It’s fully compatible, but you may need to run the installer in Windows 7 compatibility mode if it hangs. Also, install both x86 and x64 if you see mixed errors.

Use dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth then reinstall the redist.

It’s not glamorous. But without it, a decade of 64-bit Windows software would simply refuse to run.

Clarification: For VC++ 2013, concrt140.dll belongs to VC++ 2015+; 2013 uses concrt120.dll . Yes, concrt120.dll handles the Concurrency Runtime. Unlike .NET, C++ runtimes are not part of Windows. Developers could ship these DLLs inside their application folder (app-local deployment). Most don’t—they rely on the redistributable.