• Standard compliance issues in Visual C++.

• /AI compiler option.

• /clr compiler option.

• /FU compiler option.

• /Fx compiler option.

• /GH compiler option.

• /Gi compiler option was removed from the compiler; the Visual C++ compiler no longer does incremental compilation. /Gi will be silently ignored by the compiler.

• /GD compiler option was removed from the compiler.

• /GL compiler option.

• /GS compiler option.

• New keywords associated with Managed Extensions for C++.

• /Qlfist is now documented.

• /O1 and /O2 now use /GF instead of /Gf.

• /Ox, /O1, and /O2 now use /Ob2 instead of /Ob1.

• /RTC compiler option.

• /showIncludes compiler option.

• /w compiler option now lets you specify the behavior of specific warnings.

• /Wall compiler option now lets you enable all warnings, including warnings that are disabled by default.

• /WL compiler option.

• /Wp64 compiler option.

• /Y- compiler option.

• /Zc:forScope compiler option.

• /Zc:wchar_t compiler option.

• A list of warnings that are off by default.

• Boolean expressions are now of type bool, not BOOL.

• /ALLOWBIND linker option.

• /ASSEMBLYMODULE linker option.

• /ASSEMBLYRESOURCE linker option.

• /COMMENT linker option is now deprecated. Use the comment pragma.

• The CVPACK utility is removed.

• /DEBUGTYPE linker option has been removed. Symbol support in COFF format is removed; symbols must now be placed in .pdb files.

• /GPSIZE linker option has been removed. The linker now determines the optimal location for communal variables (uninitialized global data items) based on the presence of GP relative relocations to the data.

• /IDLOUT linker option.

• /IGNOREIDL linker option.

• /LINK50COMPAT has been removed. Import libraries created with Visual C++ .NET are compatible with Visual C++ 6.0.

• /LTCG linker option.

• /MAPINFO:FIXUPS has been removed.

• /MIDL linker option.

• /NOASSEMBLY linker option.

• /PDB:NONE linker option has been removed. Debug information in the .exe is no longer supported.

• /PDBSTRIPPED linker option.

• /PDBTYPE linker option has been removed. Debug information will be placed in a single .pdb file.

• The /PROFILE linker option has been removed. If you are using a third party profiler that needs /PROFILE, you should instead use /FIXED:NO. In this version, the linker will still accept /PROFILE as a synonym for /FIXED:NO.

• The source profiler, a linker utility, is removed.

• /TLBID linker option.

• /TLBOUT linker option.

• /TSAWARE linker option.

• /WARN linker option has been removed.

• /CLRHEADER option.

• /IMPORTS option for the DUMPBIN utility now takes an optional parameter that lets you display imports from a specified DLL.

• /PDBPATH option.

• /RAWDATA parameters are renamed, but syntax from previous releases is still valid.

• /UNWINDINFO option.

• _AddressOfReturnAddress keyword is now documented.

• __alignof keyword.

• Covariant return types are now supported.

• __declspec(align) keyword.

• __declspec(deprecated) keyword.

• __declspec(noinline) keyword.

• __declspec(selectany) keyword now supports dynamically allocated objects (objects initialized by a constructor).

• __event keyword.

• The for statement under /Ze has been modified to adhere more closely to standard behavior.

• __if_exists and __if_not_exists keywords.

• __interface keyword.

• Function-try blocks are now supported.

• __m64 data type.

• __m128 data type.

• __m128d data type.

• __m128i data type.

• MMX, SSE and SSE2 intrinsics.

• __super keyword.

• template keyword now allows template parameters.

• throw(...) syntax.

• __assume compiler intrinsic.

• __debugbreak compiler intrinsic.

• __noop compiler intrinsic.

• Explicit overrides.

• Limit on levels of nested parentheses in a single expression is now 256.

• _ReturnAddress keyword is now documented.

• __sealed keyword.

• __w64 keyword.

• wchar_t is now a native data type.

• New keywords associated with Managed Extensions for C++.

• conform pragma.

• __COUNTER__ predefined macro.

• deprecated pragma.

• __FUNCDNAME__ predefined macro.

• __FUNCSIG__ predefined macro.

• __FUNCTION__ predefined macro.

• #import directive:

• You can now specify type libraries by progid or libid.

• The following are new attributes in the #import directive:

  • embedded_idl

  • no_dual_interfaces

  • no_smartpointers

• _MANAGED preprocessor directive.

• managed and unmanaged pragmas.

• pack pragma now has a show option to display current pack value.

• pop_macro is now documented.

• push_macro is now documented.

• runtime_checks pragma.

• section pragma.

• #using directive.

• _WCHAR_T_DEFINED preprocessor directive.

The Image Editor toolbar was called the Graphics toolbar in Visual C++ 6.0. While the buttons on the toolbar are essentially the same (tools for drawing, painting, entering text, erasing, and manipulating views), the behavior and presentation of the toolbar has changed slightly.

In Visual C++ 6.0, the Graphics toolbar was initially a docked window on the left side of the workspace and the Options selector appeared as a box within the toolbar. In Visual C++ .NET, the Image Editor toolbar appears at the top of the workspace. The Option selector now appears on the far right in the Image Editor toolbar as a button with a drop-down arrow. The icon on the Option selector button changes depending on the tool you have selected.

The behavior of the Text Tool dialog box has changed from Visual C++ 6.0 to Visual Studio .NET.

These changes make the Text tool behave more like standard dialog boxes and the other Image editor tools.

• The default settings for ATL projects have changed.

• More reference topics for ATL methods contain code examples.

• Support for collections and enumerators: ICollectionOnSTLImpl, IEnumOnSTLImpl, CComEnumImpl, CComEnumOnSTL, CComEnum

• A new class, CImage, that provides enhanced bitmap support, including the ability to load and save images in JPEG, GIF, BMP, and Portable Network Graphics (PNG) formats.

• New classes for managing arrays, lists and trees: CAtlArray, CAtlList, CAtlMap, CRBMap, and CRBMultiMap.

• New string conversion macros and classes.

• Utility classes: CAdapt

• Hosting ActiveX controls: IAxWinAmbientDispatch, IAxWinHostWindow, CAxWindow2

• Enhancements to CComBSTR and CComVariant

• New macros: OBJECT_ENTRY_AUTO and OBJECT_ENTRY_NON_CREATEABLE_EX_AUTO

• Simplified object creation: CComCoClass::CreateInstance

• Improved debugging support: _ATL_DEBUG_INTERFACES

• Registry support for REG_MULTI_SZ values: CRegKey

• New security classes: CAcl, CDacl, CSacl, CSecurityAttributes, CSecurityDesc, CSid, CTokenGroups and CTokenPrivileges.

• New array management classes: CSimpleArray, CSimpleMap, CComSafeArray, CComSafeArrayBound.

• A Currency object class: CComCurrency.

• The following ATL macros should be considered obsolete: atlTraceFlags, ATLTrace, BEGIN_OBJECT_MAP, OBJECT_ENTRY, END_OBJECT_MAP.

• Several ATL methods have been replaced.

• The functionality of CComModule has been distributed into several new classes.

ATL Server is a set of native C++ classes that allows developers to create Web applications, XML Web services, and other server applications. Many classes can also be used in client applications or components.

• Run-time error checks functions

• The new operator can throw an exception or return zero if the memory allocation fails.

• Recover from stack overflows with _resetstkoflw

• New functions to allow dates beyond the year 2038:

  _ctime64	_wfindnext64	_gmtime64	_wstat64
  _wctime64	_fstat64	_localtime64	_time64
  _findfirst64	_ftime64	_mktime64	_utime64
  _wfindfirst64	_futime64	_stat64	_wutime64
  _findnext64

• Configure debug-heap checks with _CrtSetDbgFlag.

• Determine block and subblock types _CrtReportBlockType

• Math constants

• New wide-character functions:

  _cwprintf

  _putwch

  _putws

  _wtof

• New __int64 versions of string functions:

  _strtoi64

  _strtoui64

  _wctoi64

  _wcstoui64

• New Unicode versions of console functions:

  _getwch	_ungetwch	cgetws	_getwche
  _cwscanf

• New string functions that calculate the number of characters needed to print formatted data:

  _scprintf	_scwprintf	_vscprintf	_vscwprintf
  _snscanf	_snwscanf

• Data alignment functions.

• _set_security_error_handler, for registering a security error handler.

• Because the timing of the release of C99, this version of Visual C++ is not conformant with that standard.

• New byte-swapping functions: _byteswap_uint64, _byteswap_ulong, _byteswap_ushort.

• _set_SSE2_enable to use SSE2 instructions.

• _CrtSetReportHook2.

• Reference topics for MFC contain hundreds of new code examples.

• Static Casting and MFC Message Maps   Beginning with Visual C++ .NET, MFC provides stricter type checking for return and parameter types of message handler functions. This new behavior notifies the developer of potential problems by flagging potentially unsafe message handlers with an error message. MFC now uses static casts for ON_MESSAGE, ON_REGISTERED_MESSAGE, ON_THREAD_MESSAGE, and ON_REGISTERED_THREAD_MESSAGE.

  For example, in the past a developer could use a member function that returned void instead of LRESULT for ON_MESSAGE or ON_REGISTERED_MESSAGE and compile without any errors. With Visual C++ .NET, the potential miscast is caught and flagged as an error. The developer can fix the potential problem by replacing the return type (with LRESULT) and recompiling.

• DHTML editing component: CHtmlEditCtrl, CHtmlEditView, CHtmlEditDoc

• DHTML dialog boxes: CDHtmlDialog, CMultiPageDHtmlDialog

• ISAPI support for parsing argument lists: CHttpArg, CHttpArgList

• Support for windowless controls: COleControlSite, COleControlContainer, and COccManager

• Enhanced support for using HTML Help in an MFC application.

• Windows 2000 print property sheet: CPrintDialogEx.

• DAO support: The Visual C++ MFC Application Wizard and MFC DLL Application Wizard no longer support DAO database projects. You can still add DAO-derived classes using the Add Class Wizard. Microsoft recommends using OLE DB or ODBC for new native C++ projects. You should use DAO only in maintaining existing applications.

• TRACE0, TRACE1, TRACE2, and TRACE3 are now considered obsolete; use ATLTRACE2. TRACE now has the same functionality as ATLTRACE2.

• When selecting a dialog box font, use MS Shell Dlg, not MS Sans Serif or Helv fonts. Previous versions of MFC would automatically replace MS Sans Serif or Helv with DEFAULT_GUI_FONT or the system font, but MFC no longer does that.

• Enhanced support for localized resources in satellite DLLs.

The following OLE DB Templates are provided in Visual C++:

• New consumer classes: CDataConnection, CDynamicAccessor, CDynamicParameterAccessor, CDynamicStringAccessor, CDynamicStringAccessorA, CDynamicStringAccessorW, CStreamRowset, CXMLAccessor.

• New consumer macros: COLUMN_NAME* macros for binding to a specific column in the database by name and BLOB* macros for binding binary large objects (BLOB).

• New provider classes: IDBSchemaRowsetImpl, IErrorRecordsImpl, IRowsetChangeImpl, IRowsetCreatorImpl, IRowsetNotifyCP, IRowsetNotifyImpl, IRowsetLocateImpl, IRowsetUpdateImpl.

New 64-bit Data Types

A number of new and revised classes can now be used in any Visual C++ program.

The Standard C++ Library has been updated:

• hash_map Class

• hash_set Class

• Optional exception handling support.

• Enhanced code formatting (readability).

• Enhanced DLL support (passing objects between process boundaries).

• Enhanced multithreading support.

• Enhanced compliance with the standard.

For Visual C++, the use of the old iostream library is deprecated; you will get a warning each time you use an iostream function. It is possible that the old iostream library will be removed in a subsequent release.