Visual Studio 2012, a legacy IDE, can be downloaded through Microsoft's subscription portal with a Dev Essentials account. Individual components like the Visual C++ Redistributable Update 4 are available via the Microsoft Download Center. For more information, visit the Microsoft Older Downloads page Microsoft Learn Visual Studio 2012 Update 4 Release Notes - Microsoft Learn

Fun throwback idea

Recreate a small Windows 8-era app: a XAML-based photo viewer using async image loading and a simple MVVM pattern — you’ll get hands-on contrast between 2012 tooling and modern equivalents (UWP/WinUI/MAUI).

: You need a Microsoft account. Accessing older versions generally requires a free Visual Studio Dev Essentials membership or a paid subscription. My.VisualStudio.com Use the search bar to look for "Visual Studio 2012."

You can download Visual Studio 2012 from the official Microsoft website or through the Visual Studio archive. However, please note that the direct download link may not be available due to Microsoft's efforts to promote newer versions.

• Operating System: Windows 7 (SP1) or later (including Windows 10)
• Processor: 1.8 GHz or faster processor
• Memory: 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)
• Hard Disk Space: 1.5 GB of free space

Although Visual Studio 2012 is an older version of the IDE, there are still many reasons why developers might want to use it in 2021:

Option 1: If you want the "2021" Era Software (Visual Studio 2022)

If your goal is to use the modern, high-performance IDE released by Microsoft in late 2021, you are looking for Visual Studio 2022. This is the first 64-bit version of Visual Studio, meaning it can utilize all available system memory to handle massive, complex projects without crashing.

C++ Redistributables: The Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable also reached its end-of-support in 2023.