Getting Started with XNA

The short story:

Microsoft has been kind enough to include everything that you need in one easy installation executable which you can find here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=04704acf-a63a-4f97-952c-8b51b34b00ce&displaylang=en

Simply click ‘Download’ on the ‘vm_web.exe’ file. Once it has downloaded run the application and follow the prompts.

 

The Long Story:

Microsft Visual Studio 2010

I would suggest using the free Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition as it has all the functionality you need.

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

Get it here

Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0

Get it here

 

In addition to these any requirements mentioned above you will also want to make sure that you have a computer running Windows with a graphics card that supports, at a minimum, Shader Model 1.1 and DirectX 9.0c. However, it is recommended that you have a card that supports DirectX 10 and Shader Model 2.0.