.NET FRAME WORK Part 1

1 What is .NET?
.NET is a general-purpose software development platform, similar to Java. At
its core is a virtual machine that turns intermediate language (IL) into
machine code. High-level language compilers for C#, VB.NET and C++ are
provided to turn source code into IL. C# is a new programming language,
very similar to Java. An extensive class library is included, featuring all the
functionality one might expect from a contempory development platform -
windows GUI development (Windows Form s), database access (ADO.NET),
web development (ASP.NET), web services, XML etc.

2 When was .NET announced?
Bill Gates delivered a keynote at Forum 2000, held June 22, 2000, outlining
the .NET 'vision'. The July 2000 PDC had a number of sessions on .NET
technology, and delegates were given CDs containing a pre-release version
of the .NET framework/SDK and Visual Studio.NET.

3 What versions of .NET are there?
The final version of the 1.0 SDK and runtime was made publicly available
around 6pm PST on 15-Jan-2002. At the same time, the final version of
Visual Studio.NET was made available to MSDN subscribers.
.NET 1.1 was released in April 2003 - it's mostly bug fixes for 1.0.
.NET 2.0 is expected in 2005.

4 What operating systems does the .NET Framework run on?
The runtime supports Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000,
NT4 SP6a and Windows ME/98. Windows 95 is not supported. Some parts of
the framework do not work on all platforms - for example, ASP.NET is only
supported on XP and Windows 2000/2003. Windows 98/ME cannot be used
for development.
IIS is not supported on Windows XP Home Edition, and so cannot be used to
host ASP.NET. However, the ASP.NET Web Matrix web server does run on XP
Home.
The .NET Compact Framework is a version of the .NET Framework for mobile
devices, running Windows CE or Windows Mobile.
The Mono project has a version of the .NET Framework that runs on
Linux.