   [.net] ngen.exe
  quick question. If I use ngen.exe to convert a .NET exe to a native can thsat be run on a machine without the .NET framework? eg. Win 98   
  afaik you still need the .net framework, sorry   ;  ngen really only helps with startup time. I've never noticed startup time being that big of a deal anyway.   ;NGen on the MSDNQuote:The Native Image Generator (Ngen.exe) is a tool that improves the performance of managed applications. Ngen.exe creates native images, which are files containing compiled processor-specific machine code, and installs them into the native image cache on the local computer. The runtime can use native images from the cache instead using the just-in-time (JIT) compiler to compile the original assembly. NGen pre-compiles your .NET application for a specific platform(Thus, if you intend to execute it, do it on the client machine you're installing the app on).NGen reduces the first startup of the executable, because it doesn't need to compile the .NET executable for the first time and post it in the GAC(Global Assembly Cache). As said before, it still requires the .NET framework because it links to these DLLs for it's functionality. NGen doesn't replace .NET calls with Win32 calls, it just creates the machine code for it.Therefor, any function called from within your executable to say, the Windows UI, still goes through the System.Windows.Forms namespace.Toolmaker   