Visual Studio 64-bit Components
Visual Studio provides 64-bit versions of some components, and also provides tools that are specific to 64-bit development.
64-Bit .NET Framework
The runtime setup for 64-bit operating systems includes both the 32-bit and 64-bit common language runtime (CLR). You do not have to install a separate 64-bit-specific framework after you install Visual Studio.
64-Bit Visual C++ Tools
Visual C++ gives the option of installing the x64 compiler and tools on Windows 64-bit computers, and also the option of installing 64-bit runtime .dlls, such as msvcr80.dll, msvcm80.dll, and msvcp80.dll. To install these components, perform a full installation or, during a Custom installation, select the x64 Compilers and Tools check boxes. For more information about the compilers, see How to: Enable a 64-Bit Visual C++ Toolset at the Command Line.
Visual Studio uses the 32-bit cross compiler even on a Windows 64-bit computer. However, you can use devenv commands to create a command-line environment to call 64-bit-hosted tools.
64-Bit Debugging
The Visual Studio 2008 debugger lets you debug 64-bit applications on a local or a remote computer. When you are debugging on a local computer, Visual Studio is running under Windows-32-bit-On-Windows-64-bit (WOW64) and the application is running on Windows 64-bit.
Before you can debug a 64-bit application that is running on a remote computer, you must install the 64-bit remote debugger on the remote computer. The 64-bit remote debugger can be found in the \Remote Debugger\ folder on installation disk 3 for English releases, installation disk 4 for non-English releases, or on the DVD.