.NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 fails to install on pre-release builds of Windows Vista

I heard from a customer last week who could not get Visual Studio codename Orcas beta 1 to install on their Windows Vista system.  The installation failed during the .NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 prerequisite step.  The .NET Framework 3.5 setup log file (located at %temp%\dd_dotnetfx35install.txt) showed the following error message:

[04/19/07,20:23:23] Microsoft .NET Framework v3.5: GenericComponent Action: CreateProcess launched with cmd line : C:\Users\Aaron\AppData\Local\Temp\20404.00\1033\wcu\dotnetframework\dotnetfx35setup.exe /q /norestart /lang:ENU
[04/19/07,20:27:30] Microsoft .NET Framework v3.5: C:\Users\Aaron\AppData\Local\Temp\20404.00\1033\wcu\dotnetframework\dotnetfx35setup.exe exited with return value 1
[04/19/07,20:27:30] InstallReturnValue: GFN_MID NET Framework v3.5, 0x1
[04/19/07,20:27:30] Setup.exe: AddGlobalCustomProperty
[04/19/07,20:27:30] Microsoft .NET Framework v3.5: ***ERRORLOG EVENT*** : Error code 1 for this component means "Incorrect function."

When installing on Windows Vista, the .NET Framework 3.5 attempts to install service packs for the .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0 (which are OS components on Windows Vista).  Error code 1 for these service packs mean that the package is not applicable on the system.

In the scenario where I saw this error last week, the user was running Windows Vista RC2 and not the final release of Windows Vista.  The .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0 service packs that are included in the .NET Framework 3.5 will only apply to the final release of Windows Vista, and return error code 1 indicating that they do not apply on pre-release builds of Windows Vista.

This means that if you are still running a pre-release build of Windows Vista, you will not be able to install the .NET Framework 3.5 beta 1 or Visual Studio codename Orcas.