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Every time I install a game, or even OpenOffice, part of the installation routine is installing yet another Visual C++ 2005/2008 redistributable, right next to the 10 others I already have on my system.

Why are so many different versions (of what feels like the same thing) necessary?

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I didn't install OpenOffice on Windows lately, but AFAIK OO.org pure Java. That's disturbing! – lajuette Aug 8 '10 at 18:46
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OO.org is actually mostly C++ with some Java components ( source ). – heavyd Aug 8 '10 at 19:14
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The reason is that they are not same thing. First you need to understand that every version of MSVC++ ships with its own version of runtime libraries. There are also 32 and 64 bit versions. Also, there are service packs bring updated versions of runtime libraries.

If you do have 10 installations, can you list their names? I don't think that you should have more than 4 (32 and 64 bit for 2005 and same for 2008). Service packs should replace unupdated versions.

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I believe this is correct - there are only 4 that I am aware of and the improvement here is that they can now be installed side-by-side. The required build depends on if the application was complied to statically or dynamically link to the runtime used in compiling the application. These can coexist peacefully and are relatively small. – jtreser Aug 8 '10 at 13:27
+2 more for VS2010! But still if OP has 10, that's too much. – AndrejaKo Aug 8 '10 at 15:47
Well, admittedly, I haven't counted them. On my machine at work I have two (2008 32bit and 64bit, both 9.0.something). I'll count them at home, too. – Tomalak Aug 9 '10 at 12:54
Well on the work machine everything seems fine. – AndrejaKo Aug 9 '10 at 13:33
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I have 12 listed. 2005 (2) (no specification or version listed) 2008 (8) x32/x64 9.0.21022, 9.0.30729.17, 9.0.30729.4148, 9.0.30729.6161 2010 (2) x32/x64 10.0.40219 – Darren Hall Mar 19 at 7:59
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