[sagar]

Unless you are running Microsoft’s development suite, I think you can safely ignore it.

[cva66snipe]

Download size: 248.4 MB

[rahbert]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951847

[mnehring]

I had to update for some other apps I work with (developer apps) and it doesn’t seem to have any issues.

[Vendome]

Skip it. It’s a Dev tool.

[billorites]

Ouch, still on dial-up huh?

The President's going to fix that with the stimulus bill as I understand.

[smokingfrog]

You probably don't need it.

---

The following list includes some benefits of having the .NET Framework installed:

    * Easier installation of commercial applications
Many commercial applications from Microsoft and from third-party companies rely on the .NET Framework to support 
their core functionality. If you have the .NET Framework installed, commercial applications are easier to install.
    * Easier updates
After the .NET Framework is installed, it is updated automatically by the Microsoft Update service. If you receive 
Automatic Updates through Control Panel, any versions of the .NET Framework that are installed on the computer will
always be up to date with the latest service packs. 

The following are only some new features that are available in the .NET Framework 3.5:

    * WCF and WF integration
    * Durable WCF services
    * Partial trust support for WCF in targeted scenarios
    * WCF Web programming model (JSON)
    * WCF Syndication (Atom and RSS)
    * WF rules improvements
    * WCF interoperability for updated standard XAML Browser Applications (XBAPs)
    * WPF Interactive 3D API and 2D on 3D API
    * Increased WPF XBAP integration with browsers to enable unified cookie access
    * WPF UI Add-Ins Model
    * Firefox support for XBAPs
      For more information about the Microsoft .NET Framework, visit the following MSDN Web site:
      http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/default.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/default.aspx)

For more information about how to download redistributable packages of all versions of the .NET Framework and related service 
packs for distribution with your own applications, visit the following MSDN Web site:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa731542.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa731542.aspx)

For more information about installed versions of the .NET Framework and related service packs on your computer, click the following 
article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
318785  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318785/ ) 
How to determine which versions of the .NET Framework are installed and whether service packs have been applied 

[Diplomat]

I completely rebuilt my machine this past weekend. I had the MS updates off for months, the firewall shut off and was only using spybot search and destroy. I’m an online gamer.

Regardless, I had shut off spybot while I was in a gaming session. I bounced out turned on IE and went to the wiki site for my game. That was 13 days ago. I got infected with a variant of Virtumonde which was unremovable. Corrupted my machine such that I could not update from MS either.

This malware is the kind that hijacks IE and creates a pop-up that starts scanning your machine and telling you that you are infected. Now, yes, it would be nice of them to also state that the software company trying to be sell you their fix is also the originator of said trojan, but what were you expecting, honesty?

I believe that the exploit used against my machine came through Net 1.1 and not via IE alone. Don’t know for certain, but my investigation of the problem led me to believe this to be the case.

If you have Net 1.1, 1.2 or 2.0 installed on your client, then I would download that megafile overnight and install it. In fact, I’ll check this as soon as I get home and see if I need to update too.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Kibosher]

Can you not get either Hughesnet or Wildblue internet through satellite

[potlatch]

I use automatic updates, am I going to get it?