-=PCTechTalk=- .NET 3.5 critical update patch - Cont'd

This just hit my desk through the Windows Secret newsletter.  I thought some 
of you might be a bit more than interested in another opinion on whether or 
not to install it.  Oddly enough, this article says that it's only offered 
to those who already have .NET 2.0 or higher already installed, but that was 
not my experience last night when working with a brand new WinXP x64 
install.


Just say no to this .NET 3.5 update

The most recent batch of updates from Microsoft included one for my favorite 
Windows component: .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. Now, if you could see me, you'd 
notice the big smirk on my face. That's because patches for the .NET 
platform are definitely not among my favorite things.

The fix described in KB 951847 is pushed to any PC that has .NET 2.0 or 
greater. If you're offered this patch - regardless of whether you have .NET 
3.5 installed - you will end up with .NET 2.0 SP2, .NET 3.0 SP2, and .NET 
3.5 SP1. The only application - or platform, in this case - on my system 
that uses .NET 3.5 is Small Business Server 2008. QuickBooks 2008 and 2009 
still use .NET 2.0.

Personally, I'm not pleased that this .NET 2.0 patch has been bundled into a 
.NET 3.5 upgrade. It feels a bit too much like bait and switch to me.

How can you determine which applications use which versions of .NET? 
Microsoft states that you can substitute .NET 3.5 for all versions of .NET 
down to Version 1. In reality, you can't.

I support line-of-business applications that run only with the older .NET 
versions. I recommend against installing .NET 3.5 and uninstalling all 
previous versions, particularly if a line-of-business application such as 
QuickBooks has installed the older versions.

If you encounter any problems after installing this .NET patch, use Aaron 
Stebner's .NET cleanup tool to remove the update (see link below). Then 
reinstall the .NET update you just removed.

http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/05/30/611355.aspx


Peace,
Gman

"The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask"
http://www.bornagainamerican.org

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