Can VS 2005 build C# for .NET 4?

Question

I am aware that you can probably build a lower version of .NET, but is it possible for me to build a project against the .NET framework version 4?

Answer 1

No, each version of Visual Studio is only capable of targeting the framework it was released with and lower ones. (Leaving .NET 1.1 out of it...) So...

• VS2005 can only compile against .NET 2.0 (and .NET 3.0 with some extensions, admittedly)
• VS2008 can compile against .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0 and .NET 3.5
• VS2010 can compile against .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.0

(And then there's client profiles, the Compact Framework, Silverlight etc.)