Windows XP Targeting with C++ in Visual Studio 2012

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http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2012/10/08/10357555.aspx

Background
In June, we announced enhanced targeting for Windows XP using the Visual Studio 2012 C++ compiler and libraries.This feature has been included in Visual Studio 2012 Update 1. You can download it from here. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of theWindows XP targeting experience, the level of C++ runtime support, and noteworthy differences from the default experience shipped in Visual Studio 2012 at RTM.
Windows XP Targeting Experience
In order to target Windows XP, switch from the default v110 toolset to the newly introduced v110_xp toolset inside your project’s property pages. This new platform toolset points to a repackaged version of the Windows 7 SDK shipped in Visual Studio 2010 insteadof the Windows 8 SDK, but uses the same Visual Studio 2012 compiler. The v110_xp toolset also sets useful defaults such as a compatible linker subsystem version for downlevel targeting. Only executables built with this platform toolset are supported to runon Windows XP, but those same executables will also run on Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

C++ Runtime Support
The static and dynamic link libraries for the CRT, ConCRT/PPL, STL, and MFC have been updated in-place to add runtime support for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Applications written in C++/CLI which target the .NET Framework 4.0 will also run on WindowsXP and Windows Server 2003. For these operating systems, the supported versions are Windows XP SP3 for x86, Windows XP SP2 for x64, and Windows Server 2003 SP2 for both x86 and x64.
[size=1em]Library

[size=1em]v110 (Vista+)

[size=1em]v110 (Store Apps)

[size=1em]v110_xp (XP/2k3+)

[size=1em]CRT
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X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]ConCRT/PPL
[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]STL
[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]MFC
[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]ATL
[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]C++ AMP
[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

X

[size=1em]

Differences from Vista+ Targeting

• Building HLSL
  Building HLSL with the v110_xp toolset is not enabled by default. To enable HLSL compilation, download the DirectX SDK (June 2010) and set your project’sVC directories manually to point to this SDK, in a similar manner as Visual Studio 2010. For more information, see the “DirectX SDK Does Not Register Include/Library Paths with Visual Studio 2010” section of the DirectX SDK (June 2010) download page.
  
• Debugging DirectX
  The Visual Studio 2012 Graphics Debugging experience is not supported when targeting DirectX 9.
  
• Static Analysis
  When selecting the v110_xp platform toolset, the static analysis experience is disabled due to incompatibilities between the SAL annotations in the Visual Studio 2012 C++ libraries and the Windows 7 SDK. If static analysis is required, we recommendthat you switch the solution to the normal v110 toolset, execute static analysis, and then switch back to v110_xp.
  
• Remote Debugging
  The Remote Tools for Visual Studio 2012 do not support remote debugging on an XP client. When debugging on Windows XP is required, it is recommended to usethe debuggers of an older version of Visual Studio, such as Visual Studio 2010, for local or remote debugging. This is in line with the Windows Vista experience for Visual Studio 2012 RTM, which is a runtime target but not a remote debugging target.
  
• Process Status APIs
  As with Visual Studio 2012 RTM, applications that target Windows Vista and below while taking a dependency on theprocess status APIs must set  thePSAPI_VERSION macro to 1.
  

Targeting from the Command Line
Visual Studio 2012 solutions and projects which have been switched to the v110_xp toolset can be built from the commandline using MSBuild or DEVENV without additional steps.
However, if you wish to use CL and Link directly, additional steps are needed. Note that the steps below may be automated by creating a batch script.

• Set the path and environment variables for Visual Studio 2012 command-line builds.
  
• Set the required SDK paths and compiler flags using the following commands:
  
  set INCLUDE=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\7.1A\Include;%INCLUDE%
  set PATH=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\7.1A\Bin;%PATH%
  set LIB=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\7.1A\Lib;%LIB%
  set CL=/D_USING_V110_SDK71_;%CL%
  
  When targeting x64, set the lib path as follows:
  set LIB=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\7.1A\Lib\x64;%LIB%
  
• Specify the correct subsystem and subsystem version for the linker based on the type of application you are building.Applications targeting the x86 version of Windows XP must specify subsystem version 5.01, and applications targeting x64 must specify version 5.02.
  
  For x86 console applications:
  set LINK=/SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE,5.01 %LINK%
  
  For x64 console applications:
  set LINK=/SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE,5.02 %LINK%
  
• Execute CL and Link as you normally would within the command prompt.
  

Feedback
As always, we'd love to hear your feedback. Please submit bugs to Visual Studio Connect, and suggestions to VisualStudio UserVoice.