.NET Framework

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Download

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Microsoft has released .NET Framework 4 last week along with Visual Studio 2010.The latest version of the .NET Framework is now available both as a Web installer as well as a stand alone installer.If you have been following our blog off late, you must have read our post about how to find the version of the .NET Framework installed in your windows.The newer applications that require Microsoft .NET Framework 4 will automatically trigger a download of the component, if it’s not been already installed on the user’s computer.

.NET Framework consists of the core framework that goes behind all the modern windows based applications.The .NET Framework model’s downward compatibility lets it to work along side with older versions of the .NET Framework.The newer version introduces many features besides improving the performance.

.NET Framework 4 Features:

Net Framework 4 poster

.NET poster via Brad Abrams

  • Improvements in Common Language Runtime (CLR) and Base Class Library (BCL)
  • Innovations in the Visual Basic and C# languages
  • Improvements in Data Access and Modeling
  • Improvements in performance and scalability
  • significant enhancements to ASP.NET that provides more control over HTML, element IDs and custom CSS
  • Improvements in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
  • New added support for Windows 7 multi-touch, ribbon controls & taskbar extensibility features.
  • Improvements to Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) (Ex: support for WCF Workflow Services)
  • Innovative new parallel-programming features (Ex:parallel loop support, Task Parallel Library (TPL), Parallel LINQ (PLINQ) etc.,)

Complete list of new features/changes is available at this page.

Download .NET Framework 4 :

Link 1: Standalone Installer

Link 2: Web Installer

Requirements : Windows XP SP3 /Windows Vista SP1 or later versions (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions)

Find The Microsoft.NET Framework Version Installed In Your Windows PC

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Well, if you are using a computer running Windows operating system, you might be aware of the Microsoft .NET Framework that needs to be installed in your computer in order to let the most newer applications created for Windows run smoothly on your PC without much compatibility issues.

While it’s easier to install the .NET Framework SDK anytime by downloading the file from the Microsoft’s website, you may definitely want to know the version of the .NET Framework installed on your Windows based computer.

So here I’m trying to guide you through the various ways in which you can find the .NET version installed on your computer.

Method 1 : Using Registry Editor:

If you are familiar with Windows registry editor (by using regedit command), this should be the easier way to find the version of .NET installed.You just have to navigate to the following registry path and check the value present for the key entry “Version” (which is 3.5.30729… in my case) as shown below.

Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ MICROSOFT\ NET Framework Setup\ NDP\ v3.5

Net Framework Version Registry Key

Method 2: Using IE User Agent String

Please note that this method works only with Internet explorer.

Here we are querying the user agent string of Internet Explorer.Copy the following JavaScript  in to your Internet Explorer address bar and press enter, you will now see an alert something similar to the one shown below.

javascript:alert(navigator.userAgent)

User Agent String Javascript

As shown above, querying the IE User Agent String has resulted in a pop-up alert that shows all the .NET versions installed on my Windows 7 machine (.NET 2.0.50727, .NET 3.0.30729 & the latest one being .NET CLR 3.5.30729).

Even though other browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome & Opera also respond to the user Agent String query, they will not however show the actual versions of .NET Framework installed.

Method 3: Using Add or Remove Windows Programs/ Features

If you are using Windows XP and earlier operating systems, just go to control panel and click “Add or Remove Programs” find the version of .NET Framework in the programs installed.

If you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, go to Control Panel > Programs> Turn Windows features on or off, find “Microsoft .NET Framework” in the list and note down the version number.

Windows features .Net Framework

Method 4: Using Aaron Stebner .NET Framework Detector Code

If you are a programming geek and want to detect the version of .NET Framework installed on your PC with a simple C++ code, you may want to check Aaron Stebner’s .NET Framework checker code(cpp) which you can run using your Visual Studio/Visual C++ 2005 or 2007 versions.

Method 5 : Using Windows Explorer

To see which versions of the .NET Framework are installed on your PC, locate the %systemroot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework folder by typing the same in the Windows explorer address bar you sill something like this :

  • v3.5
  • v3.0
  • v2.0.50727
  • v1.1.4322
  • v1.0.3705

.NET Framework folder windows These represent the versions of the .NET Framework installed in your computer.