
On 16- Sep-2012 aeDA made an announcement on reaching the 100,000 registration mark in domain names. During Gitex2008, .aeDA domain name counter showed over 90,000 domain names currently held in the registry, making it the largest ccTLD registry in the Arab region. As of December 2020, there are around 220,000+ domains in the zone.


.ae, IDN and Arabic domain names
On 2 March 2009, The UAE's Ministerial Council for Services passed a proposal by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority of UAE (TDRA) to register the domain address of 'Emarat' in Arabic script (امارات) for the country's Arabic domains, stating that the domain will contribute to increasing the number of Internet users visiting Arabic sites and further promote and strengthen the UAE's identity.


.ae, IDN and Arabic domain names
During ICANN meeting no. 35 (21–26 June 2009) in Sydney, .aeDA representatives mentioned that aeDA's EPP-based registry system is fully compatible with IDN protocols and guidelines.


.ae, IDN and Arabic domain names
In January 2010 ICANN announced that the UAE IDN ccTLD (DNS name: xn—mgbaam7a8h, امارات) was one of the first four new IDN ccTLDs to have passed the Fast Track String Evaluation within the domain application process.


.ae, ENUM of UAE (+971)
.aeDA, the registry operator of .ae is also the official operator for UAE ENUM Space (971). The ENUM space was redelegated from the incumbent operator Etisalat since 16 April 2009.


.aeDA
.ae Domain Administration (aeDA) is the Regulatory Body and Registry Operator for the .ae domain, which is the country-code top-level domain for the United Arab Emirates. It was established in 2007 as a department of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, UAE.


.aeDA
The .aeDA is responsible for the setting and enforcement of all policy relating to the operation of the .ae domain as well as overseeing the operation of the Registry System.


.aeDA
In 2006 AusRegistry International was engaged by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, UAE to provide consultancy services to assist in the review of the framework, governance and administration of the .ae domain. In August 2008 aeDA relaunched the .ae domain Registry using software licensed from AusRegistry International.


.aero
.aero (derived from aeronautics) is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) used in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is the first sponsored top-level domain based on a single industrial theme. The aero domain is reserved for companies, organizations, associations, government agencies, and individuals in aerospace-related fields. It was created in 2002 and is operated by SITA. SITA created and operates the Dot Aero Council.


.aero
Two-letter codes under .aero are reserved for airlines according to the IATA Airline Designators. While three-letter codes were initially reserved for airports (IATA airport code), they were released for registration by the larger aviation and aerospace community on December 1, 2008.


.aero
The aero top-level domain was initially approved in 2001 for a 5-year term expiring December 17, 2006 as part of a proof-of-concept of new top-level domains. The agreement was extended in October 2006 for a six-month term until June 17, 2007, and continued to be renewed on a June–December six-month cycle through June 17, 2009. In 2009, SITA and ICANN completed a new 10-year sponsorship agreement for the operation of aero.


.af
.af is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Afghanistan. It is administered by AFGNIC, a service of the UNDP. As of 26 August 2020, .af was used by 5960 domains.


.af
Registration is made directly at the second level, or on the third level beneath various categorized subdomains at the second level. Third-level domains have restrictions based on which second-level domain they are registered under. Registration on the second level is unrestricted, but more expensive. All fees are higher for international registrants.


.af
The .af domain was delegated to Abdul Razeeq in 1997, a year after Taliban fighters had captured Kabul and founded the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. NetNames of London initially maintained the domain following an agreement with the IANA. Razeeq later disappeared, halting some services. The domain was reopened on March 10, 2003, as a joint program between UNDP and the Afghan Ministry of Communications.


.africa
.africa is the officially designated top-level domain (TLD) for the African and Pan African communities and users wherever they reside. It is a sponsored generic top-level domain (gTLD) operated by the Registry Africa. The .africa namespace is open to individuals, businesses and organizations around the world. The .africa domains are intended to showcase their brand and commitment to the African continent, establishing a home for Africa-specific products and services, expanding a brand's regional influence and acquiring online real-estate.


.africa
The .africa domain became available to the general public on 4 July 2017.


.africa, History
.africa was launched at the African Union Commission in 2017.


.africa, History
The .africa domain name registration was made available to the public in July 2017. The first large corporate to adopt the .africa domain was Absa.


.africa, Regional support
The .africa initiative is fully endorsed by the African Union Commission. According to Registry Africa, 78% of African governments support the TLD.


.africa, Status
The operator of the .africa gTLD is . Sponsoring Organisation is the ZA Central Registry trading as Registry.Africa.


.africa, Status
As of January 2021, there are about 28,038 registered .africa domains from 70 accredited registrars.


.africa, Status, Legal dispute
The .africa application that was submitted by DotConnectAfrica Trust is the subject of an unresolved disagreement with ICANN (DCA Trust v. ICANN) following an Independent Review Panel (IRP) process that was invoked by DCA Trust under ICANN's accountability mechanism in October 2013. The IRP was administrated by the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) New York, US.


.africa, Status, Legal dispute, Dispute background
DCA Trust had passed all the new gTLD applicant evaluation criteria, but before the Initial Evaluation (IE) result was issued, a Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Objection Advice that had been issued in Beijing in April 2013 was later accepted by the ICANN Board in early June 2013 which caused the ICANN Board to instruct ICANN staff that DCA Trust's .Africa new gTLD application will not be approved.


.africa, Status, Legal dispute, Dispute background
This had caused the non-completion of the evaluation of DCA Trust's application; which then led DCA Trust to challenge the ICANN Board decision through a series of accountability mechanism.


.africa, Status, Legal dispute, Dispute background
DCA Trust prevailed in the Independent Review Process against ICANN when the Panel of jurists ruled on 9 July 2015, that ICANN violated its Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation; and therefore declared "that both the actions and inactions of the Board with respect to the application of DCA Trust relating to the .AFRICA gTLD were inconsistent with the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of ICANN".


.africa, Status, Legal dispute, Dispute background
As a result of the IRP declaration, the ICANN Board resolved on July 16, 2015, to reinstate DCA's application back to the new gTLD Process to complete initial evaluation. The IRP ruling also ordered ICANN to continue to refrain from delegating the .AFRICA gTLD to ZA Central Registry (ZACR).


.africa, Status, Legal dispute, Dispute background
On January 20, 2016 ICANN was taken to the US Court regarding the way ICANN processed the IRP which declared DCA Trust the prevailing party in July 2015. The United States District Court, Central District of California in a ruling granted DCA Trust an Interim Relief for DotConnectAfrica and ordered ICANN to hold the delegation the .AFRICA top-level domain to ZACR. The same court also granted a Preliminary Injunction for DotConnectAfrica on April 12, 2016.


.africa, Status, Legal dispute, Dispute background
ICANN and ZACR both contested the ruling, the court dismissed ZACR from the case leading to the filing of an interlocutory appeal. Six months later, the case was moved to the Superior Court of California owing to lack of jurisdiction. Superior Court Judge Howard Halm denied the motion by Dot Connect Africa to obtain an injunction that saw the launch of the top level domain at the African Union Commission, in Addis Ababa.


.africa, Status, Legal dispute, Dispute background
The final delegation of the .africa Top Level Domain went to Registry Africa Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ZACR.


.ag
.ag is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Antigua and Barbuda.


.ag, Second and third level registrations
Registrations can be made at the second level directly beneath .ag, or at the third level beneath .com.ag, .org.ag, .net.ag or .co.ag. There are no restrictions on who can register.


.ag, Domain hacks
In addition to its original intended use as a country code, the .ag domain has been marketed for use for agriculture-related sites, and for sites referencing the atomic symbol for silver, Ag. It also has a potential use for other domain hacks for English words that end in -ag. The Heritage Foundation uses .ag for URL shortening (herit.ag).


.ag, Domain hacks, ".ag" used to mean "Aktiengesellschaft"
Aktiengesellschaft, abbreviated AG, is a German term that refers to a corporation that is limited by shares, i.e. owned by shareholders, and may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but not Liechtenstein or Luxembourg.


.ag, Domain hacks, ".ag" used to mean "Aktiengesellschaft", Legal status of .ag in Germany
A German court (5. Zivilsenat des Oberlandesgerichtes Hamburg) ruled in July 2004 that a .ag domain may only be registered by an Aktiengesellschaft, and then only by an AG that has the same name as the domain. For example, a company with shareholders in Germany having the name X AG may not register as y.ag.


.ai
.ai is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is administered by the government of Anguilla.


.ai
It is popular with companies in and projects related to the artificial intelligence industry (AI).


.ai, Second and third level registrations
Registrations within off.ai, com.ai, net.ai, and org.ai are available unrestrictedly, worldwide. From September 15, 2009, second level registrations within .ai are available to everyone worldwide.


.ai, Second and third level registrations
Domains are $100 for each two-year period. As of December 2017, the ".ai" registry supports Extensible Provisioning Protocol. Many registrars now sell ".ai" domains. Since then, the .ai ccTLD has also been popular with artificial intelligence companies and organizations.


.ai, Records on the TLD
The .ai TLD is notable for having an MX record, allowing mail to be delivered directly to "recipient@ai", as  is a registered domain.


.al
.al is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Albania. It is administered by the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority of Albania (AKEP).


.al
AKEP recommends that .al domain registrations be performed with one of the AKEP accredited registrars. There are also international registrars that resell .al domains. Domain names should be between 2 and 63 characters. Although the Albanian language has a number of special characters, the registry has not enabled the use of IDN characters.


.al, 2nd level registrations
In the past, registrations were not permitted directly at the second level, but a few existing names were "grandfathered"; they were uniti.al, tirana.al, soros.al, upt.al and inima.al.


.al, 2nd level registrations
In 2012 registrars started to resell .al domain names widely making them popular outside Albania as domain hacks.


.al, 2nd level registrations
In November 2014 the registry released two character domain names allowing for free landrush.


.al, 3rd level registrations
Registrations used to be only beneath the second-levels, i.e., .com.al, .net.al, .org.al, and .edu.al labeled appropriately for the type of organisation, but many now exist directly below .al.


.al, Whois servers
The .al zone has never provided a whois service due to privacy concerns.


.al, Domain figures
The table below lists the total registration figures as of December 2017.


.am
.am is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Armenia.


.am, Regulation
The registry for .am is operated by ISOC-AM,  the local chapter of the Internet Society.


.am, Usage in domain hacks
Domains within the .am ccTLD enjoy popularity due to the connection to AM radio (similar to the .fm and .tv ccTLDs), and the ability to form English words ending in "am" — e.g. the mobile photo sharing service Instagram uses the Armenian domain name Instagr.am. The live video streaming service Stre.am uses the TLD to form their operative keyword, "Stream". American music artist and producer will.i.am uses the domain for his website. Such unconventional usage of TLDs in domain names are called domain hacks.


.am, Second top-level domain
In 2014 a new Armenian top-level domain name was added, intended for Armenian language domain names. The TLD is .հայ, (“hy”) from the ethnonym for Armenian). It launched in 2016.


.amazon
.amazon is a brand top-level domain operated by Amazon.com. Countries in the Amazon region of South America objected to Amazon.com's application for the domain and proposed that some control of the domain would be shared between the countries and the company, but were unable to reach an agreement with Amazon.com.


.amazon, History
Amazon.com applied for the domain name extension in 2012, which was granted. That application was overturned after Peru and Brazil objected to it, the objection was supported by the Governmental Advisory Committee (a group which represents governments within ICANN) which recommended in 2013 against allowing Amazon.com's application to proceed.


.amazon, History
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela (which are members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization) were against the proposal as it could harm their countries' interests, and proposed that together the countries and the company would share some governance of the domain.


.amazon, History
ICANN directed the disputing parties to negotiate a resolution. The nations wished to receive specific domains under the top-level domain, while Amazon proposed that each nation be given a second-level domain based on their country code.


.amazon, History
In 2017, an Independent Review Process found in favor of Amazon.com. No progress was made in negotiations since then, and in December 2019 ICANN signed an agreement with Amazon.com.


.amsterdam
.amsterdam is a top-level domain for the city of Amsterdam. ICANN gave the government of Amsterdam the permission to operate the domain on 24 July 2014 as a part of its new gTLD programme. The public has been able to register .amsterdam web addresses since September 2015. Usage of the TLD has been very limited and its introduction has been criticised for its lack of cost-effectiveness. In 2019, the number of domains registered under the TLD decreased by 9.1%. Registration Data Access Protocol was enabled for .amsterdam domains in July 2019.


.an
.an was the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the former Netherlands Antilles. It was administered by the University of the Netherlands Antilles. The domain was phased out after the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved in 2010. As of November 2010 the .an domain remained live with over 800 domains registered under .an, including secondary levels. On 31 July 2015, use of the domain was discontinued.


.an, Second level domain
Including google.com.an and youtube.com.an (both delegations to Google's nameservers), yahoo.com.an (delegated to Yahoo's nameservers but no A record for yahoo.com.an or www.yahoo.com.an), and visa.com.an (delegation to ultradns.net's nameservers). With the deletion of AN from the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 register the ISO codes CW (Curaçao), SX (Sint Maarten) and BQ (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), the ccTLDs .cw, .sx and .bq have been designated (although the last one is not in use).


.an, Phasing out
On 31 December 2013, the University of the Netherlands Antilles began removing inactive .an domain names from their databases and systems. On 31 October 2014, ICANN removed the .an domain from the DNS root servers.


.ao
.ao is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Angola. It is administered by the college of engineering of the University of Agostinho Neto.


.ao, History, New Registry (DNS.AO)
On 17 June 2019, commercial registration of domains was relaunched, with a single registrar approved for issuance, the government-run Serviços Públicos Electrónicos do Governo de Angola. Registration cost was reduced to 8000 Kwanzas per year. By January 2020, 2500 new registrations were received, six times more than in the previous five years. Registrations from outside Angola are not yet permitted.


.ao, History, Original Registry (Reg.AO)
In January 2019, the old registry's website has not been modified since December 2001, and consisted of a single page in Portuguese. One of the few links on the page was to a document in Microsoft Word format, in English, which gave registration rules for the domain; they stated that registration by entities outside Angola was to be done only in the .it.ao subdomain. The search engine Google seems to be the first .it.ao entity using the subdomain ".it.ao". It also said that registrations were only taken at the third level (but a  showed some sites existed at second-level .ao names). Registration cost was US$300.


.app (gTLD)
.app is a gTLD (generic top-level domain) in ICANN’s New gTLD Program. Google purchased the gTLD in an ICANN Auction of Last Resort in February of 2015.


.app (gTLD)
The TLD is of interest due to its utility in regards to branding mobile, web, and other applications.


.app (gTLD), History
The development of the .app domain name began in 2012 after ICANN announced its "New gTLD Program". The program's goal is to expand the current variety of namespaces by an almost unlimited quantity of new entries. In January 2012 the program received its first applications and in 2013 first serious investment inflow. The first part of program's domain names has been released in late 2014.


.app (gTLD), History
On 25 February 2015 Google won the ICANN Auction of Last Resort for the .app gTLD, via their Charleston Road Registry Inc. company, paying $US25 million. Google opened public registration of the domain in May 2018.


.app (gTLD), Use and purpose
The name "app" is a short form of the word application often used in the IT sector. This domain name is to be used by developer companies, professionals and enthusiast developers and entrepreneurs applications, app-support services or other useful related products and tools.


.app (gTLD), Use and purpose
Because of its potential for use as a domain name space for mobile, web, and other applications—as well as for related products—the .app domain name creation is of interest to many development companies, professionals or enthusiast developers. The .app gTLD would allow users to easily recognize a Web site dedicated to an application or related product or service, which has benefits in terms of brandability.


.app (gTLD), Use and purpose
.app domains are, according to Gandi.net and other Resellers, "a security-focused space, meaning that HTTPS is required for all websites." This is accomplished by including the .app top-level domain on the HSTS preload list, making HTTPS required on all connections to .app websites.


.aq
.aq is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Antarctica (although not a country). It is reserved for organizations that work in Antarctica or promote the Antarctic and Southern Ocean regions. It is administered by Peter Mott of Antarctica Network Information Centre Limited from Christchurch, New Zealand.


.ar
.ar is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Argentina. It is administered by NIC Argentina. Registering an .ar domain (like website.ar) directly is now allowed. Previously, only 9 of the second-level domains listed below were open for registration, and a local presence in Argentina was required.


.ar, Second-level domains
As of January 2017 there are currently 12 second-level domains.


.ar, Special characters
In November 2008, a resolution approved the use of special characters in domain names, including ñ, ç, á, é, í ó, ú, ä, ë, ï, ö, and ü. The .gob.ar domain was also approved for government entities (.gob stands for "gobierno", government in Spanish).


.arpa
The domain name arpa is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. It is used predominantly for the management of technical network infrastructure. Prominent among such functions are the subdomains in-addr.arpa and ip6.arpa, which provide namespaces for reverse DNS lookup of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, respectively.


.arpa
The name originally was the acronym for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the funding organization in the United States that developed the ARPANET, the precursor of the Internet. It was the first domain defined for the network in preparation for a hierarchical naming system for the delegation of authority, autonomy, and responsibility. It was originally intended only to serve in a temporary function for facilitating the systematic naming of the ARPANET computers. However, it became practically difficult to remove the domain after infrastructural uses had been sanctioned. As a result, the name was redefined as the backronym Address and Routing Parameter Area.


.arpa
Domain-name registrations in arpa are not possible, and new subdomains are infrequently added by the Internet Engineering Task Force.


.arpa, Purpose
Each computer using the Internet Protocol is identified by a numerical IP address for identification and location addressing. Each host is also assigned a more memorable hostname, which often relates to the purpose or ownership of the host, and is used more conveniently in user interaction with network functions, such when connecting to or accessing a resource. Originally, the mapping between names and addresses was a cumbersome mechanical process using lookup tables distributed as computer files between network administrators. The Domain Name System (DNS) solved this inefficiency by automating the lookup function with a hierarchical naming system using domain names. When a user requests a network service using a domain name, the protocol implementation (protocol stack) translates the name to an address that can be used to reach a remote host.


.arpa, Purpose
This naming function, often called forward resolution, was the original purpose of the top-level domain "ARPA". It was the first domain defined in the first naming system of the nascent Internet, and was supposed to be an initial container domain for all then-existing ARPANET hosts. The next stage of development of the naming architecture foresaw the establishment of specific domain for other purposes based on certain requirements.


.arpa, Purpose, Reverse IP address mapping
In many applications the reverse of the name-to-address mapping is also required. The host receiving a service request may require the domain name of the originating computer, for example, to customize the service, or for verification purposes. This latter function, called Reverse DNS lookup, is implemented in the major uses of the domain arpa: its subdomains in-addr.arpa for Internet Protocol version 4, and ip6.arpa for IPv6.


.arpa, Purpose, Reverse IP address mapping
Conceptually similar lookup and mapping functionality is provided by other subdomains of arpa for specific types of data.


.arpa, Purpose, Telephone number mapping
The domain e164.arpa provides a lookup function that retrieves information associated with telephone numbers through the ENUM service. This service may be used to obtain the name of a computer that is capable of routing telecommunication requests for a registered telephone number, or obtain an email address to contact the subscriber of a specific telephone number.


.arpa, Purpose, Residential networking
The domain name home.arpa was reserved by the Internet Engineering task force in May 2018 as a special-use domain name for non-unique DNS services in residential networking, to avoid the use of the top-level domain home., which would require DNSSEC signatures. In addition, the use of home. led to domain name leakage to the Internet root name servers. The authoritative name servers for home.arpa intercept locally unresolved queries for the domain and return addresses for certain blackhole servers.


.arpa, History
The ARPANET, named for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), was launched in 1969, and is considered the earliest predecessor of the Internet. The agency's name was adopted as the name for the first formal name space of the network after it had transitioned to TCP/IP networking in January 1983. The name was used as a naming suffix for all then-existing ARPANET hosts. Hierarchical domain-style names were intended to support delegation of responsibility and authority for adding future hosts to the network.


.arpa, History
With the formal development of such a hierarchical naming system, the domain also became one of the inaugural members of a set of domain names for specific types of network members, namely com for commercial users, org for organizations, edu for educational institutions, gov for government entities, and mil for networks of the United States military.


.arpa, History
It was expected that the use of arpa would be temporary and that the existing systems would be migrated to other domains. But arpa also provided e-mail addresses associated with the Network Information Center, which administered the naming system. After serving the transitional purpose, it proved impractical to remove the domain. The domain in-addr.arpa had been installed for reverse DNS lookup of IP addresses.


.arpa, History
Originally, the IETF intended that new infrastructure databases would be created in the top-level domain int. In May 2000, this policy was reversed and it was decided that the top-level domain int should be restricted to use by international organizations. Arpa was retained for its long-standing purpose, but its full name was changed to the Address and Routing Parameter Area, making the zone name a backronym.


.arpa, History
In March 2010, zone arpa was secured with digital signatures within the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC).


.arpa, Subdomains
Subdomains of arpa are created by resolution in the work groups of the Internet Engineering Task Force via the Request for Comments process, and are maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). The DNS zone arpa has the following subdomains:


.art (domain extension)
.art is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet.


.art (domain extension), History
The .art TLD was entered into a registry agreement on March 24, 2016, between ICANN and UK Creative Ideas Limited, and it became available to the public on 10 May 2017. The founder of UK Creative Ideas and of .art is London-based investor and art collector Ulvi Kasimov, who invested $25 million on the domain initiative. There were nine other competing bids to operate the top-level domain.


.art (domain extension), History
Domains were registered by tech companies, luxury brands, and cultural organizations; some early registrations were purchased by Apple, Instagram, Kickstarter, and Rolex, along with the Louvre, Tate, the Centre Pompidou, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Guggenheim. .art domain names can be assigned directly to artworks (rather than to institutions or individuals). This new service is called «Digital Twin». By negotiating a unique agreement with ICANN .art has integrated into its domain registration forms the option of adding specific description fields. These fields contain information based on the Object ID – a universal art object identification standard developed by J. Paul Getty Trust and adopted by UNESCO, ICOM, and major law enforcement agencies. The standard contains necessary information about an artwork and its owner.


.art (domain extension), History
In 2020, the .art registry received a United States patent for storing and identifying objects in WHOIS. The service is known as Digital Twin.


.as
.as is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for American Samoa. It is administered by . Island Networks, which provides registry services for .gg and .je, is also responsible for the technical operations of .as.


.as, Usage
Domain names are free of charge for businesses and individuals resident in or associated with American Samoa.


.as, Usage
There is no restriction on registrants, and the domain is also popular outside of Samoa. There a number of .as names having been registered to and used by people, companies and organizations with no connection to American Samoa (as example, people and organizations related to Asturias, a Spanish region). "AS" or "A/S" is a suffix indicating a joint stock company in some countries including Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Czech Republic, so this TLD may be of use by companies of this sort.


.as, Usage
Also, some autonomous systems or websites providing information about autonomous systems or BGP, such as bgp4.as, have registered domain names. It is, sometimes, used as a domain hack, since the suffix "-s" means plural in some languages like English and Spanish, thus "-as" would be the end of the plural of a word that ends with an "a". Examples of such usage include the Brazilian website escol.as, meaning "schools", or macc.as/feedback for McDonald's in Australia (as it is often called Maccas there).


.as, 2016 Legacy Registrar Vulnerability
In April 2016, a security blog publicized a vulnerability in a .AS legacy registrar system which was claimed might have led to exposure of plain-text passwords of domain contacts associated with domains that did not have a registrar, and that this could have potentially allowed an attacker to make modifications to those domains, or even delete them. However, following publication, the AS Domain Registry confirmed to the reporter that legacy managed domains were subject to human oversight and authentication of all changes and that no attempts had been made to take advantage of this apparent vulnerability, and the potential exploit was confirmed to have been closed.


.asec
.asec is the file extension of an Android secure encrypted (ASEC) file. This file extension is specifically associated with Google's Android operating system. It was first introduced with Android 2.2 (code name Froyo) in May 2010.


.asec
The purpose of an ASEC format is to prevent existing applications from being modified or corrupted by other programs. Applications moved to an SD card use an ASEC extension. These files can then be found under the .android_secure folder on the SD card. If an application must be moved from memory back to its device’s local storage, the file is decrypted from the ASEC file format to a basic APK (Android Package) file format.


.asia
The top-level domain asia is the officially designated regional domain in the Internet for Asia and the Pacific. It is a sponsored generic top-level-domain (gTLD) operated by the DotAsia Organisation Ltd. The domain is open to companies, individuals and organisations that have a connection to the region. Asia domains can be seen and used by international and Asian businesses; regional conferences and symposiums; as well as Asian artists and celebrities.


.asia
The domain asia was introduced to the public through a comprehensive launch involving a multiphased Sunrise and Landrush process from October 9, 2007 to March 12, 2008. It became available on a first-come-first-served registration basis on March 26, 2008. In 2013, there are more than 455,000 .asia domains registered across 155 countries.


.asia, Roll-out and response
.asia founded the first Pioneer Domains Program on July 20, 2007, more than two months prior to the opening of its Sunrise launch. It offered businesses and individuals an opportunity to own and build on any .Asia domain before the TLD opened its doors to mass public registration. Applicants were asked to submit a brief business plan for the domain of choice and make a marketing deposit of US$10,000. The full deposit was returned to successful applicants against proof of marketing attributed to the promotion of the built out .Asia website.


.asia, Roll-out and response
The Pioneer Domains Program marks the first time ever a domain registry is opening its doors for domains based on the quality of proposals received for any domain name of choice. Similar programs (often referred to as "Founders Program" or "RFP process") were implemented by other domain launches since.


.asia, Roll-out and response, Pioneer Domains Program
.asia founded the first Pioneer Domains Program on July 20, 2007, more than two months prior to the opening of its Sunrise launch. It offered businesses and individuals an opportunity to own and build on any .asia domain before the TLD opened its doors to mass public registration. Applicants were asked to submit a brief business plan for the domain of choice and make a marketing deposit of US$10,000. The full deposit was returned to successful applicants against proof of marketing attributed to the promotion of the built out .asia website.


.asia, Roll-out and response, Pioneer Domains Program
The Pioneer Domains Program marks the first time ever a domain registry is opening its doors for domains based on the quality of proposals received for any domain name of choice. Similar programs (often referred to as "Founders Program" or "RFP process") were implemented by other domain launches since.


.asia, Community and eligibility
The DotAsia Organisation, operator of the .Asia TLD, is governed by a community of country-code-Top \-Level-Domains within the region including .CN (China), .IR (Iran), .JP (Japan), .KR, (South Korea), .PH (Philippines), .SG (Singapore) and pan-Asia Internet / Information Technology related groups such as APTLD and APNIC.


.asia, Community and eligibility
The .Asia TLD aims to serve Asian communities worldwide as avowed on their website:


.asia, Community and eligibility
.asia is open to any individual, business and organization around the world, and is fast becoming the web address of choice by Asian personalities, international brands and local initiatives across the Asia-Pacific markets. Beyond the region itself, .asia appeals to Asian communities globally, including Asian Americans, Chinatowns, Korean Towns, Little Indias, etc. around the world.


.asia, Community and eligibility
The registry has adopted the boundaries as defined by ICANN for the Asia / Australia / Pacific (AP) region as a basis for its scope of eligibility. Every .Asia domain must be associated with a Charter Eligibility Contact to be eligible and to help demonstrate that the .ASIA domain is associated with the Asia Pacific region.


.asia, Community and eligibility
Since registration criteria is not based on address, this means that one does not necessary have to reside within Asia to own a .Asia domain (as long as the registrant satisfies the Charter Eligibility requirement), and indeed many individuals / entities outside the region have been able to register .Asia domains by selecting a proxy agent (sometimes provided by a registrar or agent).


.asia, Controversy
Allegations of insider trading and conflict of interest have been levelled at Pool.com, exclusive auction service provider for the .Asia Sunrise and Landrush. The 'DotAsia.com Plot' describes that the CEO of Pool.com, Richard Schreier, is accused of securing with unfair advantage several premium .Asia domain names via a number of corporations he apparently has links with.


.asia, Controversy
Mr Schreier specifies that he does "not have any ownership interest" in the corporations involved. As of 15 May 2008, it is unclear whether Mr Schreier has control over the domains in question, nor whether this would breach the DotAsia contract or any laws for countries that the TLD applies to.


.asia, Controversy
The 'DotAsia.com Plot' website that makes the allegations, claims to have received correspondence from CEO of DotAsia, Mr Chung, stating that "Being a party related to a bidding party, in my understanding, does not automatically create any issue." If there is such an affiliation, it would almost certainly be illegal under Australian competition law (where one of the companies involved, Throne Ventures Pty Ltd, is registered.)


.asia, Controversy
.Asia responded by releasing a Special Advisory clarifying the rules already in place for addressing conflicts of interest and bid rigging issues and that there is no evidence suggesting that bidders have been advantaged or disadvantaged due to their relationship or non-relationship with Pool.com.


.asia, Controversy
Some of the domains in question: porn.asia; dating.asia; insurance.asia; lotto.asia; stocks.asia; auction.asia; beer.asia; fitness.asia; girls.asia; wine.asia


.asia, Controversy
However, all of these domains according to the .ASIA whois service, were awarded during the Sunrise period which means their applications were made with a claim of prior right (registered trademark identical to the domain name). These claims would have been validated by the .ASIA validation partner (there were two, including Deloitte Touche) and where multiple applications were received, the domains would go to auction. The actual auction schedule shows these domains did not go to auction from which it can be concluded there was only a single verified application for the domains in question.


.asia, Controversy
There are ongoing disputes between Dot Asia Organization Ltd. over the ".BOX" and ".SPA" Top Level Domains involving their Board members.


.asia, Internationalized domain names
.Asia launched registrations for Chinese, Japanese and Korean Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) registrations (e.g. "交易.asia", "ビデオ.asia", "게임.asia") from May 11 – October 11, 2011. Over 10,000 domains were applied during the Sunrise and Landrush launch. Chinese, Japanese and Korean .Asia IDN domains started selling on a first-come-first-served basis on June 21, 2012. .Asia plans to launch other Asian language IDN .Asia domains at a later date.


.asia, DotAsia Organisation
The DotAsia Organisation, registry operator of the .Asia domain, is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization with a mandate to promote Internet development and adoption in Asia. DotAsia is headquartered in Hong Kong and formed as an open membership consortium of national / official top-level domain authorities around the region (e.g. ".cn" in China, ".jp" in Japan, ".in" in India, ".sg" in Singapore", etc.) and regional Internet organizations (e.g. APNIC, APTLD, APIA, etc. ).


.asia, DotAsia Organisation
Since the launch of the ".Asia" DotAsia has contributed funds and support to different socio-technological advancement community projects around Asia. These projects include but are not limited to OLPC , , youth volunteer program & Network: the , the  (APrIGF), .


.asia, DotAsia Organisation
Together with HN Group in Macau, DotAsia Organisation is also providing its expertise and knowledge to support the Macau government in the operation of the .MO country-code-top-level-domain.


.at
.at is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Austria. It is administered by nic.at.


.at, Second-level domains
The .at top-level domain has a number of second-level domains:


.at, Second-level domains
However, it is also possible to register directly at the top level. Given the number of English words that end with -at, this presents the possibility for many domain hacks.


.at, Known domain hacks
Many Austrian domain names were registered for English words that end with "at". Domain hacks treating "at" as a word in its own right (such as arrive.at) are widespread. As of today, there are very few such domain names left available on the domain prime market as the result of the domain name speculation. Most of them can be bought on the domain secondary market. Only a few of these domain names are actually used. Some known examples of the Austrian domain hacks are:


.at, Properties
An .at-Domain can be between one and 63 characters long. Registrations of internationalized domain names are accepted. In 2007, it was made possible to register domain names containing only numbers. The .at-Domain started using DNSSEC in 2011 in order to guarantee the authenticity and integrity of the Domain Name System's data.


.at, Properties
Before August 2016, it was only possible to register .at-Domains with three or more (two for co.at, ac.at, gv.at, or.at) characters.


.au
.au is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Australia. It was first created on 5 March 1986. Domain name policy is managed by .au Domain Administration (auDA). As of July 2018, the registry is operated by Afilias.


.au, History
The domain name was originally allocated by Jon Postel, operator of IANA to Kevin Robert Elz of Melbourne University in 1986. After an approximately five-year process in the 1990s, the Internet industry created a self-regulatory body called .au Domain Administration to operate the domain. It obtained assent from ICANN in 2001, and commenced operating a new competitive regime for domain registration on 1 July 2002. Since this new regime, any registration has to be ordered via a registrar.


.au, Operation
Oversight of .au is by .au Domain Administration (auDA). It is a not-for-profit organisation whose membership is derived from Internet organisations, industry members and interested individuals. The organisation operates with the endorsement of the Australian Government and with the delegated authority of ICANN.


.au, Operation
Policy for .au is devised by policy development panels. These panels are convened by auDA and combine public input with industry representation to derive policy. The day-to-day operation of the .au registry technical facility is tendered out by auDA. AusRegistry has performed the registry role since the initial tender in 2002. In December 2017, Afilias won a competitive tender process to take over the running of the registry from AusRegistry. The registry does not sell domain registration services direct to the consumer, rather consumers who wish to register a domain must do so via a domain name registrar. After the industry's liberalisation in 2002, there is an active competitive market in registrars with a variety of prices and services.


.au, Operation
In 2008 auDA changed its longstanding policy and allowed changes in ownership of .au domains. Although the secondary market was initially slow to take off there have recently been signs of increasing maturity in the .au aftermarket culminating in the record $125,500 sale of investmentproperty.com.au. The auDA ISS is a world-first industry initiative aimed at improving the security of .au registrar businesses, protecting .au registrants and enhancing the overall stability and integrity of the .au domain space. auDA introduced the ISS in October 2013 as a mandatory requirement, and all accredited registrars must be certified as ISS compliant within 24 months. ,  and , part of the Total Internet Group, are the first three auDA accredited registrars to achieve ISS compliance.


.au, Registration
The naming rules for .au require registrations under second-level categories that describe a type of entity. .com.au, for example, is designed for commercial entities. This follows a similar allocation policy to that formerly used in other countries such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand.


.au, Registration
Registrations are currently permitted below a second-level domain, such as "yourname.com.au". In April 2016, auDA announced it would introduce registrations directly at the second level, such as "yourname.au". Direct registrations were due to be implemented in 2017 although due to an ongoing debate on how cybersquatting would be mitigated with the release of the direct second-level registrations has led to a delay, with a new launch date of 24 March 2022.


.au, Registration
Registering a domain in the .au namespace requires registrants to have either an exact match or a "close and substantial connection" to their desired domain name. This "policy rich" approach to the name space, begun by Robert Elz and continued by auDA, has meant the .au domain space has avoided the cybersquatting and fraudulent uses of domains prevalent in other more permissive domains.


.au, Registration
Registration of a .au domain is completed through a reseller, known as a registrar, with the registry acting as the wholesale provider. auDA manages domain name policy as the ICANN and Australian Government-endorsed manager of the .au DNS.


.au, Registration, Community geographic domain names
Introduced in 2004, "community geographic domain names" (CGDNs) are intended to be used for "community websites that reflect community interests such as local business, tourism, historical information, culture, sporting groups, local events and news" of a local community. These domains are managed by the   6 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine (auCD) on behalf of auDA. The funding of auCD was provided from a ballot of locality names in the .com.au and .net.au domain spaces; previously, any locality with a postcode had been restricted from being registered as a commercial domain name.


.au, Registration, Community geographic domain names
CGDNs use the state or territory's common abbreviation as the second level of the domain. For example, a community based in Victoria would receive a domain ending in ".vic.au", a Northern Territory community would use ".nt.au", and so on. The third level of the domain must be an addressable locality within that state or territory, of the form "townname.vic.au". Where a name is duplicated within a state – for instance, between a smaller town, and a suburb of a larger town or city – the locality name may be suffixed with the name of the local government area, town or city to which it is associated (e.g. "suburbname-cityname.vic.au").


.au, Registration, Community geographic domain names
Holders of CGDNs must be "a legally registered, not-for-profit entity; and [...] representative of the local community for the purpose of holding the domain name licence." In particular, commercial entities and local governments are not permitted to hold a CGDN in their own right; they are however permitted to hold membership in such entities set up to hold a CGDN.


.au, Registration, Community geographic domain names
As of November 2009, the auCD site claims 91 active CGDNs across Australia, with a further 115 either approved or awaiting approval.


.au, Registration, Third-level domains
The use of ".gov.au" as a second level domain is for Australian Federal government and for its initiatives, while the use of a third-level domain, being an Australian state abbreviation, is an identifier that the domain belongs to either the relevant state government or a local government inside the state. The ".edu.au" is also split up into state-based categories in most cases.


.au, Registration, Third-level domains
auDA has delegated responsibility of the .edu.au domain to Australian Information and Communications Technology in Education Committee (AICTEC), which formed a specialist sub-committee, .edu.au Domain Administration Committee (eDAC).


.au, Registration, Third-level domains
Schools use a domain name that reflect their locale, and these state-based third-level domains are managed independently by the states. For example, a school in Western Australia would register "schoolname.wa.edu.au". Similarly, replacing the bold part of these domains, Victoria would use ".vic", Queensland would use ".qld", South Australia would use ".sa", Tasmania would use ".tas", Northern Territory would use ".nt" and the Australian Capital Territory would use ".act". However, after a change of internet services in Queensland State Schools their domain names were changed from "schoolname.qld.edu.au" to "schoolname.eq.edu.au". This is not the case for private schools in Queensland. Often, domains can even contain a fourth level: for instance, a NSW public school might have the domain "schoolname.schools.nsw.edu.au".


.au, Registration, Third-level domains
Tertiary institutions are typically exempt from requiring state-based distinctions. For example, Edith Cowan University in Western Australia has a domain of "ecu.edu.au" rather than "ecu.wa.edu.au", Monash University in Victoria uses "monash.edu.au" rather than "monash.vic.edu.au". This difference can be associated with states having responsibility for primary and secondary education while the Commonwealth has responsibility for tertiary education; tertiary institutions often having a presence in multiple states.


.au, Registration, Historic second-level domains
Some second-level domain names are no longer actively used. Whilst registrations are grandfathered for some, no new registrations are accepted.


.au, Domain statistics
As of September 2017, there were around 3,115,365 active .au domains.


.au, Other Australian domain names
.au is not the only top-level domain name assigned to Australia. Some Australian territories have their own ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code, and therefore have their own ccTLD as well:


.au, Other Australian domain names
As the appropriate authorities were late in recognising the need to manage these, most were registered by entrepreneurs for use as vanity domains unrelated to the locale they serve. .cc, for example, is now operated by VeriSign. .hm represents a nature preserve with no human inhabitants.


.au, Other Australian domain names
There are also two geographic top-level domain names assigned to Australia in which are used by individuals and businesses within a particular region, they are: