Are the .net framework installs cumulative?

Question

The newest version is 3.5... If I install that in windows XP will that cover all the previous releases? i.e (1.1, 2.0 sp1, 3.0, etc...) Or does certain software require features that are only available in those certain versions?

Answer 1

Yes, you can just install 3.5

Applications written for older versions will almost always work in a new version of .NET Framework.

There may be a rare case where Microsoft fixes a bug in an older version and an application that depends on that bug to work will not work in the new version. If this happens, just reinstall the old version.