.NET Framework 4 Client Profile vs .NET Framework 3.5 Client Profile

3
votes

Currently I am targeting .NET Framework 3.5 Client profile.

Under certain conditions (when .NET 1.x or 2.x is installed) the client profile is not installed and instead full version of .NET Framework 3.5. is installed.

This limitation has been removed from .NET 4.0 profile - therefore its a nice improvement that significantly reduces download size on certain PCs.

However, if I target application to .NET 4.0 then all the clients will have to download new framework.

I think ideal scenario would be to target .NET 3.5 profile but point installer to .NET 4.0 client profile. This way PCs with 3.5 installed (65% from our tests at the moment) would be fine and the rest would install .NET 4.0.

Is my thinking correct or its not feasible? Will .NET 3.5 profile application run with only .NET 4.0 profile installed?

Thank you

1
.net

1 Answers

1
votes

Yes, see this question. But you should of course make sure your app runs well on the .NET 4.0 runtime, since .NET 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 all use the 2.0 runtime, while .NET 4.0 has a new runtime.