.NET version required by application

Question

Hello All,

How can i find out what version of .NET is required by an application?

Is versions generally backward compatible or not?

Say you have more than one version installed, how will it decide which version to use?

Regards,

Harriet

 

Answer 1

You should ask the publisher of the software in question which .NET Framework they require for their product.

As far as backwards compatibility is concerned, sometimes yes, sometimes no. There are some definite no's: If you have software that requires .NET Framework 1.1, you cannot substitute newer versions, as 1.1 uses a different codebase from 2.0/3.0/3.5 and 4.0. Software publishers usually provide installers for their products that check your system fo the needed framework version and automatically install the needed framework if not already present.

In my opinion, there are actually three .NET Framework versions in play on users' computers currently (the opinion part is that I do not list version 1.0, because it is very old and was replaced within a year of publication by 1.1):

Version 1.1, usually only required by older software.

Version 2.0/3.0/3.5 (yes it's all ONE version). 2.0 is the base full framework. 3.0 and 3.5 are extensions of 2.0, NOT full frameworks. Therefore, you cannot have (for example) 3.5 without 2.0/3.0 as well.

Version 4.0, the newest .NET Framework.

Answer 2

Hi,

Thank you for your comprehensive answer, it is helping me a lot. I work for a development house, and we have been using 3.5 up till now.

I have the following installed on my development pc:

1. .NET Framework 1

2. .NET Framework 2

3. .NET Framework 2 sp 1

4. .NET Framework 3 sp 2

5. .NET Framework 3.5 sp 1

6. .NET Framework 4

According to what you are saying, 2.0 is the base and the following versions are extentions. Can I assume that 4.0 is a full version? And would you say that i need to uninstall all previous versions, if I want to test application compatibility with 4.0?

Do you know what version will be used, if more than one is installed? Can you tell an application to look for a particular version and then use it?

Thank you!

Harriet

Answer 3

Yes, version 4.0 is a full separate framework.

A given sodtware product will use the framework version that was targeted by the developers when that product was built.

When you say "Can you tell an application to look for a particular version and then use it?", if "you" is the developer, then yes. If "you" is the end user, then no.

BTW, do you really have .NET Framework 1.0 and not 1.1? That's an unusual combination.