Download .NET Framework 3.0 and 2.0 Updates

Two updates for older versions of Microsoft .NET Framework are currently available for download. The two refreshes target version 3.0 and 2.0, respectively, of .NET and went live on the Microsoft Download Center the past week. Customers can now grab .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP and .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. According to the Redmond company, the two updates are designed to resolve incompatibility issues affecting older releases of .NET.

As far as the .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2) forward compatibility update for XP and for Windows Server 2003 is concerned, Microsoft explains that it “enables serialization and deserialization between clients and servers that have the .NET Framework 3.0 or the .NET Framework 4.0 installed.”

According to the Redmond company, although served separately, the two refreshes are set up to resolve the same issue. “There are some known incompatibilities in generic types using the BinaryFormatter or NetDataContractSerializer serialized and deserialized across a mixed .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and .NET Framework 4 environment. Installing this update addresses these issues,” Microsoft explained.

The software giant is currently hard at work on the final stretch to the release of .NET Framework 4. Microsoft had initially planned to deliver both .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010 by the end of this month. However, due to performance issues related to the company’s next-generation development platform, the launch deadlines for .NET 4 and VS 2010 were pushed back to April 12, and a Release Candidate milestone for the technologies was made available for download.

The .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 update also includes the following fix: “You receive an exception error message when you use the BinaryFormatter object to serialize and to deserialize a generic type in an assembly in the .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 or in the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1.”

.NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP is available for download here.

.NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP is available for download here.

Visual Studio 2010 Premium Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Professional Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.

.NET Framework 4 Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.