As I can see, beta2 of .Net Framework 4.0 installation program is only 55MB, and it was 200+MB for .Net 3.5, What's happening?
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                    This is the size of the /installation/ program, not the footprint of the installed framework: suggest you clarify the title. – Jeremy McGee Dec 18 '09 at 16:44
 
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            .NET 3.5 size is that big because it contains the x64 version of the framework in the same package. The 2.0, 3.0 packages were separated for x86 vs x64. I guess 4.0 will adopt a separated approach too. This link explains it: link
        Adrian Zanescu
        
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                    For info on the online vs offline installs for .Net 3.5, check out this blog post: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/SmallestDotNetOnTheSizeOfTheNETFramework.aspx – Pedro Dec 18 '09 at 19:01
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        This follow on from the work done to optimise the framework for the Silverlight plug-in.
.net is now 10 years old, new techniques and just some good old fashioned spring cleaning of the code is before performed on version 4, to (hopefully) give us a sharper, more refined and more capable framework with the new version.
        MrLink
        
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                    Thanks, I think so. But I wonder what exactly have they done that achieved this effect. Do they remove some Assemblies? Do they cut any Types? Do they used a new compression format? – deerchao Dec 18 '09 at 15:51
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                    Did they finally remove a few of the things that have been depreciated for years? – SqlRyan Dec 18 '09 at 16:38
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                    4Citation required - do you have references? I don't believe /anything/ has been removed. – Jeremy McGee Dec 18 '09 at 16:45