.NET Framework System Requirements

The tables in this topic provide the hardware, operating system, and software requirements for the .NET Framework.

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 Professional x86

Windows 7 Professional N

Windows 7 Professional 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 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