A common complaint is that Microsoft restricts access to Visual Studio hotfixes. While available for free, they do require a call to customer support. In a pilot program, Microsoft has decided to release their most common hot fixes through Microsoft Connect.
In the past Microsoft has hesitated to release hotfixes for a number of reasons. First and foremost, they have not been fully regression tested. Installing a partially tested hotfix may cause problems worse than the original issue. Microsoft also likes to track customers who get early hotfixes so that they can alert them of any problems found later.
Only a few of the most frequently requested hotfixes are currently available. These include fixes for Visual Basic, Visual C++, the .NET Framework, and Windows Forms.