In older systems, every major Visual Studio release deployed its own unique, version-stamped C Runtime library (such as msvcr120.dll ). Visual Studio 14.0 decoupled the C Runtime library from the compiler version, introducing the Universal C Runtime (UCRT). The UCRT became an official operating system component integrated directly into Windows 10 and later. This shift minimized application deployment sizes and eliminated the need to package duplicate runtime binaries. 3. Standalone MSBuild 14.0
Search your old downloads folder. If you find vs14_ctp.exe , you’ve found a fossil.
If you see _MSC_VER == 1900 in a C++ header, that’s .
Understanding VS 14.0 explains several modern quirks: