The project type is not supported by this installation

edit please see the answer further down, which is about 18 months newer, and actually solves the problem. This historically once-accurate answer is no longer as accurate. Leaving intact after the break for this reason. – thanks – jcolebrand

What edition of VS do you use? VS2008 Express, Standard, Pro or Team System? VS2010 Professional, Premium or Ultimate? I would expect that the project you downloaded was created using a higher edition of Visual Studio and uses some of those advanced features. Thus you can not open it.

EDIT: It is also possible that you lack some advanced frameworks like newer versions of Windows Mobile SDK, but if I recall correctly,the error message in such case is different.

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