Visual C++ Build Tools 2015 (Pre-release). If you want to build your C++ projects targeting Windows desktop without having Visual Studio installed on your computer, Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools 2015 provides the required tools: C++ compilers, libraries, build scripts, Windows SDKs. This Community Technology Preview ships with the same C++ compilers and libraries packaged with Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 RC (2015.1). http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2015/10/29/visual-studio-2015-update-1-rc-available.aspx The config steps with Node.js should now be as follows:
Install VC++ Build Tools Technical Preview
💡 [Windows 7 only] requires .NET Framework 4.5.1 Install Python 2.7, and add it to your PATH, npm config set python python2.7
Launch cmd, npm config set msvs_version 2015 --global (this is instead of npm install [package name] --msvs_version=2015 every time.)