2013 Visual C++ !exclusive! Jun 2026

Note: Visual C++ 2013 was the to officially support Windows XP as a target platform.

Historically, the CRT in Visual Studio was a monolithic block. In 2013, Microsoft began the process of modularizing the runtime. This was a strategic move to support the Windows Store app model, but it had profound benefits for desktop developers as well. It improved load times and reduced memory footprints by allowing the operating system to share more code pages between processes. 2013 visual c++