Is System.Web.Optimization part of .Net Framework 4.5?

Question

I've been using Microsoft.Web.Optimization package for some time via the Visual Studio 2012 trial. I was thinking that the Optimization Namespace would be part of .NET 4.5 as stated here.

However, I installed the new release of Visual Studio 2012 & .NET Framework 4.5, and now there's no System.Web.Optimization namespace by default! I had to install the package through NuGet

Is the VS 2012 Ultimate release not yet complete? Or, is the Microsoft.Web.Optimization namespace not in .NET 4.5?

Technically, this is Too Localized, as .NET 4.5 has been released. Questions about trial software that has been released are Too Localized. — casperOne, Aug 30 '12 at 17:44
Yes, that's what I've got, so technically System.Web.Optimization is not part of Asp.Net 4.5! — Kamyar Nazeri, Aug 30 '12 at 17:51
I would say no. It's a separate package you get through NuGet. — casperOne, Aug 30 '12 at 17:52

score 23 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 30 '12 at 18:03

Microsoft is adopting a new strategy with VS2012 in which they are componentizing more of the new features as packages that can be downloaded via nuget. For example, Entity Framework, MVC4, WebApi, Web Optimization, etc.. are all now packages rather than part of the framework.

The reason is that these systems can now be easily upgraded out of cycle with the rest of the framework. Thus, MVC5 can be easily released without waiting for .NET 5, and Web Optimization v2 can be released whenever it might be ready.