quote:
Originally posted by J-Thread
That's a good point. I know all this and I really tried to be as user friendly as possible. The method I use to get the framework version is not a simple one. I does loop trough a couple of registry values to get the latest installed version. It does work with all the versions know at the moment (at least the version I did test with). If the framework isn't found, a new page is showed in the installer. It tells the user the framework isn't found, and that its recommended to install it. The user can uncheck the box, get's another warning when clicking yes, but can choose to not install the framework.
quote:
Originally posted by J-Thread
If it is checked the file is downloaded from the microsoft server, and it's the file microsoft marks as the right file for redistributing.
Many things found on the download center are marked as redistributable. But redistributable doesn't mean that it is the correct file. If a file is marked "redistributable" it means you can physically add it to your own installer. If a file is marked as "not-redistributable", it means that you may not attach the physical file to your own installer because different versions and types of that file may exist on different OS's or different OS's need different versions, etc... Instead the user should download it from the official and proper source (from the download center for example after selecting the correct OS or what not).
Being redistributable doesn't mean it is the correct latest version...
quote:
Originally posted by J-Thread
About the versions, it isn't possible to overwrite a newer version in this method. If my check does fail, I'm sure the dotnetfx.exe file also does a check to see if there are already newer versions installed.
Possible, but experienced has tought me this isn't always the case. Some files/installer on the download center do not check for this. I'm not saying this is the case for the .NET framework though, but it is a possebility (if not now, maybe in the future)...
quote:
Originally posted by J-Thread
And, if there are newer (stable) versions, the file may be updated once I think.
You mean on the download center? Not always! In some cases, MS updates the current available download, in other cases it creates a new download page with another unique id number. This can even change from update to update. eg: the link to MSN Messenger in the download center is only sometimes updated to a newer version, and sometimes the old version is left and a new download page (with another unique id) is created...
In short: you can't always trust on that to always have the latest download. You need to manually search and check if there isn't a newer download available on another page.
quote:
Originally posted by J-Thread
So, I think we have the same thougts about it, but instead of sending the user to the microsoft download center to download that file, I let my setup do it. It is a choice I made and I did think about it...
anyways, without trying your install or what not, from what you just told me, it seems ok (with the note that it still _could_ download an outdated version in the future though)...
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