I just bought a Windows 7 PC today. I need .NET 4.0 installed, first thing.
Do I have to go through the progressions -- add .NET 1.1, install the Windows updates. Add .NET 2.0, install the Windows updates. 3.0, 3.5, etc. etc, until I get to .net 4.0 (which I need)?
Or can I just go straight to .NET 4.0 Full and download that, and be done with it?
You can just install .Net 4.0. Windows 7 comes with 3.5 as standard. Version 4.0 contains backwards compatibility for most applications that aren't extremely advanced.
The .NET framework releases are generally installable side-by-side per major version. 1.1 is independent of 2.0, which is likewise independent of 4.0. .NET 3.0 and 3.5 were confusing in that they were mostly extensions to 2.0. 4.5 (once released) will install on top of 4.0.
That said, Windows 7 comes with .NET 3.5 installed by default (which implicitcly covers 2.0 and 3.0 as well). .NET 1.1 is still a separate installer, and from a few search results, looks like there are compatibility issues installing it on Win7. Also, Win7 is not listed on the supported platforms for the .NET 1.1 RTM download page or the 1.1 SP1 download page.
[edit:] See here for steps to install 1.1 on Win7.
