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The .NET Download for you is:

YOUR PERSONALIZED RESULTS

I can't tell if you've got .NET installed. Perhaps you don't have .NET installed or perhaps your browser isn't letting me know. Consider visiting this site using Internet Explorer, which will tell me more about if your system has .NET on it or not. Alternatively, if you're running Windows, you can go download the 1 meg web installer for .NET Framework 4. The .NET installer is smart enough to look at your system and automatically download the smallest upgrade package possible. For you, it'll probably be 28 megabytes total. Also, you might make sure your system is setup to get updates from Windows Update automatically. This will make sure your system is up to date with the lastest stuff, including the latest .NET Framework.

What just happened?

This site looked at your browser's "UserAgent" and figured out what version (if any) of the .NET Framework you have (or don't have) installed, then calculated the total size if you chose to download the .NET Framework.

Are you a .NET Programmer?

If you're a programmer/developer, you might be trying to figure out which .NET Framework for your users to use.

Sometimes finding the right .NET Framework is confusing because different kinds of machines (x86, x64, ia64) that may or may not have different versions of .NET already on them.

If you look for .NET Downloads on Microsoft's site, it might look like the .NET Framework is 200+ megs. It's not. Those big downloads are the Complete Offline Versions of every version of the .NET Framework for every kind of machine possible. The big .NET download includes x86, x64, and ia64. It includes .NET 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5 code for all systems all in one super-archive.

Why would you EVER want to download the whole archive? Only if you're a developer and you want to distribute the .NET Framework the widest possible audience in a format like a CD or DVD.

Online Download

If your users have internet connectivity, the .NET 4 Client Framework is only abuout 28 megs. If you point your users to the online setup for the .NET Framework 4, that 1 meg download will automatically detect and download the smallest archive possible to get the job done.

Offline Download to Install Later

These downloads are only for DEVELOPERS who want to redistribute the .NET 4 Framework with their software, perhaps offline.

Both x86 and x64:

  • Client: dotNetFx40_Client_x86_x64.exe (41 MB): This is the Client Profile SKU that you must install on any supported 64-bit OS. This will also install on any supported 32-bit OS. Your app could run in WOW64 if it was compiled w/ "32-bit" flag or as 64-bit if you compile with "AnyCPU" or "64-bit" flags.
    If you are redistributing the Client Profile with your application you most likely want to redist this package as it can install on both 32 and 64 bit OS’s.
  • Full: dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64.exe (48.1 MB): This is the Full Framework SKU that you must install on any supported 64-bit OS. This will also install on any supported 32-bit OS.
    If you are redistributing the Full Framework with your application you most likely want to redist this package as it can install on both 32 and 64 bit OS’s.

Just x86:

  • Client: dotNetFx40_Client_x86.exe (28.8 MB): This is the Client Profile SKU that you could use to install on any supported 32-bit OS.  Choose this only if all your users are running 32 bit OS. (in most times this will not be your case…)
  • Full: dotNetFx40_Full_x86.exe (35.3 MB): This is the Full Framework SKU that you could use to install on any supported 32-bit OS. Choose this only if all your users are running 32 bit OS (in most times this will not be your case…)

Full Web Bootstrapper for Online Scenarios:

  • NET 4 RTM Web Bootstrapper: This is what you want to install if you need NET4 Full and you are online. This will detect your OS and processor architecture and will install the appropriate Framework.

Client Web Bootstrapper for Online Scenarios:

  • NET 4 Client Profile RTM Web Bootstrapper: This is what you want to install if you need NET4 Client Profile and you are online. This will detect your OS and processor architecture and will install the appropriate Client Profile.

If you made it this is far, congrats. For technical or debugging purposes, this is exactly what your browser said about itself:
CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html)

Thanks! If this was helpful to you, please visit my blog.

What's This?

SmallestDotNet.com is a single page site that does one thing. It tells you the smallest, easiest download you'd need to get the .NET Framework on your system. The size of the .NET download is usually WAY smaller than you think it'll be. There's no database, no cookies, and nothing about your computer has been stored or kept. We just look at the information your browser already reports about your computer and make a suggestion as to the best .NET Framework download for you.

Support

There's no support for this website. It's just a single page meant to save you some time and confusion. I hope it helps you. If not, I'm sorry. When all else fails, you usually can't go wrong by a visit to WindowsUpdate.com.

However, if the site breaks or tells you something that's not right, do let me know.