What is it?
The
.NET Framework is a
software component that can be installed on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. (
No, it is not a hack.) It provides a
library of
pre-written code which programmers can use in their own programs. Programs written for the .NET Framework are executed in a
managed environment. In other words, it makes programming easier by relieving the programmer of chores like
memory management. This is a lot like
Java. In fact, the .NET Framework is also
cross-platform (thanks to the
Mono project), which means that a program written for Windows (using the .NET Framework of course) can be run on Linux and Mac OS X as well (if the same classes are installed on that system). In a nutshell, that is basically what the .NET Framework is. There is more, so read on!
What is with the version numbers? Which one do I have?
The .NET Framework comes in
several versions:
1.0,
1.1,
2.0,
3.0, and
3.5. .NET Framework 1.0 comes with Windows XP. Windows Vista comes with all of them (except 3.5). Every other version has to be manually installed. You can obtain them from Microsoft:
.NET Framework 1.1,
.NET Framework 2.0, and
.NET Framework 3.0. If you install version 3.0, then you don't have to install 2.0, since 3.0 includes 2.0. (
Version 3.5 has not been released yet. You cannot download it.)
(to be continued/updated)
The .NET Framework FAQ 
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