Clarification on requirements to run .net programs.

[EracMan]

I have searched the forums and I think I have found the answer but I want to clarify.

On what OSs can a vb.net application be ran? What is required?

The FAQ states this:

<LI>What do I need to run .NET applications?
-Windows 98, ME, NT 4 (SP 6a), 2000, XP Home, or XP Professional
-The .NET Framework Redistributable
-IE 5.01 or later (download IE6 from above link)

Does this mean that all of the OSs mentioned above will also need to have the .net framework installed (before developing, for running apps, both?), or do some of them (XP perhaps) already have the .net framework natively in place? If so, which ones?

Also, how long does the .net framework take to install?

 

[PlausiblyDamp]

They will all require the .Net framework to be installed before running any .Net apps - however SP2 for XP should include the framework as will all new versions of windows.
In itself the framework is approx 20-30M download and should install in 5 minutes or so.
To develop .Net applications you will require the .Net SDK which is free.

A VB.Net windows application should run on all the above supported editions of windows - however if you are creating an ASP.Net application that IIRC it will require Win2K or better for the server.

 

[EracMan]

Thanks for the quick response and answering all my questions. I will then install .net SDK so that I can develop and make sure any PCs that run the .net apps have the .net framework installed. as for ASP.Net, all PCs that I develop for are Win2k or newer (Professional) so that should not be an issue.

One more question. Is there a way to check if the PC has these components (.net SDK, .Net Framework) installed already?

 

[Cassio]

You should have a look at this document:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/redistdeploy1_1.asp

Look for the bootstraper sample.

 

[EracMan]

Thanks Cassio,

Based on the link provided, it looks like I can search the registry for the following to check for the .net framework:

The Setup.exe bootstrapper sample uses the following registry key to detect the .NET Framework version 1.1.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v1.1.4322

It then verifies the existence of the entry value:

Install (DWORD value = 1)