To ensure adequate performance, the .NET Framework has the following minimum and recommended system requirements for client and server applications.

Operating System Requirements

The .NET Framework is supported on the following platforms.

Scenario	Operating system
Client	Microsoft® Windows® 98 Microsoft® Windows® 98 Second Edition Microsoft® Windows® Millennium Edition Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0 Workstation with Service Pack 6.0a or later Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0 Server with Service Pack 6.0a or later Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Advanced Server Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Datacenter Server Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 family Note On all these systems, Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5.01 or later and Microsoft® Windows® Installer 2.0 or later are also required.
Server	Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional with Service Pack 2.0 Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server with Service Pack 2.0 Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Advanced Server with Service Pack 2.0 Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Datacenter Server with Service Pack 2.0 Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 family

Additional Software Requirements

To use additional features such as ASP.NET, COM+ services, and SQL Server .NET Data Provider, you will need the following additional software.

Scenario	Feature	Required software
Client	SQL Server .NET Data Provider	Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.6 or later
	Access to system management information	Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) (installed with operating system on Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows XP)
	COM+ services	Windows 2000 Service Pack 2.0
Server	SQL Server .NET Data Provider	Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.7
	ASP.NET	Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0

Hardware Requirements

Scenario	Required processor	Recommended processor	Required RAM	Recommended RAM
Client (Windows Forms and Windows Services)	Pentium 90 MHz*	Pentium 90 MHz or faster	32 MB*	96 MB or higher
Server	Pentium 133 MHz*	Pentium 133 MHz or faster	128 MB*	256 MB or higher

*Or the minimum required by the operating system, whichever is higher.