If you have installed Visual Studio on your computer, you can begin to develop and deploy applications using the .NET Compact Framework. Smart Device applications in Visual Studio use the .NET Compact Framework.

Some devices come with .NET Compact Framework installed in ROM. On other devices, the .NET Compact Framework must be installed to RAM. To see what version of the .NET Compact Framework is installed in ROM, see Devices and Platforms Supported by the .NET Compact Framework, and go the section on ROM Versions. If the .NET Compact Framework is installed in ROM on your device, but you need to develop for a more recent version, you can install the software to RAM.

If you have installed Visual Studio on your computer, you can install the .NET Compact Framework to RAM in two ways:

• Install the software when you deploy your project.

• Install the software using Windows Explorer.

For more information about using these methods, see How to: Install the .NET Compact Framework on a Device.

If you installed the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) without Visual Studio, you must run a setup wizard to install the .NET Compact Framework assemblies and development files on your desktop computer and then install the .NET Compact Framework on your device to run your applications.

If the .NET Compact Framework has not yet been installed on your desktop computer, you can obtain the software from the .NET Compact Framework downloads page.