Loading 2.0 .NET assembly on 4.0 .NET Runtime

Question

All,

Lets say I have an assembly compiled under .NET 2.0. Can I run this assembly on a PC that has on .NET 4.0 without any redirection etc? Just out of the box.

Thanks, MK

Answer 1

Because the 4.0 framework installs side-by-side with 1.1 and 2.0/3.5, you would need the .Net Framework 2.0 installed in order to run a 2.0 application without modification.

If you would like the application to run using the .Net 4.0 Framework, you should alter the application configuration to do so :

<configuration>
   <!-- may need useLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicy="true" -->
   <startup>
      <supportedRuntime version="v4.0"/>
   </startup>
</configuration>

If you reference .Net Framework 2.0 assemblies from a .Net Framework 4.0 application you may have to update your application's manifest, but usually this is handled in Visual Studio for you.