The word .NET refers not to a network as in computing, but to a net as in fishing. The
Framework component acts as a guide for developers to build their applications.
For ordinary users all they need to know is that .NET Framework takes care of
scripting business. Incidentally, my killer
reason for installing .NET Framework was to support PowerShell commands.
If you are a developer, a PowerShell script writer, or just plain curious,
then there is a whole lot more to .NET Framework. One useful concept is that of
a library, and in that library are categories or classes. Each class
defines a type of objects, which in turn developers use to build
applications.
ASP.NET, this is one of the original classes, used for making websites interactive.
There is now also a .NET class called Web Services Enhancements.
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), for creating visually
stunning effects on XP and especially on Vista.
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), enabling
applications to talk to one another across your network. Goals include:
secure, reliable, and transaction-based messaging.
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), to make those strange
workflows diagrams a reality.
Windows CardSpace, to manage digital identity.
Additional library classes for XML, cryptography and text-to-speech.
Every few months another library class is being added or extended for example: data and IO.
Name check
.NET Framework was originally WinFX.
Windows Presentation Foundation at one time was known as 'Avalon'.
Windows Communication Foundation in a former life was 'Indigo'.
Windows CardSpacewas formerly 'InfoCard'.
CIL (Common Intermediate Language) was formerly known as Microsoft Intermediate
Language, or MSIL.
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The primary goal of .NET Framework is to provide a library of tried and
tested objects. The .NET code can be executed locally or remotely, thus
security has been a major consideration in developing communication between the
various elements. In addition to classes library, there is a common and consistent runtime component that
manages communication with the underlying operating system. This runtime
component not only checks the developer's code, but also negotiates memory and
other system resources on behalf of the .NET application. One way of
looking at this CLR (Common Language Runtime) is as a virtual machine for the
developer and their application.
On reflection, Framework is a good choice of word because it reflects the
library with its variety of object classes. Microsoft's Framework then
encourages developers to build useful tools, applets or even major applications
for we users.
Another design feature of .NET Framework is that once a program is perfected,
it will work on any operating system. This is because the CIL (Common
Intermediate Language) can be compiled into any native code.
Here are examples of developers using .NET Framework to solve a particular
problem. The problems may seem trivial, but they were annoying as there was no
existing technology to achieve the particular solution.
Assisting police with hand-held devices to check quickly if a suspect had
already committed a crime.
Display the identity of a train as it approaches the station.
An applet that queries SQL to determine whether a named table exists.
To determine if a device has a keyboard.
Start an application automatically when a mobile device 'wakes up'.
Find and display the names of storage cards loaded on a device.
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There really is a huge chasm between ordinary users, who simply take
advantage of .NET Framework, and developers. What the developers do is select
elements of the above classes, and using their skills, build handy tools for the
rest of us. In between these two groups are techies who install .NET Framework
on servers or desktops so that we can take advantage of those tools
that the developers made. Like the users, these techies don't need to
understand stuff like WPF, or WCF.
Unusually, each Windows operating system has a slightly different method of
installing .NET Framework. The modern way, as seen in Windows Server 2008
and Vista, is to install .NET Framework from the Control Panel as an optional 'Feature'.
Older operating system such as W2K3 and XP, require us to obtain the
appropriate dotnetxxxsetup.exe file from Microsoft's download center.
The first time you install .NET Framework, all will work smoothly - trust me.
However, if you ever try and upgrade from version 2.0 to 3.0, or 3.0 to 3.5, then
you may run into niggles. These niggles increase if the original program
was beta, or 'pre-release' version. However, trust me again, nothing serious will
happen, Microsoft WILL provide the solution.
My problem on Windows Server 2003 was that followed my nose instead of reading the uninstall instructions. Thus the
solution to all problems relating to uninstalling .NET Framework is to study the information,
which is
freely available on Microsoft's site, and in extreme cases, get extra tools from
Microsoft's download area.
Conclusion: Only ever install beta versions of .NET
Framework on a test machine. Where possible, experiment with .NET Framework on
Vista.
»
Summary of .NET Framework
All that ordinary users need is an awareness that .NET Framework is something you
install to get programs such as PowerShell working. For developers .NET
Framework provides a library of tools that they can use to build a new
generation of applications for Vista (and XP).
If you like this page then please share it with your friends
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is one of the hidden
treasures of Microsoft operating systems.
Fortunately, Solarwinds
have created the
Free WMI Monitor so that you can actually see and understand these gems of
performance information. Take the guess work out of which
WMI counters to use for applications like Microsoft Active Directory,
SQL or Exchange Server.
