the . Net is already a Framework, but within it you have several libraries and one of them is the Entity Framework, which aims to solve the data persistence problem based on the ORM concept. You can use the Entity in your application, whether Desktop or Web, but for data persistence you are not required to use the Entity, you can use another ORM framework like the Nhibernate, or even use SQL statements to perform the records of your system’s tables' Insert, update, selects, Deletes.
First of all keep in mind that this is a very important decision for the architecture of your system, even depends on the database you will use.
can work on desktop
– Joy Peter
If you are developing with . NET, it is itself a framework. Entity is a ORM.
– Aline
Okay Thanks for the comments, but then if using visual studio I’m already using a framework ?
– Aprendiz
Yes friend, if you are using the visual studio, you are already using the . Net Framework. Visual Studio is our desktop environment, where we write our code and use the components and functionality it offers, we call it the IDE. A . Net framework is the "service" that takes what we do in VS and converts it into machine language for the computer to interpret. summarizing the framework has the resources and the visual studio is the means to use these resources
– olavooneto