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h1. Installing MSVC

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h2. General

We suggest to use MSVC 2005 or higher, Standard/Professional/Team Edition, or the free Express edition.

Microsoft has improved MSVC 2005 by means of a service pack; I strongly recommend you upgrade your compiler with this service pack (SP1). This service pack is available both for the full version and the Express Edition at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb265237.aspx It is a good idea to drink a cup of coffee while the service pack is installing.

If you are using Vista, MSVC will insist that you also install the SP1 Upgrade for Vista (an additional upgrade to SP1).

If you choose to use the Express edition, you have to perform some extra steps outlined below.

At the time of writing, the most recent MSVC compiler is MSVC2008.

h2. Installing MSVC 2008, Express Edition

Steps to install MSVC C++ EE on your computer:

• Go to http://www.microsoft.com/express/download/ and download the compiler
• Execute the installer and install the compiler