[New-bugs-announce] [issue14708] distutils's checking for MSVC compiler

[martin at v.loewis.de]

> I am using python 2.7.2 installed via the pre-built installer  
> package, and my SDK version is v7.1.
>
> 1) The MSSdk environment variable is not set by lastest SDK's  
> SetEnv.cmd anymore, but distutils still check for it.

This is intentional. Older SDKs still set the variable, so there
is nothing wrong with checking it.

> 2) I have also install MSVC 2010 Express Edition, and its vcvarsall.bat
> can't be found.

MSVC 2010 is not supported for building Python 2.7 extension modules.

>
> a) Can i use different version of MSVC from which python is built  
> for extension development ?

No. Because of the way the MSVCRT works, this can cause crashes.

> b) Can i use mingw compiler to develop extension for the pre-built  
> windows binary python ?

Yes.