What version of windows do I need to develop with .NET 4 and C#?

Question

I am planning on starting to develop with C# and .NET. I have a Mac and need to buy a copy of windows 7 to use with bootcamp. Do I need Windows 7 Ultimate or can I develop just fine with the Home edition? Do I loose any features on the development end with Home edition?

Thanks!

Frankie

Answer 1

You need Windows XP SP3, Vista SP1 or 2, or Windows 7 in order to install .Net 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010.

The edition (Home, Professional, etc...) is completely irrelevant, except that Windows XP Home does not support IIS. (Vista & 7 Home Basic do)
Even that is now less relevant with IIS Express

Answer 2

Development features are based on your IDE version not your OS version. AFAIK .NET is the same for all versions of Windows. You can develop just fine on a Home version, in fact Windows XP would work too.

Here is a chart by Microsoft that compares the versions http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/default.aspx