Update (2017): See .NET Framework Releases to learn about newer releases. This release is now unsupported.

With .NET 4, we’ve focused on bringing certain features to market through updates without having to wait for the .NET 4.5 release. This post covers what the latest platform update has to offer. Vivek Mishra from the .NET Servicing team authored the following. — Brandon

The .NET Framework team is excited to announce that Update 4.0.2 for the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is now available. This is a platform update that offers a set of additional functionality on top of the .NET Framework 4. In this release, we have added support for AlwaysOn and LocalDB in SqlClient. These features were introduced in SQL Server Code Name “Denali.” This post briefly describes what is included in the release and links to the download packages.

You can find further information about how to use this release, setup instructions, and links to documentation in the .NET Framework Developer Center.

What are the features in 4.0.2?

4.0.2 introduces new features for supporting AlwaysOn and LocalDB with SqlClient. 4.0.2 also includes the features that were released as part of 4.0.1. Here’s a complete list of features included in this update:

AlwaysOn support in SqlClient	New 4.0.2 feature
SQL Server Express Local Database Runtime support in SqlClient	New 4.0.2 feature
StateMachine (including designer support)	Existing 4.0.1 feature
SqlWorkflowInstanceStore on SQL Azure	Existing 4.0.1 feature
Compensation for custom hosts	Existing 4.0.1 feature

Note that we did not make any changes to the features that were shipped in Update 4.0.1.

Where can I get 4.0.2?

• If you want to set up your development environment for building .NET Framework 4.0.2 applications in Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1), download and install the Design-time Update (KB2544525); for more information, see the Knowledge Base article. You must install Visual Studio 2010 SP1 first, before you can use this package.
• If you want to deploy your .NET Framework 4.0.2 applications, download and install the Run-time Update (KB2544514); for more information, see the Knowledge Base article. You must install the .NET Framework 4 or .NET Framework 4 Client Profile before installing the Run-time update.
• If you want to set up your development environment for building .NET Framework 4.0.2 applications in Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview or later, download the Multi-Targeting Pack (KB2544526) standalone installer for Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview or later; for more information, see the Knowledge Base article.

Target framework changes in Visual Studio

Based on recent customer feedback, 4.0.2 exposes the full .NET Framework version number in the format Major.Minor,Revision (.NET Framework 4.0.2) in the Target framework dropdown in Visual Studio. Note that this update does not change the file versioning system for the .NET Framework files — it only exposes the underlying target framework that you can use.

If you discover any issues while working with this update, please send them our way via Microsoft Connect.