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Asked: 2026-06-10T22:58:31+00:00

Perhaps the issue here is that I don’t fully understand the differences between the

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Perhaps the issue here is that I don’t fully understand the differences between the Client Profile of .NET 4 and the (regular?) version of .NET 4…

When I begin a new project in Visual Studio 2010, it defaults to a target framework of .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. Occasionaly, when using third party library’s I will get compile erros if my project is setup for .NET Framework 4 Client Profile – switching to .NET Framework 4 fixes the issue.

I have always just dealt with this but today I decided to ask the question and figure when to use one over the other, and why there are two versions of the framework.

EDIT: If I target .NET 4, should I be concerned that a normal desktop user won’t be getting that Framework over Windows Update?

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  1. Editorial Team

    Concerning your edit: take a look here: .Net Framework 4 Full and Net Framework 4 Client Profile Targeting

    This post by Scott Hanselman shows you what’s in and what’s out of the Client Profile:

    Towards a Smaller .NET 4 – Details on the Client Profile and Downloading .NET

    • Supported on all OS that Full is
    • Supported for x86 & x64
    • Client Profile is the framework that will be available on Windows Update for desktops
    • Supported in all aspect of VS (e.g. targeting, deployment project, etc)
    • Is the default target in almost all VS10 Client Project Templates (Winforms, WPF, VSTO, etc)

    This is the funny part:

    The general idea is that they avoid installing things you don’t need on a
    client machine. That means they won’t install ASP.NET on your Mom’s
    computer just because she wants a game. Also, the .NET 4 Client
    profile is a proper subset of the .NET 4 “Full” Framework.

    Here’s a more detailed post: What’s new in .NET Framework 4 Client Profile RTM

    When to use NET4 Client Profile and when to use NET4 Full Framework?
    NET4 Client Profile:
    Always target NET4 Client Profile for all your client desktop applications (including Windows Forms and WPF apps).

    NET4 Full framework:
    Target NET4 Full only if the features or assemblies that your app need are not included in the Client Profile. This includes:

    • If you are building Server apps. Such as:
      o ASP.Net apps
      o Server-side ASMX based web services
    • If you use legacy client scenarios. Such as:
      o Use System.Data.OracleClient.dll which is deprecated in NET4 and not included in the Client Profile.
      o Use legacy Windows Workflow Foundation 3.0 or 3.5 (WF3.0 , WF3.5)
    • If you targeting developer scenarios and need tool such as MSBuild or need access to design assemblies such as System.Design.dll

    It’s worth mentioning that starting with .NET 4.5 there’s no more a Client Profile. It’s been discontinued: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc656912.aspx (link provided by CodingWithSpike)

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