Microsoft releases free OPTIMIZING VC7

[RDaneel]

Well, the *command-line* version anyway.

Microsoft calls this package "Visual C++ Toolkit 2003" - it is available at

http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/vctoolkit2003/

But seriously, this is the real thing - not the free "Standard Edition" version included with the .NET SDK!

For VS6/VC6 people, there is also the fairly new (end of March) Service Pack 6... all of which raises some questions (at least for me):

1) Can I use this with the VS6 IDE? Probably, but there will be issues with new and changed compiler switches. Note that MS says that this "toolkit" will coexist with other VC/VS installations, so there are some obvious approaches - until the free IDE packages catch up with this.

2) What about the "Processor Pack" add-on for VC6? Is that functionality contained in this version of VC7?

3) What about SP6? If you are not using the Processor Pack, then installing this seems like the thing to do in any case. But if you *are* using the Processor Pack, recall that it is very specific to which VC6 you are running, having different packages for SP4 vs SP5... so if VC7 includes the Processor Pack stuff, then this is a non-issue - otherwise, one might want to hold off on SP6.

Final comments (for now):

1) As has been discussed here before, it is a good idea to keep up with the [free] "Platform SDK" releases from Microsoft, and that hasn't changed with the release of the "Toolkit".

2) For MFC/ATL users, I don't *think* that the "Toolkit" release includes the newer versions of this stuff that you would get in the full VS.NET.

3) Regarding the specific contents of SP6, note that the size for the "Full" download is down from 130MB to 60MB - because they are only including new stuff for VC6, VB6, and VSS6 now.

4) Speaking of download sizes, the "Visual C++ Toolkit 2003" comes in at a trim 31MB.

Happy updating - or not!