Two Versions of the .Net Framework

[M and D]

From Add or Remove Programs I see I have three entries for the .Net Framework:

..Net Framework 1.1
..Net Framework 1.1 Hotfix
..Net Framework 2.0

Since I have .Net 2.0, is it OK to uninstal .Net 1.1 and its hotfix?

Thanks for your help.

Steven

 

[Sharon F]

From Add or Remove Programs I see I have three entries for the .Net Framework:

.Net Framework 1.1
.Net Framework 1.1 Hotfix
.Net Framework 2.0

Since I have .Net 2.0, is it OK to uninstal .Net 1.1 and its hotfix?

Thanks for your help.

Some programs will use 1.1 and some will use 2.0. Version 2.0 is not
necessarily backwards compatible so it's okay to have them both installed.

 

[Chris Priede]

Hi,

Since I have .Net 2.0, is it OK to uninstal .Net 1.1 and
its hotfix?

The sole purpose for .NET framework is to support applications developed
around .NET technology. If you have been installing the frameworks from
Windows Update and have no software that uses them, you would be fine
uninstalling both. Microsoft's decision to distribute the framework on
Windows update, resulting in most users getting it whether they need it or
not, was likely influenced by marketing reasons (the humongous runtime
requirement is more easily swallowed by developers if most people already
have it).

If you have software that uses .NET framework, then the best advice would be
to keep the version your software was built for (or both, if you have
applications for both). While applications built for 1.1 should work with
2.0, some compatibility issues have been documented. When both are present,
each application will use the version it was built against.

 

[M and D]

Thank you both for your helpful information.

I actually do have some software that needs the .net framework (Norton Ghost and ATI drivers among them), although I don't know which version they require. I'm fine with keeping both versions installed.

Steven