Visual Studio 17.14 Preview 3 adds Toolbox support for Explicit Assembly References in .NET Framework projects, simplifying legacy Windows Forms development and modernization.

Explicit Assembly References are stand-alone assemblies directly referenced in your project. They are not pulled in through NuGet packages, project references, or the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). These assemblies often represent legacy .NET Framework components, especially those compiled for 32-bit, which are not easily upgraded to modern .NET and may exist outside of package management.

Until now, the Toolbox in the Windows Forms designer only displayed controls sourced from NuGet packages or project references.