With thanks to Stefanov from the forums.

A team at Open Source project collaboration site CodePlex have released something a little surprising, a new version of the Microsoft .net Compact Framework for Windows CE 2.00.

In 2.37 MB the CodePlex team are attempting to offer a legacy version of the .net byte-code environment which will enable programs written in modern Microsoft development environments to run on older H/PC devices.
Unlike binary code, byte-code executables are designed to be processor independent, meaning that as long as the device has an operable version of the .net framework on board, it can potentially run any application written in a compatible .net language.

More significantly, any application which fails to meet the compatibility requirements can be fixed far more readily at the source than with contemporary binary applications.

The runtime is available for free under an open source license, but at this time has only been compiled to run on Hitachi SH3 processors. Anyone looking for extended processor support is encouraged to sign up and make use of the voting facility on the project site.

View: Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 1.0 at CodePlex