Developing WPF .NET 3.5 application for Win7 and Win 8 OS

Question

I am developing WPF .NET application for Win7 and Win8 OS.

For now I am using .NET 3.5 platform, as I understood Win7 comes with .Net 3.5 integrated while Win8 comes with .Net4.

I want that the user will have the fastest installation with minimum pre-installations. What is the best way to do it? does the user with Win8 have to install .NET 3.5?

Answer 1

Using 3.5 would make it work in Win7, but if the users don't have Internet or a DVD they can't install .net 3.5 in Windows 8. Because you can't include .Net 3.5 files in your setup you run into the isse that Win8 users can't use your tool.

Instead, you should use .Net 4.5.2 which also works in Windows 7. With .net 4.5.x you can add the redistributable offline Installer to the Setup of your application so that it will work fine on Windows 7 and 8.

Answer 2

Win8 doesn't include .Net 3.5 automatically, so if a application require specific 3.5 version you have install 3.5 or unable it from control panel. Here is example how you can do this.