VC++ Product versions

Visual C++ 1.0, was the first version of Visual C++, released in 1992.
It is available in both 16-bit and 32-bit versions.
It includes MFC 2.0.

Visual C++ 1.5 was the next version.
It was 16-bit only.
It includes MFC 2.5, added OLE 2.0 and ODBC support to MFC.
It was important as the last version to support 16-bit software development.

Visual C++ 2.0 was the next release.
It was the first version to be 32-bit only.
It includes MFC 3.0.

Visual C++ 1.51 (an update to Visual C++ 1.5) was released at the same time as Visual C++ 2.0.
Updates to this version included Visual C++ 2.1, released at the same time as Visual C++ 1.52, which is another update to Visual C++ 1.5, and 2.0

Visual C++ 4.0 was next release.
It includes MFC 4.0.
It was designed for Windows 95, as well as Windows NT.

Updates to this version included Visual C++ 4.1 and Visual C++ 4.2, which no longer supports Win32s.

Visual C++ 5.0, was a major upgrade from 4.2.
It included MFC 4.21.

Visual C++ 6.0, which includes MFC 6.0, was released in 1998, was (and still is) widely used for large and small projects.

Visual C++ .NET 2002 (known also as Visual C++ 7.0), which includes MFC 7.0, was released in 2002 with support for link time code generation and debugging runtime checks.
This version also included managed extensions to the C++ language, as well as a new user interface (shared with Visual Basic and Visual C#), which is a primary reason why Visual C++ 6.0 is still in wide use.

Visual C++ .NET 2003 (known also as Visual C++ 7.1), which includes MFC 7.1, was released in 2003 and was a major upgrade to Visual C++ .NET 2002.

Visual C++ 2005 (known also as Visual C++ 8.0), which includes MFC 8.0, was released in November of 2005. This version also introduced support for the C++/CLI language and OpenMP.