System Requirements for Version 3.5

To ensure adequate performance, the .NET Framework version 3.5 has the following minimum and recommended system requirements for client and server applications.

Note

For the most up-to-date information on system requirements and supported platforms, see the Readme.htm file for the .NET Framework. If you have installed the .NET Framework as part of Visual Studio 2008, the Readme.htm file is located in the Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\SDK\v3.5 subdirectory.

Supported Operating Systems

The .NET Framework can be installed on the following platforms and operating systems. For information about the .NET Compact Framework support for mobile platforms, see Devices and Platforms Supported by the .NET Compact Framework.

Scenario	Target platforms
32-bit based systems	Windows XP Professional with SP2 Windows XP Home Edition with SP2 Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002 with SP2 Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 with SP2 Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Windows XP Professional Reduced Media Edition with SP2 Windows XP Home Reduced Media Edition with SP2 Windows XP Tablet PC Edition with SP2 Windows XP Starter Edition Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with SP1 Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with SP1 Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition with SP1 Windows Server 2003 Web Edition with SP1 Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition with SP1 Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition with SP1 Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition Windows Vista Starter Windows Vista Home Basic Windows Vista Home Premium Windows Vista Ultimate Windows Vista Business Windows Server 2008 Standard 32-Bit Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-Bit Windows Server 2008 Datacenter 32-Bit Windows 7 (all 32-bit editions) Windows 8
x64-bit based systems	Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 Datacenter x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition Windows Vista Home Premium x64 Edition Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Edition Windows Vista Business x64 Edition Windows Server 2008 Standard x64 Edition Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x64 Edition Windows Server 2008 Datacenter x64 Edition Windows 7 (all 64-bit editions) Windows 8 Note    The .NET Framework supports both WOW64 (32-bit processing on a 64-bit machine) as well as native 64-bit processing.
Itanium-based systems	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise for Itanium-based Systems
.NET Compact Framework	Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Windows Mobile for Smartphone Windows CE Note For information about the .NET Compact Framework support for mobile platforms, see Devices and Platforms Supported by the .NET Compact Framework.

Unsupported Operating Systems

The .NET Framework cannot be installed on the following operating systems.

Scenario	Operating system
All platforms	Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows Millennium Edition Windows NT Server Windows NT Workstation Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition Windows 2000 Professional Windows 2000 Server Windows 2000 Advanced Server Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for Itanium-based Systems

Minimum Software and Hardware Requirements

Minimum Software

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 with Service Pack 1.

• Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.8 for data access applications.

• Windows Installer version 3.1.

Processors

Scenario	Minimum	Recommended
.NET Framework	400 megahertz (MHz)	1 gigahertz (GHz)

RAM

Scenario	Minimum	Recommended
.NET Framework	96 megabytes (MB)	256 megabytes (MB)

Hard Disk Space

Scenario	Minimum
32-bit	280 MB
64-bit	610 MB

Product Installation Notes

It is highly recommended for all platforms that you upgrade to the latest Windows Service Pack and critical updates available from http://www.windowsupdate.com to ensure the best compatibility and security. Installation of the latest Windows Service Pack may be required on some operating systems.

See Also

Concepts

System Requirements for Versions 1.0 and 1.1

Other Resources

.NET Framework System Requirements

Overview of the .NET Framework

Change History

Date	History	Reason
December 2010	Corrected the version of Windows Installer required for the .NET Framework 3.5.	Content bug fix.
July 2010	Noted that installation of the latest service pack may be required on some operating systems.	Customer feedback.