Build WinForms Quickstart for .NET 4.8 Windows 11

[Aaron LaBeau (biozal)]

This PR provides a Quickstart for Windows 11 and .NET version 4.8. Originally requested by Brian Plattenburg (@bplattenburg), originally targeting a pre-release Ditto SDK build; now bumped to the GA release.

This shares as much code as possible with the modern version of Windows Form Quickstart example. Very important notes:

• This only compiles on Windows with Visual Studio (tested on Visual Studio 2019/2026). It probably works in Rider but was not tested with it.
• This requires the Ditto NuGet package version 4.14.4 (GA) or newer — 4.14.4 is the first stable release with .NET Framework (netstandard2.0) support. Will not work on 4.14.3 or earlier.
• It will never build on any other platform than Windows 11 or Windows Server because it requires .NET 4.8 specifically and that is limited to Windows platforms.

No tests are provided for the app currently.

Recent updates

• Bumped Ditto SDK from 4.14.4-experimental-net-framework-support.1 to 4.14.4 GA across packages.config, Taskapp.WinForms.Net48.csproj, and the README API-reference link.
• Dropped vestigial websocketUrl plumbing — the new DittoConfig + DittoConfigConnect.Server flow routes everything through the auth URL, so the parameter was unused. Removed from TasksPeer, TasksPeerService, AppConfiguration, Program, and .env.sample.
• Re-added the DQL strict-mode disable in TasksPeer.Create — the 4.x SDK still defaults to strict mode (default flips in v5), so it's required to support the SELECT * query the quickstart uses.
• Cleaned up unused imports in Program.cs.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds a new Windows Forms quickstart targeting .NET Framework 4.8 (Windows 11 / VS) using an experimental Ditto SDK build, largely mirroring the existing modern WinForms sample.

Changes:

• Introduces a new dotnet-winforms-net48/ WinForms app (UI + Ditto CRUD/observe wrapper) targeting net48.
• Adds net48-specific build assets (solution/project, packages.config, native DLL copy rule).
• Adds local .env-based configuration loading and quickstart documentation.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 18 out of 22 changed files in this pull request and generated 13 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
dotnet-winforms-net48/packages.config	Pins Ditto experimental net48-support packages and supporting dependencies.
dotnet-winforms-net48/ToDoTask.cs	Task document model for the tasks collection (Newtonsoft.Json attributes).
dotnet-winforms-net48/TasksPeerService.cs	Singleton service wrapper around TasksPeer for app-wide access.
dotnet-winforms-net48/TasksPeer.cs	Ditto SDK wrapper implementing CRUD + subscription + observation for tasks.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Taskapp.WinForms.Net48.sln	New VS solution for the net48 WinForms quickstart.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Taskapp.WinForms.Net48.csproj	Net48 WinForms project file with explicit assembly refs and native DLL copy.
dotnet-winforms-net48/README.md	Net48-specific prerequisites and run instructions.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Settings.settings	Default settings file for WinForms project scaffolding.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Settings.Designer.cs	Auto-generated Settings designer.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Resources.resx	Project resources container.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs	Auto-generated Resources designer.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs	Assembly metadata for net48 build.
dotnet-winforms-net48/Program.cs	WinForms entry point with async initialization via a loading dialog.
dotnet-winforms-net48/MainForm.resx	Resources for the main WinForms UI.
dotnet-winforms-net48/MainForm.cs	Main UI logic: list rendering + add/edit/delete + done toggling.
dotnet-winforms-net48/MainForm.Designer.cs	Main form designer-generated layout.
dotnet-winforms-net48/LoadingForm.cs	Modal loading form that awaits Ditto initialization.
dotnet-winforms-net48/LoadingForm.Designer.cs	Loading form designer-generated layout.
dotnet-winforms-net48/InputDialog.cs	Simple modal input dialog for editing task titles.
dotnet-winforms-net48/AppConfiguration.cs	.env loader and required config validation.
dotnet-winforms-net48/App.config	Declares .NET Framework 4.8 runtime.
dotnet-winforms-net48/.env.sample	Sample environment file template for required Ditto settings.

Files not reviewed (4)

• dotnet-winforms-net48/LoadingForm.Designer.cs: Language not supported
• dotnet-winforms-net48/MainForm.Designer.cs: Language not supported
• dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs: Language not supported
• dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Settings.Designer.cs: Language not supported

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 18 out of 22 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Files not reviewed (4)

• dotnet-winforms-net48/LoadingForm.Designer.cs: Language not supported
• dotnet-winforms-net48/MainForm.Designer.cs: Language not supported
• dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs: Language not supported
• dotnet-winforms-net48/Properties/Settings.Designer.cs: Language not supported

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[Brian Plattenburg (bplattenburg)]

Aaron LaBeau (@biozal) bumped this to 4.14.4 GA, dropped the websocketUrl stuff (unused with the new DittoConfig path), and put the strict mode disable back since 4.x still defaults to strict. Mind giving it a test on Windows when you have a sec?

Bulzan Sergiu (@busec0) to approve.