title: A few questions before trying out .Net
body: <p>Before checking out what it's like developping in .Net, I have a few newbie questions:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>Can a non-admin user install the .Net framework, whether the original package or any subsequent update required to run a programm? Some of our customers have locked-down XP/Vista hosts, and I'm concerned about installing/updating their computer when we upload a new release that requires updating their version of the .Net framework with the latest ServicePack</p></li>
  <li><p>Is performance acceptable on regular Joe hardware (ie. doesn't require latest and greatest, power-user hardware)? Our applications are business applications that users leave open all-day, so it doesn't really matter if .Net apps take more time than their Delphi or VBClassic equivalents to start up, but is performance on par once the .Net framework is up and running?</p></li>
  <li><p>If performance is clearly not as good as eg. compiled Delphi apps, are there known, reliable ways to speed things up?</p></li>
  <li><p>Since I'm used to writing scripts in Python, is IronPython on par with other .Net languages, or is it more of a hobby language and I should head for VB.Net?</p></li>
  </ol>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>Further questions:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Which IDE should I use? MS' VisualStudio? SharpDevelop? Other? Why?</li>
  <li>What makes Mono better than .Net for Windows desktop apps?</li>
  <li>In an application, how to check if the user has the right version of the .Net framework and any needed ServicePack? I'd like to avoid having to pack the required .Net framework if it's not needed (ie. if it's not installed and the user has enough admin rights, download and install it before resuming running my app)</li>
  <li>What happens if the user isn't logged with enough admin rights to install .Net and/or any needed ServicePack? Is there an obvious error message, so that non-techie users can tell what is wrong?</li>
  <li>Is .Net downward-compatible, ie. can an application compiled for 2.0 run on 3.5, or are there tricky incompatibilies, so that it's recommended to install the .Net used to compile the app?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Thank you for any feedback.</p>