diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 34ace61b..6935449f 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # See https://github.com/devcontainers/images/tree/main/src/dotnet for image choices
-FROM mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/dotnet:8.0
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/vscode/devcontainers/dotnet:9.0
 
 # [Choice] Node.js version: none, lts/*, 16, 14, 12, 10
 ARG NODE_VERSION="none"
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 61655025..da7c1a47 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 		"args": {
 			// Update 'VARIANT' to pick a .NET Core version: 3.1, 5.0, 6.0
 			// Append -bullseye or -focal to pin to an OS version.
-			"VARIANT": "8.0",
+			"VARIANT": "9.0",
 			// Options
 			"NODE_VERSION": "lts/*"
 		}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 54d68e9e..3b0db68e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -17,9 +17,7 @@ on:
   merge_group:
 
 env:
-  DOTNET_VERSION: ${{ '8.0.201' }}
-  DOTNET_INSTALL_DIR: dotnet-install
-  DOTNET_ROOT: dotnet-install
+  DOTNET_VERSION: ${{ '9.0.x' }}
   ENABLE_DIAGNOSTICS: true
   MSBUILD_VERBOSITY: normal
   #COREHOST_TRACE: 1
diff --git a/Directory.Build.targets b/Directory.Build.targets
index e3c75c2c..4f8f2ee7 100644
--- a/Directory.Build.targets
+++ b/Directory.Build.targets
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <Project>
 
   <ItemGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Release'">
-    <PackageReference Include="NuGet.Build.Tasks.Pack" Version="6.7.0" PrivateAssets="all" Pack="false" />
+    <PackageReference Include="NuGet.Build.Tasks.Pack" Version="6.12.1" PrivateAssets="all" Pack="false" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SourceLink.GitHub" Version="1.1.1" PrivateAssets="All" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
diff --git a/components/Converters/src/ResourceNameToResourceStringConverter.cs b/components/Converters/src/ResourceNameToResourceStringConverter.cs
index 24227bb0..e97a6bcc 100644
--- a/components/Converters/src/ResourceNameToResourceStringConverter.cs
+++ b/components/Converters/src/ResourceNameToResourceStringConverter.cs
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public sealed partial class ResourceNameToResourceStringConverter : IValueConver
 #if WINAPPSDK && !HAS_UNO
         return _resourceManager.MainResourceMap.TryGetValue(valueAsString).ValueAsString;
 #else
-        return _resourceLoader.GetString(valueAsString);
+        return _resourceLoader.GetString(valueAsString) ?? string.Empty;
 #endif
     }
 
diff --git a/components/Extensions/src/Text/StringExtensions.Localization.cs b/components/Extensions/src/Text/StringExtensions.Localization.cs
index 6f784125..fb6a6f7b 100644
--- a/components/Extensions/src/Text/StringExtensions.Localization.cs
+++ b/components/Extensions/src/Text/StringExtensions.Localization.cs
@@ -54,11 +54,11 @@ static StringExtensions()
         if (uiContext != null)
         {
             var resourceLoader = ResourceLoader.GetForUIContext(uiContext);
-            return resourceLoader.GetString(resourceKey);
+            return resourceLoader?.GetString(resourceKey) ?? string.Empty;
         }
         else
         {
-            return ResourceLoader.GetForCurrentView().GetString(resourceKey);
+            return ResourceLoader.GetForCurrentView().GetString(resourceKey) ?? string.Empty;
         }
     }
 #endif
diff --git a/components/Media/src/Dependencies.props b/components/Media/src/Dependencies.props
index 04c44f45..fad06d5e 100644
--- a/components/Media/src/Dependencies.props
+++ b/components/Media/src/Dependencies.props
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   <!-- WinUI 2 / UWP -->
   <ItemGroup Condition="'$(IsUwp)' == 'true'">
     <PackageReference Include="Win2D.uwp" Version="1.28.0" />
-    <PackageReference Include="System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions" Version="4.5.4" />
+    <PackageReference Include="System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions" Version="4.6.0" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <!-- WinUI 3 / WinAppSdk -->
diff --git a/tooling b/tooling
index 4fac6839..83624f68 160000
--- a/tooling
+++ b/tooling
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 4fac683906a559a36e27727d144b54df4f522895
+Subproject commit 83624f6874a8255cf46afc419cb8da5844de6e89