What versions of Windows is Microsoft planning to support with .NET 4.0?
+7
A:
It's not been officially announced yet, but the 4.0 beta is supported on:
- Windows XP SP3
- Windows Server 2003 SP2
- Windows Vista SP1
- Windows Server 2008 (not supported in Server Core Role)
Windows 7 RC- Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2 RC (not supported in Server Core Role)- Windows Server 2008 R2 (not supported in Server Core Role)
[Updated list for beta 2]
(see here (beta 1))
(see here (beta 2))
When it is released and announced formally, I presume it will appear here.
Simon P Stevens
2009-12-08 22:46:51
Exactly what I was looking for, thank you Simon.
James McMahon
2009-12-08 22:48:39
No problem. Don't take it as a rock solid guarantee though. I'd say it's pretty unlikely, but not entirely impossible that supported platforms may change for the final release.
Simon P Stevens
2009-12-08 22:51:24
Noted, but I think it will be highly unlikely for Microsoft to dump support for any version after beta testing on that system.
James McMahon
2009-12-08 22:52:59
The 4.0 beta is supported on Windows 7, not just the Windows 7 RC.
Richard Szalay
2009-12-08 23:00:48
@Richard: Yeah, probably, I guess they just haven't updated the page since the beta was released.
Simon P Stevens
2009-12-08 23:03:31
+3
A:
According to the .NET 4.0 Beta 2 download page, it's supported on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows XP.
cxfx
2009-12-08 22:48:00
Slightly more update then Simon's answer due to it being beta 2. Thank you.
James McMahon
2009-12-08 22:51:33
+2
A:
Historically, new releases of .net are supported with all operating systems currently supported by Microsoft. For example, .Net 2.0 base supports Windows 98. But Windows 98 end-of-life'd in 2006 and when .Net 2.0 sp1 came out in 2007 support for Windows 98 was dropped, even though it would probably work just fine.
That means .Net 4.0 is likely to be supported on XP sp2 and newer (and not base XP or XP sp1, which have both end-of-life'd) even though it would probably work just fine on older XP releases.
The big question is service pack 2 and whether they find a delay-worthy bug in .Net 4. Service Pack 2 reaches end-of-life on July 13, 2010. If they have to delay .Net 4 even a few months, I'll give good odds that it won't support XP sp2. But if it makes it's release schedule it likely will support XP sp2.
Joel Coehoorn
2009-12-08 22:54:27