.NET Framework System Requirements
Updated: March 2011
The tables in this topic provide the hardware, operating system, and software requirements for the .NET Framework.
.gif "Note") Note |
|---|
For the most up-to-date information on system requirements and supported platforms, see the Readme.htm file for the .NET Framework. |
For information about devices that are supported by the .NET Compact Framework, see Devices and Platforms Supported by the .NET Compact Framework.
This topic lists the system requirements for using the .NET Framework. Development environments that enable you to develop applications for the .NET Framework have a separate set of requirements.
Hardware Requirements
Hardware requirements |
Version 4 full |
Version 4 client |
Version 3.5 |
Version 3.0 |
Version 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Processor |
|||||
Minimum |
1 GHz |
1 GHz |
400 MHz |
400 MHz |
400 MHz |
Recommended |
1 GHz |
1 GHz |
1 GHz |
1 GHz |
- |
RAM |
|||||
Minimum |
512 MB |
512 MB |
96 MB |
96 MB |
96 MB |
Recommended |
512 MB |
512 MB |
256 MB |
256 MB |
- |
Disk space (minimum) |
|||||
32-bit |
850 MB |
600 MB |
280 MB |
280 MB |
280 MB |
64-bit |
2 GB |
1.5 GB |
610 MB |
610 MB |
610 MB |
Supported Client Operating Systems
The following table lists the operating systems supported by each version of the .NET Framework. √ indicates that a particular version of the .NET Framework is supported by a specified operating system; - indicates that it is not supported.
Operating system |
Version 4 and Version 4 client |
Version 3.5 |
Version 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
Windows 7 Ultimate x86 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Ultimate N |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Enterprise x86 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Enterprise N |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Enterprise x64 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Business x86 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Business N |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Business x64 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Home Premium x86 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Home Premium N |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows7 Home Basic x86 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Home Basic N |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Starter x86 |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows 7 Starter N |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Enterprise (x64) |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Enterprise |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Business (x64) |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Business |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Ultímate (x64) |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Ultimate |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Home Premium (x64) |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Home Premium |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Home Basic |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Starter Ed. Digital Boost (x64) |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Starter Ed. Digital Boost |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista R2 Starter |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Ultimate |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Enterprise |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Enterprise x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Business |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Business x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Home Premium |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Home Premium x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Home Basic |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Starter Ed. Digital Boost |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Starter Ed. Digital Boost (x64) |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Vista Starter |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Professional |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Home Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 |
- |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 |
- |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 |
- |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Professional Reduced Media Edition |
- |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Home Reduced Media Edition |
- |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition |
- |
√ |
√ |
Windows XP Starter Edition |
- |
√ |
√ |
Windows 2000 Professional with SP4 |
- |
- |
√ |
Windows Millennium Edition |
- |
- |
√ |
Windows NT Workstation |
- |
- |
- |
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition |
- |
- |
√ |
Microsoft Windows 98 |
- |
- |
√ |
Microsoft Windows 95 |
- |
- |
- |
Notes:
For all platforms, we recommend that you upgrade to the latest Windows Service Pack and critical updates available from the Windows Update Web site to ensure the best compatibility and security.
On 64-bit operating systems, the .NET Framework supports both WOW64 (32-bit processing on a 64-bit machine) and native 64-bit processing.
The .NET Framework Client Profile is not supported on IA-64-based (Itanium) systems.
Supported Server Operating Systems
Operating system |
Version 4 full |
Version 4 client |
Version 3.5 |
Version 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows Essential Business Server Security Server |
√ |
- |
- |
- |
Windows Essential Business Server Messaging Server |
√ |
- |
- |
- |
Windows Small Business Server 2008 |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Small Business Server 2008 without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium Edition |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Small Business Server 2008 Prime Edition |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard 64-Bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard 64-Bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64-Bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64-Bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter 64-Bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter 64-Bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Web 64-Bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 HPC Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Web 32-Bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Web 64-Bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter 32-Bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter 32-Bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter 64-bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter 64-bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 64-bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 64-bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise for Itanium-based Systems |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Standard 32-bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Standard 32-bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Server 2008 Standard 64-bit Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2008 Standard 64-bit Edition without Hyper-V |
√ |
√ |
- |
- |
Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 Datacenter x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for Itanium-based Systems |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003, Professional Edition for Itanium-based Systems |
√ |
√ |
√ |
- |
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition |
√ |
- |
√ |
- |
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition |
√ |
- |
√ |
- |
Windows 2000 Datacenter Server with SP4 |
- |
- |
- |
√ |
Windows 2000 Advanced Server with SP4 |
- |
- |
- |
√ |
Windows 2000 Server with SP4 |
- |
- |
- |
√ |
Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Windows NT Server |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Notes:
For all platforms, we recommend that you upgrade to the latest Windows Service Pack and critical updates available from the Windows Update Web site to ensure the best compatibility and security. Installation of the latest Windows Service Pack may be required on some operating systems.
On 64-bit operating systems, the .NET Framework supports both WOW64 (32-bit processing on a 64-bit machine) and native 64-bit processing.
The .NET Framework Client Profile is not supported on IA-64-based (Itanium) systems.
The .NET Framework 4 Server Core download is supported on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Server Core or later; it is not supported on earlier Server Core versions. Only server-based features work. Client application features (such as Windows Presentation Foundation and ClickOnce deployment) are not supported. You should test your application thoroughly to ensure that its full functionality is available on Windows Server Core.
For Windows 2003 Server, you must also install Windows Imaging Component (WIC) on the target computer.
Additional Software Requirements
Software |
Version 4 |
Version 3.5 |
Version 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
Microsoft Internet Explorer |
6.0 or later |
6.0 or later |
6.0 or later |
Windows Installer |
3.1 or later |
3.1 or later |
3.0 or later |
Change History
Date |
History |
Reason |
|---|---|---|
|
March 2011 |
Updated information on support for Windows Server Core. |
Information enhancement. |
|
December 2010 |
Corrected the version of Windows Installer required for the .NET Framework 3.5. |
Content bug fix. |
|
September 2010 |
Corrected information for Windows 7 Starter x86 and Windows 7 Starter N. |
Content bug fix. |
|
August 2010 |
Noted that installation of the latest service pack may be required on some operating systems. |
Customer feedback. |
|
May 2010 |
Added support for the .NET Framework 2.0 and the .NET Framework 3.5 to Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 family of operating systems. |
Customer feedback. |