What is special about the executables compiled with Visual Studio 11 which results in that the executables cannot be executed on Windows XP?

Question

I compile my C++ source code with Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview. I statically link to the runtime library.

The resulting executable cannot be executed on Window

Answer 1

The workaround is to use a different Platform Toolset, which will link a different version of CRT and produce binaries compatible to older operating systems.

See more here: Target Windows XP in Visual Studio 11 Beta using the Visual Studio 2010 compiler and libraries.

With v90 toolset your binary will be able to run even in older systems, such as Windows 2000.

http://blogs.msdn.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-65-69/7444.BlogPic.png