How To Target Framework In Visual Studio 2010 And 2012?

.NET Framework creates an environment to run the .Net apps on a Windows PC. The latest version of .NET Framework available today is version 4.5.2. Windows 7 comes preinstalled with .NET Framework 3.5, Windows 8 with version 4.0 and Windows 8.1 with version 4.5. Software developers of Windows Desktop apps can target their apps to a specific .NET Framework version. Higher the version, more the classes and libraries are available for use.

While using Visual Studio 2012 and 2013, you can target Framework to any version by clicking Project on the menu bar and then Properties. Here you can see a combo box under Target Framework text. This gives the option to change the Framework version at which your software is being targeted. Reducing the version number of Framework increases its compatibility with older versions of Windows.

However, if you have Visual Studio 2010, Target framework option won’t be present there. Instead you will need to go to the Compile tab from the same page. Then click Advanced Compile Options (This option is present in the bottom of the page). That’s it! The option will be present there as shown: