The .NET Framework is a component of the Windows operating system. For developers, the .NET Framework makes it easy to rapidly create powerful software that maximizes performance, scalability, opportunities for integration, reliability, security, and the end-user experience, while minimizing the costs of deployment and management.
Windows users need to install the .NET Framework to run applications developed using the .NET Framework.This release includes a number of enhancements over version 1.0 of the .NET Framework. Installing this release is a prerequisite for running applications developed using the .NET Framework 1.1. For more information about .NET Framework, see .NET Framework Home. (This site may be in English.)
Note  If you are downloading the .NET Framework 1.1 onto a machine in a language other than English, and there is a corresponding .NET Framework language pack, it will be downloaded automatically with this install. .NET Framework language packs contain translated text, such as error messages, for languages other than English.
The .NET Framework
can be installed on the following operating systems:
You must also be running Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.01 or later for all installations of the .NET Framework.
If requested, restart your computer to complete the installation. No other action is required to run .NET Framework-based applications.