If you’re a gamer or power user, ensure you have the latest versions installed from Microsoft. If you’re a developer, always bundle the correct redistributable with your application’s installer.
In the early days, every program shipped with its own copy of standard C++ libraries (DLLs). This led to "DLL Hell"—where one program overwrote a shared file, breaking another program. 2019 c++ redistributable
Each major version is binary-incompatible. An app built with Visual Studio 2010 cannot use the 2019 redistributable—it will simply refuse to load. If you’re a gamer or power user, ensure