Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 / 4.6.1 RC (x86+x64) Offline Installer Download

Proprietary of Microsoft, .NET Framework is a free programming infrastructure that some developers resort to when creating Windows-oriented applications and services using .NET technologies.

Programming infrastructure for developers

It's basically a large package that already has all the necessary code with libraries, classes and templates needed by programmers to seamlessly put together desktop apps and web services by simply calling the code, instead of having to write everything from scratch. The package contains three major components: Common Language Runtime (CLR), Framework Class Library (FCL), and ASP.NET.

Three major components: CLR, FCL and ASP.NET

CLR is the runtime environment, which means that it handles the execution of .NET apps, enabling programmers to develop projects using a language compiler, featuring cross-language integration and exception handling, enhanced support for security, versioning and deployment, along with a simple model for component integration, debugging and profiling services. At the moment, these are the CLR versions available: 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4 and 4.5 (includes 4.5.1 and 4.5.2). There's also a 4.6 RC version available.

FCL comprises the numerous classes, services, interfaces and namespaces provided by .NET Framework. Apart from the runtime core functions (e.g. file and network I/O), it supports database interaction, XML usage and development, client-oriented apps for the desktop and Internet, along with SOAP-based XML web services.

ASP.NET is the popular open-source service-side framework that programmers use to create dynamic web pages, apps and services with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and any other type of code supported by the .NET language.

Necessary for installing .NET Framework-based applications

.NET Framework addresses not only developers, but also regular users who want to be able to launch a tool written in .NET Framework. Typically, the infrastructure has to be manually downloaded by users. However, it sometimes comes bundled with various software packages, and some versions are built into Windows, so they only need to be enabled. For example, .NET Framework 3.5.1 is integrated into Windows 7, while .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.5 are rolled with Windows 8.

Different .NET Framework versions

Worth mentioning is that the version number of a framework shouldn't be understood as a simple "update" number. For instance, older applications require older .NET Framework editions to work, and users should keep in mind these are not automatically implemented in newer versions. To be more specific, you can have multiple .NET Framework versions installed on your PC to run multiple apps with different requirements. Figuring out what version you already have installed can be tricky, but you can resort to several apps to help you in this regard, such as Speccy Portable.

Disadvantages for non-developers

There are several known facts when it comes to the downsides of .NET Framework for casual users. For example, it occupies a significant amount of disk space, the installation step is lengthy, the utility usually hogs system resources, and older editions sometimes become unstable and frequently crash. Although this method doesn't always work (sadly), the last mentioned issue can be typically fixed by reinstalling .NET Framework. This can also be a problematic step because it's tricky to completely eliminate all leftovers (try using .NET Framework Cleanup Tool).

Overall, a must-have framework for some Microsoft apps

To conclude, .NET Framework can be viewed as a love-it-or-hate-it platform: it can easily become a solution for developers who fully understand how to work with it, as well as a burden for casual users who frequently run into all sorts of issues. Regardless of what the case may be, .NET Framework is (usually) indispensable for Microsoft users.

Features:

    .NET Framework is a managed execution environment that provides a variety of services to its running applications.
    It consists of two major components: the common language runtime (CLR), which is the execution engine that handles running applications; and the .NET Framework Class Library, which provides a library of tested, reusable code that developers can call from their own applications.
    .NET Framework includes a wide range of services to running apps, such as:
    · Memory management. In many programming languages, programmers are responsible for allocating and releasing memory and for handling object lifetimes. In .NET Framework applications, the CLR provides these services on behalf of the application.· A common type system. In traditional programming languages, basic types are defined by the compiler, which complicates cross-language interoperability. In the .NET Framework, basic types are defined by the .NET Framework type system and are common to all languages that target the .NET Framework.
    · An extensive class library. Instead of having to write vast amounts of code to handle common low-level programming operations, programmers can use a readily accessible library of types and their members from the .NET Framework Class Library.
    · Development frameworks and technologies. The .NET Framework includes libraries for specific areas of application development, such as ASP.NET for web applications, ADO.NET for data access, and Windows Communication Foundation for service-oriented applications.
    · Language interoperability. Language compilers that target the .NET Framework emit an intermediate code named Common Intermediate Language (CIL), which, in turn, is compiled at run time by the common language runtime. With this feature, routines written in one language are accessible to other languages, and programmers can focus on creating applications in their preferred language or languages.
    · Version compatibility. With rare exceptions, applications that are developed by using a particular version of the .NET Framework can run without modification on a later version.
    · Side-by-side execution. The .NET Framework helps resolve version conflicts by allowing multiple versions of the common language runtime to exist on the same computer. This means that multiple versions of applications can also coexist, and that an application can run on the version of the .NET Framework with which it was built.
    · Multitargeting. By targeting the .NET Framework Portable Class Library, developers can create assemblies that work on multiple .NET Framework platforms, such as the .NET Framework, Silverlight, Windows Phone 7, or Xbox 360.
    .NET Framework is designed to fulfill the following objectives:
    · To provide a consistent object-oriented programming environment whether object code is stored and executed locally, executed locally but Internet-distributed, or executed remotely.
    · To provide a code-execution environment that minimizes software deployment and versioning conflicts.
    · To provide a code-execution environment that promotes safe execution of code, including code created by an unknown or semi-trusted third party.
    · To provide a code-execution environment that eliminates the performance problems of scripted or interpreted environments.
    · To make the developer experience consistent across widely varying types of applications, such as Windows-based applications and Web-based applications.
    · To build all communication on industry standards to ensure that code based on the .NET Framework can integrate with any other code.

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