Building python C++ extension modules using MS VC++ 2005?

[Sandra-24]

You can use 2005 to build extensions for Python 2.5. I've done this
with several extensions, both my own and others. I do not know if you
can use it for Python 2.4, so I won't advise you on that. I thought
Microsoft made its C/C++ compiler, version 7.1 (2003) freely available
as a command line tool. If you can't find it on their site, ask around,
I'm sure a lot of people have it. Probably you'll also find someone has
put it up somewhere if you search on google. Try 2005 first and see
what happens though.

-Sandra