Download Microsoft C/C++ compiler for use with Python 2.6/2.7 ASAP

[sturlamolden]

Just a little reminder:

Microsoft has withdrawn VS2008 in favor of VS2010. The express version
is also unavailable for download. >:((

We can still get a VC++ 2008 compiler required to build extensions for
the official Python 2.6 and 2.7 binary installers here (Windows 7 SDK
for .NET 3.5 SP1):

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=71DEB800-C591-4F97-A900-BEA146E4FAE1&displaylang=en

Download today, before it goes away!

Microsoft has now published a download for Windows 7 SDK for .NET 4.
It has the VC++ 2010 compiler. It can be a matter of days before the VC
++ 2008 compiler is totally unavailable.

It is possible to build C and Fortran extensions for official Python
2.6/2.7 binaries on x86 using mingw. AFAIK, Microsoft's compiler is
required for C++ or amd64 though. (Intel's compiler requires VS2008,
which has now perished.)

Remember Python on Windows will still require VS2008 for a long time.
Just take a look at the recent Python 3 loath threads.