Building for Specific Versions of the .NET Framework

Visual Studio lets you target a specific .NET Framework version in your build. The following documents describe how to use this feature.

In This Section

• Standard and Custom Toolset Configurations
  Introduces the concept of Toolsets and explains the differences between standard and custom Toolsets.

• Overriding ToolsVersion Settings
  Explains how to build a project by using a ToolsVersion that is different than the solution ToolsVersion.

• Resolving Assemblies at Design Time
  Explains how assemblies are resolved at design time.

• Registering Extensions of the .NET Framework
  Explains how to register third party software extensions that are targeted for a specific version of the .NET Framework so that they appear in the Visual Studio AddRef dialog.

• MSBuild Multitargeting
  Explains how to compile an application to run on any one of several versions of the .NET Framework. For example, you can compile an application to run on the .NET Framework version 2.0, and compile the same application to run on the .NET Framework version 4.

• Building for Multiple Processors
  Presents information to consider when you build projects on multiple-processor or multiple-core systems.

Related Sections

• MSBuild Concepts
  Explains the concepts behind properties, tasks, targets, and other MSBuild components.