Microsoft visual studio.

MSVC downloads
MS SDK downloads
MS SDK versions
Register SDK to Visual Studio.
MSVC versions.
MFC versions.
ALT version.
MSVC and SDK compatibility
Legacy VS 6.0
Build MSVC project from command line.
Check linking problem.
Buy MSVC.

MSVC downloads

Starting from 2008 MSDN no longer distributed in .iso files. To install help use "Help Library Manager".

http://vshelpdownloader.codeplex.com/: Tool for downloading base Visual Studio 2010 MSDN package for offline first installation.

MS SDK downloads

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=18950: Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (ISO). Latest that inlude offline Platform documentation.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8442: Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 (latest that support Windows XP). ISO. Does not nclude documentation and require .Net 4.0.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb980924.aspx: Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 (latest that support Windows XP). Web installer. Does not nclude documentation and require .Net 4.0.
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/sdk-archive: Windows SDK and emulator archive.

MS SDK versions

Description	VER
Included in Visual Studio 2005	v5.0
Included in Visual Studio 2008	v6.0A
SDK Update for Windows Vista
SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5	v6.1
Included in Visual Studio 2010 Express	v7.0A
SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP 1	v7.0
SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4	v7.1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows_SDK#Versions: Microsoft Windows SDK Versions
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/sdk-archive: Windows SDK and emulator archive.
http://web.archive.org/web/20100806195053/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd146047.aspx: Which SDK do I install?

Register SDK to Visual Studio.

To check all available version:

cmd> cd %PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\vX.X\Setup\
cmd> WindowsSdkVer.exe -version

To check current used version:

cmd> cd %PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\vX.X\Setup\
cmd> WindowsSdkVer.exe -current

cmd> cd %PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\vX.X\Setup\
cmd> WindowsSdkVer.exe -version:v6.1

MSVC versions.

Product	Release	C++	_MSC_VER	MFC	_MFC_VER	ATL	_ATL_VER
	date	version		version		version
C 1.0			100
C 2.0			200
C 3.0			300
C 4.0			400
C 5.0			500
C 6.0	1990		600
C/C++ 7.0	1992		700	1.0	0x0100
Visual C++ 1.0	1993	1.0	800	2.0	0x0200
Visual C++ 1.1	1993	1.1
Visual C++ 1.5	1993	1.5	850	2.5	0x0250
Visual C++ 1.51		1.5
Visual C++ 1.52		1.52
Visual C++ 1.52b		1.52b
Visual C++ 1.52c		1.52c
Visual C++ 2.0		2.0	900	3.0	0x0300
Visual C++ 2.1		2.1
Visual C++ 2.2		2.2
Visual C++ 4.0	1995	4.0	1000	4.0	0x0400
Visual C++ 4.2		4.2	1020	4.2	0x0420
						1.0	0x0100
						1.1	0x0110
						2.0	0x0200
Visual Studio 97	1997	5.0	1100	4.21	0x0421	2.1	0x0210
Visual Studio 6.0	1998	6.0	1200	6.0	0x0600	3.0	0x0300
VS .NET 2002	2002	7.0	1300	7.0	0x0700	7.0	0x0700
VS .NET 2003	2003	7.1	1310	7.1	0x0710	7.1	0x0710
Visual Studio 2005	2005	8.0	1400	8.0	0x0800	8.0	0x0800
Visual Studio 2008	2008	9.0	1500	9.0	0x0900	9.0	0x0900
Visual Studio 2010	2010	10.0	1600	10.0	0x0A00	10.0	0x0A00
Visual Studio 2012	2012	11.0	1700	11.0	0x0B00	11.0	0x0B00
Visual Studio 2013	2013	12.0	1800	12.0	0x0C00	12.0	0x0C00
Visual Studio 2015	2015	14.0	1900	14.0	0x0E00	14.0	0x0E00

With cl.exe versions:

NAME	VER	_MSC_VER	cl
Visual Studio 6.0 (1998)	6.0	1200
Visual Studio .NET (2002)	7.0	1300
Visual Studio .NET 2003	7.1	1310
Visual Studio 2005	8.0	1400	14.00
Visual Studio 2008	9.0	1500	15.00
Visual Studio 2010	10.0	1600	16.00

To check version from command line:

cmd# cl /help 2>&1 | head -n 1
Microsoft (R) 32-bit C/C++ Optimizing Compiler Version 16.00.30319.01 for 80x8
cmd# cl /help 2>&1 | head -n 1 | sed "s=.*Version \([0-9]*\)\.\([0-9]*\)\..*=\1.\2="
16.00

Reference:

http://bytepointer.com/msvc/index.htm: Microsoft Visual C++ Unofficial Changelists
http://mariusbancila.ro/blog/2015/08/12/version-history-of-vc-mfc-and-atl/: Version history of VC MFC and ATL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visual_Studio#History: VS History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_codenames#Visual_Studio_family: Visual Studio family

MFC versions.

MFC version	Visual C++ version
1.0	Microsoft C/C++ 7.0
2.0	Visual C++ 1.0
2.5	Visual C++ 1.5
3.0	Visual C++ 2.0
3.1	Visual C++ 2.1
3.2	Visual C++ 2.2
4.0	Visual C++ 4.0
4.1	Visual C++ 4.1
4.2	Visual C++ 4.2
4.21 (mfc42.dll)	Visual C++ 5.0
6.0 (mfc42.dll)	Visual C++ 6.0
7.0 (mfc70.dll)	Visual C++ .NET 2002
7.1 (mfc71.dll)	Visual C++ .NET 2003
8.0 (mfc80.dll)	Visual C++ 2005

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3z02ch3k.aspx: ATL and MFC Version Numbers

ALT version.

ATL version	Visual C++ version
1.0, 1.1, 2.0	None. Released to Web in Visual C++ 4.x time frame.
3.0	Visual C++ 6.0
7.0	Visual C++ .NET 2002
7.1	Visual C++ .NET 2003
8.0	Visual C++ 2005

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3z02ch3k.aspx: ATL and MFC Version Numbers

MSVC and SDK compatibility

SDK ver	MSVC releases
6.1	MSVC 2005, 2008 + express
7.0	MSVC 2008 + express
7.1	MSVC 2005, 2008, 2010 + express

Legacy VS 6.0

Processor pack is compatable with SP5 and incompatible with SP6. It adds support for SSE/SSE2 instruction set.

http://wayback.archive.org/web/20100923113933/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa718349.aspx: Visual C++ 6.0 Processor Pack (for SP5).
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2105322/visual-studio-6-processor-pack-enabling-sse2: Visual Studio 6 Processor Pack Enabling SSE2
http://bytepointer.com/masm/vcpp5_readme.htm: Microsoft Visual C++ Processor Pack Release Readme
http://bytepointer.com/download.php?name=vc6pp5_procpack.chm: Docs.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3991043/how-to-install-vs6-sp5-and-proc-pack-on-windows-7: How to install VS6, SP5, and Proc Pack on Windows 7?
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/186207/visual-studio-6-processor-pack-compatibility: Visual Studio 6 Processor Pack compatibility

Build MSVC project from command line.

cmd> cd %proj%
cmd> %WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\msbuild.exe  file.sln

'msbuild.exe' can not upgrade Visual Studio project files, so you better use 'vcbuild.exe' (which present in MSVC version 8.0/9.0):

cmd> cd %proj%
cmd> %MSVC_ROOT%\VC\vcpackages\vcbuild.exe  file.sln
cmd> %MSVC_ROOT%\VC\bin\amd64\vcbuild.exe  file.vcproj

cmd> cd %proj%
cmd> %MSVC_ROOT%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe  /Clean file.sln
cmd> %MSVC_ROOT%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe  /Build file.sln
cmd> %MSVC_ROOT%\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe  /Deploy file.sln

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms164311.aspx: MSBuild Command Line Reference
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kdxzbw9t.aspx: VCBUILD Command Line
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xee0c8y7.aspx: Devenv Command Line Switches

Check linking problem.

Use '/verbose:lib' to see list of libraries for linking and thier order.

Buy MSVC.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/ru-ru/subscriptions/subscriptionschart.aspx: Сравнение подписок MSDN