Do I need to install ALL the service packs for visual studio or just the latest?

Question

I have just installed Visual Studio 2013. I am wondering do I need to install ALL the service packs for visual studio or just the latest?

For example I have installed CTP5 and when I go to 'about' then it says CTP5 is it safe to assume that all the other service packs up to 5 have been installed?

Answer 1

In general the official updates are designed to be cumulative such as the last official update 4 where it specifically says:

This update is the latest in a cumulative series of feature additions and bug fixes for Visual Studio 2013.".

But since this is a CTP (communitiy tehcnology preview) update 5 (U5 has not officially been released and not meant for production machines):

PLEASE NOTE: This Community Technology Preview has not been subject to final validation and is not meant to be run on production workstations or servers.

For the Visual Studio update package: The recommended approach for upgrading Visual Studio on test workstations is installing the latest Visual Studio Update CTP on top of an RTM release or a previous CTP build of that Update. Visual Studio CTPs can be upgraded to a different build.

With that wording on top of an RTM release it implies that one does not have to install the previous updates; hence this is intended to be a rollup cumulative release as well.