Today I took the time to uninstall all my pre-RTM bits and upgrade to the latest official releases. I installed the following:
- .NET Framework 3.0 Runtime Components
- Microsoft® Windows® Software Development Kit for Windows Vista™ and .NET Framework 3.0 Runtime Components
- Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for .NET Framework 3.0 (WCF & WPF), November 2006 CTP
First I spent significant time researching how to uninstall the previous versions. Surprisingly there are no specific instructions for how to do this, and the result is too much time being spent on my part. Oh well. By the way, don’t use the Pre-released Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Uninstall Tool. Why? See here: Updated warning – .NET Framework 3.0 cleanup tool removes MSDN and SQL Express.
Shouldn’t the misc. install pages on MS web sites be updated and not link to the uninstall tool anymore?
Because I used the uninstall tool during the install of another CTP earlier this year (and "lost" the MSDN Library), I decided to reinstall the MSDN Library and integrate it with VS 2005. I used my August 2006 version of the MSDN Library and installed it without any problems.
Next, I installed the three main components, but when starting the VS 2005 Extensions install I received an error (or is it a warning) from the installer stating (quote):
"Setup has detected that recommended components are missing. To get an integrated documentation experience for Visual Studio 2005 extensions for .NET Framework 3.0 (WCF – WPF), November 2006 CTP you must have the MSDN documentation for Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 3.0 documentation from the Windows SDK installed. It is recommended that you install the MSDN documentation for Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 3.0 documentation from the Windows SDK and restart setup."
After saving the error dialog I clicked ok, and received another almost identical box. Well, I had just installed both the MSDN documentation as well as the Windows SDK, so I clicked Ok, and was allowed to continue the installation. I took a chance and continued.
After the installation completed I noticed that the WinFXReadme.htm file states "If you replace the MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 with an MSDN Quarterly Library, you will not have .NET Framework 3.0 documentation integrated into Visual Studio 2005. If you need the .NET Framework 3.0 documentation, please do not install the MSDN quarterly updates until they include .NET Framework 3.0 documentation."
My problem here is of course that I used the latest MSDN documentation (or is it called library?) instead of the original VS 2005 copy. Microsoft, on the other hand, has two problems here:
- They should include this requirement in the requirements list for the "Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for .NET Framework 3.0" so that I can take the necessary action before starting the install. Maybe they also should include a warning about this in the SDK install as well, if the MSDN Library must be installed before the SDK.
- The error box I got didn’t exactly tell me how to remedy the situation (what should be uninstalled before reinstalling what).
Anyway, the final result is I–despite the error box’s warning–do have help for .Net 3.0 in VS 2005, at least context sensitive help. I don’t know whether I’m missing out on something, though. I also noticed that in many cases I have to choose between two help links (they both seem to take me to the same help page).
I decided to document this, both for my own record, and because I couldn’t find any references to other people with the same experience. Hopefully this will help other developers as well.
Tor Langlo 