WinFX 3.0 Renamed .NET Framework 3.0

Soma announced today that WinFX is being renamed to .NET Framework 3.0 to help out with developer confusion. There are a set of common questions that have been asked in the post:

1. What version of the compilers are being used? .NET FX 3.0 is built on .NET FX 2.0 including the CLR and BCL. This means you will be using the 2.0 C# and VB compilers from the redist when using .NET FX 3.0. 

2. Will .NET FX 3.0 contain LINQ support? No. LINQ support is in the Orcas product which is shipping after .NET FX 3.0 (which ships in Vista).

3. What directory will .NET FX 3.0 be installed to? We have been working on the naming changes in the product since the decision was made. After this is done it will live in %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\V3.0. This should hopefully be in the next public CTP we release.

When discussing the relationship between .NET FX 2.0 and .NET FX 3.0 internally, we often refer to it as the "Russian doll" model after the figurines which are embedded in their next largest sibling (lather/rinse/repeat). 

You can intersect this with the red bits/green bits discussion to get a feeling for how you will see Orcas added to the overall stack.

Is this too complicated? Well I know it isn't as simple as "xcopy this subdir". But I hope it is still easy to work with. For example, you need only run one installer to get .NET FX 3.0. This setup will automatically install .NET FX 2.0 if you don't already have it on your machine. You can then detect what stack you have on your machine and take one dependency on it.

As always community feedback is very valuable. So if you do see any issues or places where we can make things easier for you, please let us know!