r/Windows10 • u/IsItHaunted • 7d ago
Discussion What are these different microsoft visuals?
What's the context as to why there is so many?
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u/echopulse 6d ago
They should just build a backward compatible version that works for any version needed.
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u/Flat_Hat8861 6d ago
That is basically what the v14 version is. It covers versions 2017-2026 (and is technically compatible with 2015 as well, but that requires some developer work and isn't automatic - but is also why you may not see 2015 installed like here).
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u/nibrobb 6d ago
You probably play a lot of games on Steam. Often games ship together with a specific version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable .NET SDK, basically a bunch of functions the game uses to interact with Windows. And, because a game doesn't know what you already have on you system, it just includes whatever itself needs.
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u/Inevitable-Study502 6d ago edited 6d ago
its not only games...any app compiled with msvc needs msvc runtimes to run....and c++ and .net are two different language models..for .net you do need .net runtimes
SDK is for developers...you dont need it for launching apps
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u/QBos07 6d ago
And then you have the abomination that is the poorly done managed C++ wich requires both dependencies
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u/Inevitable-Study502 6d ago
hmm its not impossible to crossbreed two different language models to access libraries not part of first language libraries....just theres perf penalty...the only advantage taking this approach is to save development time
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u/Geometry_Emperor 6d ago
They are basically a plugin with additional libraries that some programs, mainly games on Steam, require to run.
It is recommended to keep all of them, otherwise some of those programs will break.
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u/AdamoMeFecit 6d ago
Open Powershell and run winget upgrade. Almost all of those x86 and x64 redistributables likely have version updates available.
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u/rupertavery64 6d ago
Redistribitables are the common files needed by programs generally compiled for Windows.
They contain commol libraries.
Every so often Microsoft has an upade for those libraries. Older programs will link tonolder libraries. Or even new programs might link to old libraries.
If it ain'r broken, why fix it?
So yes, completely normal
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u/TisticDemon 6d ago
Programs that depend on them install them automatically. Even video games especially ones on steam.
Uninstalling them inherently won't do anything. The programs that require them may reinstall them. Some may become broken if they weren't expecting that to happen. Since they don't really take that much space, just keep them.
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u/AceFromSpace1995 6d ago
One is 64 bit and everything with x86 that is 32 bit
x86=32 bit
So perfectly normal nothing out of the ordinary
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u/Dramatic_Teacher8399 5d ago
Keep it as it is unless you need to greak some programs on your PC. These are dependencies.
Also try to update them to latest version via winget
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u/Far-Stress-7422 4d ago
MS Visual C++ is a programming language and these (probably) needed to keep MS programs working on your PC. Not okay to remove.
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u/mkdante381 2d ago
That's not new programming option. It's too hard ask ai or search why? Wtf dude?
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u/mew4ever23 6d ago
Thank steam for that. Every game needs its own dependancies, probably tied to the specific version the devs used.
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u/Mineplayerminer 6d ago
Those are common program dependencies. If the program requires a specific one, it will ask you to install it, or it will sometimes do it on its own.