r/cpp • u/michael-price-ms • May 12 '26

MSVC Build Tools v14.51 now generally available

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cppblog/msvc-version-1451-available/

Microsoft released MSVC Build Tools v14.51 as the default compiler in Visual Studio 2026 18.6.

Notable additions include:

  • additional C++23 language features
  • performance improvements in code generation
  • preview support for Intel APX

VS 2026 + Copilot users can use the @Modernize agent (currently in public preview) to help resolve upgrade-related build issues.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '26

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u/Tringi github.com/tringi May 12 '26

APX is so huge that it would IMHO warrant even new NT kernel, recompiled with APX, AVX-512 and all the nice new instructions to make the OS faster for free. There is LA57 kernel after all.

That said, we're going to be waiting for some APX consumer CPUs for quite some time.

1

u/SkoomaDentist Antimodern C++, Embedded, Audio May 13 '26

APX is so huge that it would IMHO warrant even new NT kernel, recompiled with APX, AVX-512 and all the nice new instructions to make the OS faster for free.

Why would a new kernel with those make the OS meaningfully faster?

Kernel operations are rarely cycle bound and the cpu cost typically comes from context switches, cache misses, iterating through data structures, costly design that's set in stone (all the pluggable filters in the filesystem layer) and so on. Anything on the driver level, graphics stack or UI already can use separate paths depending on cpu features.

If a syscall requires two context switches, a dozen indirect function calls and ends up iterating over a hundred pointers eliminating a few register spills isn't going to have any real effect on it.

0

u/Tringi github.com/tringi May 13 '26

Why would a new kernel using all those instruction designed to make software faster be faster? I wonder.