Detect and use Microsoft Visual C++ Compilers for Python 2.7 package

[bb-migration]

Originally reported by: stevedower (Bitbucket: stevedower, GitHub: Unknown)

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Microsoft just released a compiler package for Python 2.7 containing VC9. It has both the 32-bit and 64-bit compilers and the Windows SDK headers and libs that should be necessary to build C extensions for Windows. The package is at http://aka.ms/vcpython27

It would be great if setuptools could patch distutils.msvc9compiler.find_vcvarsall() to be able to find this compiler when it's installed. The install directory is registered at (HKCU|HKLM)\Software\Microsoft\DevDiv\VCForPython\9.0@InstallDir and is the directory that contains the required vcvarsall.bat file.

This change could justifiably be added to Python 2.7.9, but that won't help people using Python 2.6 or 3.2 or people who aren't able to upgrade their Python 2.7 installation. The compiler package is aimed at package developers (to produce wheels) rather than end users, but it would be nicer to simply say "update setuptools and it'll work".

I'd also like to improve the error message when vcvarsall.bat cannot be found and include a link to the compiler. This can help all Python versions and will reduce the confusion faced by users.

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• Bitbucket: https://bitbucket.org/pypa/setuptools/issue/258

[bb-migration]

Original comment by jaraco (Bitbucket: jaraco, GitHub: jaraco):

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Update changelog to reference documented issue. Fixes #258.