#StandWithUkraine
Andrey “Rarst” Savchenko —  — Software — directx, flash, framework, java

Common frameworks you may want installed

Ever encountered small print under program description - saying that it requires something installed? Which is often ten times larger than program itself.

It’s because some software is made to run on certain framework. You have framework needed installed - it works. You don’t - it doesn’t. Such model has some advantages and disadvantages but they aren’t in focus for today.

This post covers core frameworks that are most widely used on Windows platform. They are worth installing (and keeping up to date) because:

  1. plenty of software and/or web stuff needs them
  2. ignoring their updates is huge security risk

Microsoft .NET Framework

framework_dotnet Skipping bunch of technical details - this is software framework from Microsoft. There is plenty of software that requires this framework and more appears every year.

.NET Framework is rather large download but rarely updated. Install once and forget is good enough. Windows Vista includes it out of the box.

Home page microsoft.com/net

Download Page filehippo.com/download_dotnet_framework_3/
(FileHippo link for the sake of simplicity, downloading from Microsoft is a mess)

Microsoft DirectX

framework_directx Not really framework but pretty much same for end users. DirectX is another Microsoft technology that powers most of graphic and video related tasks. It is heavily used by games and by Windows interface itself.

DirectX version 10 is exclusively included in Windows Vista. Older ones use DirectX version 9 which is updated around every other month. Updates are mostly minor so keeping up only matters for heavy gamers.

Home page gamesforwindows.com/en-US/AboutGFW/Pages/DirectX10.aspx

Download Page filehippo.com/download_directx

(FileHippo link for the sake of simplicity, downloading from Microsoft is a mess)

Java Runtime Environment

framework_java Very similar to .NET Framework this one is required to run software (both usual and so-called applets that you can encounter online in your browser) written in Java programming language.

It is updated relatively often and worth keeping up to date (anything online related is possible security risk). Worth mention that installing latest version does not overwrite or uninstall previous ones so they can quickly eat lots of space if forgotten.

Home page java.sun.com

Download Page filehippo.com/download_jre_32 & filehippo.com/download_jre_64

(FileHippo link for the sake of simplicity, downloading from Sun is a mess)

Adobe Flash Player

framework_flash Another not-really-framework. This one handles all online animation in highly popular Adobe Flash format (SWF and FLV files). Including online video (like YouTube), online games, animated menus (or whole sites) and even advertisement.

Comes in two separate packages - for Microsoft Internet Explorer and for other browsers. Updates are infrequent but mostly security related so very important.

Home page adobe.com/products/flashplayer

Download Page adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

Related Posts

21 Comments

  • Navjot Singh #

    Download link of .NET Framework is broken. Pls fix it.

  • Rarst #

    @Navjot Singh Link was correct but only worked if you browsed on it from Microsoft site (stupid). Changed to FileHippo link, big thanks for noticing! :)

  • Remote access to PC with TightVNC | www.Rarst.net #

    [...] without client (with Java-capable [...]

  • Twitter clients (and why they suck) | www.Rarst.net #

    [...] API allows easy client development. Which leads to using high-level frameworks. Which leads to unreadable and inflexible resource [...]

  • Are you prepared for computer meltdown? | www.Rarst.net #

    [...] settings for all non-portable (really hating .NET Framework); [...]

  • Measure your Internet connection at Speedtest.net | www.Rarst.net #

    [...] loads fancy Adobe Flash page that allows you to choose server and test your connection. Geographically closest server will [...]

  • rsizr.com – quite advanced way to resize images online | Rarst.net #

    [...] from post about such math stuff – seam carving at MakeUseOf. rsizr is online service powered by Adobe Flash that allows very advanced tricks with image resizing and [...]

  • Asus Express Gate – fast OS or useless toy? | Rarst.net #

    [...] games (online, probably Flash [...]

  • Adrian #

    Rarst, Where did Shockwave Player go?? It's different from Flash Player, and most online games require Shockwave. Also, you can use JavaRa @ http://raproducts.org/ to update Java RE and also delete previous unused versions of Java. Adrian

  • Rarst #

    @Adrian Where did Shockwave Player go? You mean why not in post? :) Honestly I hadn't need for Shockwave for years. I don't even remember when I had last seen it installed on any PC. I had looked at JavaRa in the past but as for me - excessive. Recent JRE versions do better work keeping its garbage under control and I download setup package when it hits RSS anyway.

  • Secunia PSI – deep app updates and security scanner | Rarst.net #

    [...] component of Adobe Flash, it was leftover file and I had latest version [...]

  • Colorbrewer – excellent color schemes resource | Rarst.net #

    [...] is done completely in Flash, together with all relevant textual information. Result is snappy and works good with extensive [...]

  • Simplify software installations with silent routines | Rarst.net #

    [...] dotnetfx35.exe /passive /norestart .directxdxsetup.exe /silent IE8-WindowsXP-x86-ENU.exe /passive /update-no /no-default /norestart jre-6u17-windows-i586-s.exe /s /v "/qn [REBOOT=Suppress]" 7z465.exe /S AdbeRdr920_en_US.exe /msi /norestart /quiet cdbxp_setup_4.2.7.1801.exe /SILENT /SP- /NORESTART Opera_1001_int_Setup.exe /S /v"/qn" install_flash_player_10.exe /s install_flash_player_10_active_x.exe /s K-Lite_Codec_Pack_544_Full.exe /silent /norestart /LoadInf=".klcpf.ini" MyDefrag-v4.2.6.exe /SILENT /SP- /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NOICONS Paint.NET.3.5.Install.exe /auto picasa35-setup.exe /S /L CrossloopSetup.exe /SILENT /SP- "avast setup.exe" /SILENT /SP- /NORESTART "avast vpsupd.exe" shutdown -r -t 60 [...]

  • Ishan #

    I was looking for .Net Framework, and was not able to find it on Microsoft website. Then I remembered you had this post. So, I came here, and got the direct URL. Thanks buddy :)

  • Rarst #

    @Ishan No problem. :) Microsoft sites are indeed pain to navigate.

  • Native tool to install Windows 7 from flash drive | Rarst.net #

    [...] takes ISO image as input and either burns it to DVD or transfers contents to flash drive (at least 4GB required) and makes it [...]

  • Plugins in Opera | Rarst.net #

    [...] support third party plugins in a form of DLL files which allows common bells and whistles, such as Flash to [...]

  • Kongregate – free online games collection | Rarst.net #

    [...] hosts large amount (over 25k at moment) of free flash games. Some games are simply mirrors from other resources and native sites, some are more tightly [...]

  • Give yourself a backup drill | Rarst.net #

    [...] of failure that no amount of backups can rectify. Keep things separately. Easiest would be to keep flash drive at work or maybe relative where you drop by often. Online backup options like Dropbox are [...]

  • Autodesk Dragonfly – home design web app | Rarst.net #

    [...] to specific angles and furniture is not rotated but re-drawn for each angle separately.App requires Flash and does not feel like it makes good use of tech. Experience is very sluggish and at many occasions [...]

  • Ad block in Opera – boldly native feature | Rarst.net #

    [...] (Alt+P) > Advanced > Content > Blocked Content…Graphical selection deals with images and flash, but manual edit and wildcard support allows to filter out any content. For example if you want to [...]