VS 2022 does a check for package updates normally. It is very easy to set up local nuget_repo on either an internal server or local directory on dev PC. Nexus operates as a proxy service for nuget but probably a lot faster and easier to build your own proxy service copy from "public" sources to local machine.

Maybe. The idea that c++ is highly efficient comes from the fact that c is. However, if using many of the features of c++ can make a c++ application take more memory and run slower than a managed language. With the advent of dotNet Core 5.0, the performance and the cross platform issue mainly becomes moot. The only real thing lacking is WinForms for non-windows environments. The wpf approach has some advantages for gaming and graphic applications. It however, fails when it comes to line-of-business class of applications that fund most development. My question would be why do people still think Java (or its cousins like Kotlin) make sense. My take is that there is still a culture that is anti-Microsoft.

Yes, deleting allocated objects is one of the places that find lots of bugs. Many of these bugs become very difficult to track down. Slow memory leakage is something that eats up lots of support time and turns off many customers.