Compact Framework

The Microsoft .NET Compact Framework (.NET CF) is a version of the .NET Framework that is designed to run on [Windows CE] based mobile/embedded devices such as PDAs, mobile phones, factory controllers, set-top boxes, etc. The .NET Compact Framework uses some of the same class libraries as the full .NET Framework and also a few libraries designed specifically for mobile devices such as Windows CE InputPanel.

It is possible to develop applications which use the .NET Compact Framework in Visual Studio.NET 2003, in Visual Studio 2005 and in Visual Studio 2008, using either C# or Visual Basic.NET. The resulting applications are designed to run against a custom small-footprint [Common Language Runtime] or CLR.

To be able to run applications powered by the .NET Compact Framework, the platform must support the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework runtime. Some operating systems which do include .NET CF are Windows CE 4.1, Microsoft Pocket PC, Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 and Smartphone 2003. .NET Compact Framework applications don't run on desktop computers with the full .NET Framework, because, although the executable files are binary compatible, they use a different digital signature. This is used to prevent a user from trying to run a full .NET application in a .NET Compact Framework device.

[Frequently Asked Questions]