Changes in Visual C++ 2005 and Earlier Editions
For Visual C++ 2005, the Visual C++ language has been expanded to include support for developing components and applications that run on a virtual machine with garbage collection. These additions have been approved by the C++/CLI standards committee. Visual C++ 2005 supports targeting the .NET Framework CLR (Common Language Runtime), the Microsoft implementation of a garbage-collected virtual machine, but it can be used to target any platform that conforms to the CLI standard.
The Visual C++ syntax supported in Visual C++ 2005 for .NET Programming is now much more natural than that of the Managed Extensions for C++ introduced in Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2003. Managed Extensions for C++ is still supported, but has been deprecated in favor of the new syntax. For more information, see Language Features for Targeting the CLR.
There are also numerous new features for native programming, including targeting 64-bit processor architectures, new library functions with improved security, and more. For the complete list of new features, follow the links below.